Car Sick Toddler? - Watertown,MA

Poor thing. I understand, I was carsick most of my childhood, I didn't really grow out of it until I was about 15 or 16. I remember that awful panicky feeling. It helps NOT to have an empty stomach, but not be too full either. Saltine crackers helped me sometimes. Reading or even just looking at books makes it worse, so does too much liquid in the belly.
My youngest has it too but instead of vomiting she gets bad headaches. I didn't know motion sickness could give you headaches but my pediatrician says yes, it's common.

Oh yes! My 6 yr old can not read, look at a book, play a game on my phone...nothing while moving! She also must be by the window and even if its freezing, she can't handle heat at all. She will be up chucking no doubt!

Yep, sounds like carsick to me. My son has always suffered from car sickness and so have i for that matter. I have to be in the front seat of the vehicle or the driver, otherwise I'm toast. My son is now 7 and I have learned that we do not read books, play video games, color or anything that uses focus while in the car. If we are going on a trip, I have him take off his coat. I will usually bring a blanket for him if he is cold, but the coat comes off. If he tells me he is not feeling well, I will open a window for a while or make a pit stop for fresh air, but he usually says nothing until he is about to vomit. After vomiting all is well again. Sometimes he will get sick even if he is not doing anything other than just sitting there

My younger sister got this way. I'd make sure you take off her coat before she gets in the car, allow her to open the window if need be a bit, have plastic bags and wet wipes/cleaner handy and also give her dramamine (if age permits) when you are driving a certain distance (of course check with dr. beforehand). My sister had this for years, and while she still feels quesy in the back seat, does not get sick.

Yep, my husband.. Whet you are describing sounds just like him..

He said as a boy on the way to the lake house, his parents knew the part of the road to stop, let him get out of the car for a few minutes, take sips of ginger ale.

Now as an adult, he has to be in the front seat, and if he can be the driver, that helps him a lot.. He needs to be able to see forward out a large window. When we go on car trips, I make sure to have ginger ale, crackers, cool packs. Also cool loose shirts, 100% cotton..maybe have the window cracked a little bit.

We take cool packs, these placed on the back of the neck and help to stop the nausea.. Also placed behind the knees and on the wrist can also help..

Sometimes it is just better to let the person get sick.. so plastic bags are always available.

Yes, sounds like car sickness to me.
When I get car sick, I get hot as I get nauseous. Sometimes it helps to open the window, even in the winter. I also get the urge to lie down and close my eyes, to cut down on the visual stimulous of things going by the window.

The back seat is always hard, especially in a car (as opposed to an SUV). If you have the option, it's better for her to sit in the middle with a clear view of the road in front of the car where the horizon doesn't have a much motion, instead of sitting by the window where she can't see out in front, and can only see things flying past the window.

My 12 yr old daughter used to get car sick too and now she just needs to sit in the front seat and watch the road. Or she'll listen to her ipod to keep her from feeling sick. Whatever works!

We learned how to prepare for carsickness after the first time she threw up in the car. What a mess that was!

Make sure she's not hungry
Have ginger snaps & ginger ale handy (ginger is supposed to help prevent nausea)
Make sure she can see the road from where she's sitting in her carseat if possible

Our emergency bag consisted of:
paper towels
wet wipes
garbage bags or grocery bags for puked on clothes (ugh)
Extra set of clothes in case she throws up
Gallon size ziploc bags work GREAT for when you are stuck in traffic and she needs to throw up. My daughter threw up in one and then she would seal it when she got done. We were stuck in traffic for an hour and those bags were a lifesaver! She puked in it 4 or 5 times! It's gross but it held the vomit and kept the car clean!
Gum, suckers or lifesavers for her to suck on as long as it doesn't make her nauseous. Helps get that taste out of her mouth!
Toothbrush & toothpaste to brush her teeth at the rest stop or wherever.

Good luck & HTH!

My youngest will complain that he's hot, something smells, or he has a headache. I usually open up a window to let some fresh air in, which helps.

It might be. My DD has started to say that her tummy feels funny after a longish car trip. I've stopped encouraging her to color or look at books.

I would look into one of those motion sickness bands and see if that helps, or talk to your pediatrician about dramamine. Encourage her to look out the window. My SS often felt bad on car rides so he learned coping mechanisms. For him, it was better to play with his Game Boy but if I look at something when a car is in motion, I feel worse.

My son & I both get car sick. Benadryl works well, for my son.

My friend's 2 young kids get sick ALL the time in the car. Especially longer rides, especially when it is warmer.

It does sound like motion sickness. My daughter used to get it in as little as 10 minutes in the car. Dramamine works, but you may want to look at these alternatives before using it:
http://www.findananny.net/blog/10-alternatives-to-dramami...

Do we share the same daughter??

A cool car and NO jacket used to help my girl when she was younger. A quick "How you doin' back there?" about 10 - 15 minutes into the ride gives you a chance to deal with the nausea before it becomes a real issue. Open the window, if she starts to feel "iffy".

She, too, got a great deal better once she hit about 6 or 7.

I got this as a kid as does my son. Carsickness is caused by looking at a stationary object - like a book, toy, or video game while riding. The inner ear picks up motion, but the eyes don't, therefore causing an imbalance, then nausea and vomiting.
Hope this helps!

Could be car sickness, especially if she was fine immediately after. One of my before and after school boys has to take Gravol for longer car trips.

Motion sickness is REAL and happens to people and animals of ALL ages. Hopefully no one is allowed to smoke in your car (that's a killer for people who become car sick). Do you drive around a lot of curves or hills?

There is across the counter, children's dramamien (sp) available. If you give her the dosage the RX recommends about 30 min before travelling that might help.

However before medication, I would just make sure she's not too warm in the car (take her coat off before putting in the care seat) and has a small bottle of water or a decaf soda (such as sparkling water, 7UP or Squirt) in a sippy cup. Tell he if she starts to feel sick to take a few small sips.

Keep us posted!

It could be. My son used to feel sick when riding with his dad either to or from our house. In his case, the cigarette smoke was too much (especially when/if dad was actually smoking but even if not he could smell it in the car from their normal everyday life).

Were these two occurances relatively close (like within a few days of each other)? If so, could be inner ear related....the motion making her sick because of an inner ear infection (has happened to my daughter more than once).

I can get terribly motion-sick in a car, bus, train, plane or boat, and have from early childhood. Experts believe this is caused by a disconnection between what the eye sees and what the body/inner ear experiences, in essence, two different sources of "motion" that contradict each other. This throws of the sense of balance, and the brain can't make sense of it. (Some research more specifically points to irregularities in the shape of the lens in the eye causing a more "swimmy" sensation of the passing world.)

This brain-body confusion often starts when a child is paying attention to something going on inside the car (reading, a game, video, etc.) while scenery is whipping past outside. Also, the fast-passing view out a side window, while sitting still in a car, can trigger the response. What works for me is to either watch the road out the front windshield, or to relax and close my eyes, preferably with my head down and body relaxed. Neither of these work as well for me after the nausea has begun, however. I have learned to plan ahead.

Feeling excessively hot or sweaty is often a first symptom, or sometimes cold and clammy. Panic begins when it becomes clear the stomach does not want to hang onto whatever it may contain. Throwing up is no fun, and the anxiety many children feel about messing up the car makes that worse.

I hope you can help your daughter find a way to avoid getting sick that works for her.

Very possible she gets car sick. I did as a kid.
Give her dramamine. It is safe that young, they get 1/2 a tablet. It may make her drowsy but it works. I give it to my two year old at times for long trips

Both of my kids got carsick as toddlers. One seems to have outgrown it, the other still often gets carsick, as do I. My son will barf like crazy, then ask when we're having dinner. :-p

Things that help:

Not being over warm. Don't wear a coat in the car. She can use it like a blanket if he gets chilly, but being able to toss it aside is good.

Fresh air. Either a window cracked or vent-circulating air.

It also helps if others in the car do not wear perfume/cologne. To a carsick person, being stuck in an enclosed space with that makes it so much worse.

When your kid gets upset like you describe - pull over as soon as you safely can and get him out of the car. Sometimes just walking around for a few minutes will be enough to make it to the end of the trip.

Always have a bucket within reach and a container a water for rinsing it out. Having a fresh bottle of water from her to sip after upchucking is good too.

Bring a change of clothes. Also have wipes, cloths or other means of cleaning up the seat area.

Sea Bands work for a lot of people, if she will keep them on.

When she is older, he might find mint flavored gum helpful.

My son went through a few years when long car rides (over 3 or 4 hrs long) would have him throwing up.
By 6 yrs old he out grew it.
Short rides (under 2 hours) were never a problem.
For those long trips - Dramamine was a life saver.

Yes, car sick! Take her jacket off, open a window so it blows fresh air on her if she starts to feel hot. We actually used to travel with a bucket in our car. Really gross, but very well used and it saved a lot of messes. Try to teach her to look out the front window, not to look at everything passing by her side window. Sometimes focusing on a movie will help, but other times it will make it worse. Good luck!

My nephew is this way.

He just moved back to Washington with my sister from Alaska. So needless to say he went from not driving much ever...to driving just about anywhere needed to go.

So the first week they were here, he got sick with every car ride.

He has to be in the middle buckle. Up high in order not to get sick.

I had never seen this in anyone, until they moved back:(

I hope you find something to help with it. Cleaning vomit out of a car is never fun!!

Hi,
My daughter was having the same problem and I finally linked it to ear infections. I asked the dr. About it and she said its possible because their equalibreum is messed up when they have an ear infection. Usually a few days after she gets car sick she complains about her ears. Hope I was helpful.