Driving with a child in the backseat can be a stressful endeavour but if that child happens to be one that suffers from motion sickness then you’ve got a real nightmare on your hands – no one wants their vehicle decorated with what was once breakfast!
There is however a number of measures that can be taken to reduce the chances of even the most vomit-prone child from such a fate:
Avoid Travelling on an Empty Tummy
Parents with children that have a predisposition to vomiting often think that an empty stomach is the best preventative measure for avoiding upchuck ending up all over the car’s interior but this is not the case. Whilst greasy and dairy foods are best avoided, multigrain foods can help to control nausea due to their slow energy release properties.
Keeping a packet of dry crackers in the glove box of your car is helpful too – a child will often feel better if they slowly munch on one when mild nausea starts.
Allow Your Child to Sit Up Front
Motion sickness is caused by a person’s eyes and ears not syncing up. Basically, whilst the inner ears detect that the car is in motion the eyes do not – usually because they are focused on one stationary spot within the car – and this confuses the body.
When a child is sat behind Mum or Dad, they will be less inclined to look out of the window whilst the car is in motion since they only have the side window to gaze though. This is why sitting you child up front can help.
Limit Reading and Videogaming
Since reading a book or playing a videogame on a handheld console fixes the eyes onto one spot within the car, be sure to limit the amount of time that your child spends indulging in such activities. Playing games which force a motion sickness-susceptible child to look outside of the car – such as ‘I Spy’ or ‘Registration Plate Bingo’ – are far better for passing the time.
Plan Your Journey Well
You should commence your journey early when traveling with a child prone to travel nausea. This will prevent you from arriving at your destination late should you need to stop along the way because you son/daughter feels sick. Planning a few stops at several service points when embarking on a long journey is useful as this allows your child to get out of the vehicle for a while which will help their stomach to settle.
Avoid strong Odours
“Open the window!” is advice that often given to those with children who suffer travel sickness, since the fresh air that rushes in is helpful for controlling nausea. It makes equal sense then, not to eat food that has a strong odour (for example; fast food) and taints the air within the confines of the vehicle when traveling with a child with a sensitive stomach.
If you child’s nose is particularly sensitive, you might also wish to remove the ‘Magic Tree’ air freshener out of your car before driving somewhere. If you want your car to smell fresh, try using an air sanitiser to obliterate the particles that are responsible for the smell instead of a highly perfumed air freshener that can only temporarily cover up bad odours.
Motion Sickness Medication
Many pills designed to relive the symptoms of car sickness are actually herbal in nature and so you won’t have to drug your child whenever you drive them anywhere! For medication to be effective, it must be taken a small while before a car journey starts (always read the instructions included with motion sickness medications).
Kat Whitehead is the author of this blog. Kat has had to deal with her own son’s travel sickness on a variety of occasions whilst away on family friendly holidays and luxury self catering holidays.
