We are planning on taking a road trip (the only way we would be able to take the trip) and my 7yr old son gets car sick (as do I). I will be the driver for the most part, so my issue is easily resolved. My concern is for my son. What can he do for this trip. I already have plenty of safe snack ideas, and materials at the ready for the "sick" event. I found materials to do an "out the window" scavenger hunt. Things he can look for, but other than him falling asleep, I am at a loss. We do plan for a portion of the trip to be at night, but other than that, I don't know what other things I can have for him to do. Watching videos does not work, playing hand held video games does not work, they cause the motion sickness to come sooner. I am looking for ideas of activities that he can do that do not focus attention to one place for a long period of time. I have looked into to the motion bracelets as well as medication. I was just hoping to find ideas of things to help my poor little guy pass the time.
Thanks :)
My younger son gets slight motion sickness. He gets nausea and headache.
I suggest SeaBands (they make them for kids too!)
We also bring along his iPod Touch and a light blanket. He covers his head with the blanket and plays his game. That seems to help.
You don't mention how many will be in the car, but we love to play verbal games on the road. An old family favorite is "My father owns a grocery store and in it he sells something that begins with the letter ..." There are loads of other guessing games like this. We have also done the one where you go by letter, e.g. first person says "My name is Alice, I come from Alabama and I like to eat Apricots". The next person has to repeat the one for A, then do B... I have a deck of question cards that are thought provoking (and usually cause some pretty interesting conversations). If there are others in the car, they can read the questions and all participate.
I honestly feel sorry for families who put on a DVD as soon as they leave the driveway. Some of my bset childhood memories are car trips with the family, and I'm doing my best to give my kids the same types of experiences :)
Wrist bands. They make them for kids but the name escapes me. Best bet.
Benadryl, it is supposed to calm the stomach.
Have him sit in the MIDDLE of the back seat and make sure one of the a/c vents is blowing right on him. I know this helped mine to see out the front window and constant air flow until she was old enough to sit in the front seat. Good luck.
Sea Bands work well for my daughter.
What about audio books? He can wear headphones and look out the windows. Libraries carry some and they're available online. Something like Harry Potter will keep him entertained.
I read the other responses. Audio books sound like an awesome suggestion!
Have his eyes checked. A lot of the time carsickness is caused by vision problems.
Keep something like cinnamon toast crunch cereal or cinnamon grahms in the car or candied ginger -- helps with nausa.
Bonine saves me in these types of situation. It's the only motion-sickness med that works for me.
You probably know all this if you get carsick too, but - no reading, no video games, no movies, nothing that causes him to look anywhere but out the window for the trip. No 3rd row seating. Cool air blowing in the car.
Perhaps talk to your doctor about getting him a prescription for scopolamine. It's a prescription patch like Dramamine. My brother uses them for sea sickness. It works for an extended period of time. Very cool.
I can't remember the interval of time but there is X number of minutes, then you must look out the window, to avoid car sickness.
My oldest got sick in the car because she reads, so I would just remind her to look up every so often and she was fine.
Oh, the reason for 'most' car sickness is your inner ear is telling your brain you are moving and your eyes are saying you are standing still and apparently the stomach feels left out..... Yes, google had a more scientific explanation. :)
They make children's chewable dramamine and it works well. Just got back from a 7 hr ride w/ my 5 year old (car sick sometimes in an hour) son. Did great. Also, sitting him as far front as possible - i.e not in the third row will help.
Good luck!
For my son, Sea Bands and chewing mint gum help a lot.
my daughter is just like your son, but she gets in even only being in the car for short rides as well. The thing that has worked for her is those bracelets. I think they are called sea bands. I bought them at CVS and they push on the pressure points on the wrist. They work amazingly well for her!
My car sick kiddo loves the mp3 player. I fill it with audio books and music he likes. My kiddo can't read in the car, but he can play video games if we take window breaks. ANd he is another one that likes to throw a blanket over his head when he is playing and that also seems to help.
I drove the kiddos solo earlier this month. It was a 15 hour drive. We tried the sea bands before and they didn't work. This time they seemed to work like a charm for him! I also bought chewable dramamine just in case. We wound up not needing it at all, but I was glad to have it if things got extreme!
I got horribly carsick as a kid, to the point that I dreaded vacations and roadtrips. Dramamine helped, my little CD player (mp3 players are such a great improvement, I'm dating myself here), and audio books from the library were a lifesaver. Frequent breaks to stop the cycle whenever it would get bad was also a big help.
My children use medication for that make sure he doesn't sit too far back. Hope I can help, K.
We drive from Pennsylvania to Florida every summer (19 hours) and my best friend's daughter gets EXTREMELY car sick and she started using the SeaBands and they have been a life saver!!
