If you are a person who is prone to motion sickness, you know how quickly a fun vacation can turn ugly. There are several instances of my childhood that I still remember quite clearly where motion sickness took the wheel and derailed our road trip for a couple of hours. Nobody likes getting nauseous, whether its on a car, boat or airplane (most of which I have experienced!). It’s even worse if you’ve passed your sensitive stomach to your children, who also tend to get squeamish on long trips. Nobody likes cleaning up vomit and when you have to get back into the car and smell it the rest of your trip it makes it even worse! We’ve come up with a handful of tips to help you and your kids avoid motion sickness and hopefully have some happy trails!
1. Dress Comfortably
If you’re prone to getting sick while traveling, make yourself as comfortable as possible by dressing in loose fitting clothing. There’s no shame in dressing your kids in their PJ’s! Just imagine being strapped in a car seat, possibly rear-facing, wearing tight pants and a shirt. It’s a recipe for disaster! Your kids already feel uncomfortable when nausea sets in, don’t make it worse by dressing them in restrictive clothing.
2. Eat Carefully
I learned this the hard way: no large amounts of dairy before road trips! My poor daughter fell victim to stop and go traffic on the 405 freeway in Los Angeles, after a bottle of milk and some cheese snacks. Before we knew what happened, we were mopping up curdled milk products. Try and also void spicy and potent foods like garlic and anything else that will taste bad on it’s way back up. You want to make sure there’s something in your kids tummies, but keep it bland.
3. Keep it Cold
There’s nothing worse than feeling nauseous and sweaty at the same time. Keep the car cool and air vents on an airplane pointed at you and your kids. There’s something about a pleasant temperature that can help calm your nerves and tummies.
4. Look Out the Window
This can be a hard one if you are on a LOOOOOONG trip and the kids are bored. But staring incessantly at a television, tablet or cell phone screen can just make the potential for motion sickness all the more likely. Do your best to get your kids to focus on items outside the car, preferably straight ahead, and even make a game out of it (think: I Spy!) to get them focused.
5. Fresh Air
After our vomit incident in traffic, we knew we needed to stop and get some fresh air. Not only because the car smelled horrible and because my daughter screamed when we put her back in her car seat, but there’s something about being on solid ground that takes away motion sickness. Simply rolling down the car window can help too. Let the cool breeze and deep breathing do its magic!
6. Keep Snacks Handy
Just like eating too much can cause an upset tummy, having an empty one can be just as dangerous. Keep neutral foods easily accessible like apples, crackers and ginger cookies (the ginger is a natural tummy settler) and once again, avoid dairy. It’s probably a good idea to eat at regular intervals to avoid crummy tummies!
7. Breathe Deeply
More specifically, take a handful of essential oils with you to inhale if you or the kids start to feel queasy. Oils such as peppermint, wintergreen, lemon and ginger are all great to have on hand. A simple whiff straight from the bottle, or dropping a small amount onto a tissue or cotton ball will do the trick.
8. Ginger Anything
I just mentioned how ginger essential oil will help alleviate motion sickness, and it’s not just oils! You can keep ginger ale, make ginger ice tea to take with you, bring ginger snaps and even get ginger “preggo” pops to suck on. I’m not going to lie- those are actually pretty gross, but if they do the trick then that’s all that matters!
Source: Amazon
9. Pressure Points
Through acupressure it’s been discovered that applying pressure to the point approximately 3 fingers below your wrist will help alleviate motion sickness. So that you don’t have to sit in the back seat the entire car ride with your sick child, pick up motion sickness bracelets that apply the appropriate amount of pressure for you! They feel tight at first, but your kids will love the relief from nausea.
Source: Amazon
10. Motion Sickness Medication
Sometimes, no amount of snacking and window watching will do the trick and you’ll just have to use motion sickness medication. You may be at the mercy of the ocean on a cruise and that Dramamine is your best friend (yet another motion sickness incident for me!). Keep in mind you may get sleepy, as will your kids. Consult a doctor on the best option for your young ones!