How To Prevent Children From Getting Motion Sickness

If your kids get motion sickness, here are some tips to help you get through car rides and travel with no hassle.

Knowing how to avoid getting sick on holiday trips or car rides is important for all parents. Driving sickness can be quite uncomfortable for children. In addition to feeling dizzy, it can cause vomiting and general malaise throughout your baby’s body.

Children aged 3 to 12 years are particularly sensitive to getting motion sickness. In fact, many of them can go on and on about it until they become adults.

However, if you first know that your child is getting motion sickness, the goal is to minimize the symptoms.

What is motion sickness and why does it happen?

Motion sickness is defined as a lack of control over the body due to movements. What specifically happens is that the inner ear and the musculoskeletal system become unbalanced. This happens because there is no connection between what the body feels and sees.

In a child, it seems as if everything around it is moving on, even if he has gotten out of the car. Once the brain mistakenly thinks he or she is moving, it sends signals to the body to keep going.

Symptoms of motion sickness

These are some of the most common symptoms you may experience:

• A feeling of dizziness and instability in the head.
• Gets pale.
• Missing balance.
• Stomach ache
• Vomiting
• Sweating or freezing

How to prevent children from getting motion sickness on trips

There are a few ways to avoid motion sickness. The last resort should be to take medication. It is better for their ears to gradually adapt to what is happening to their inner ears. As we mentioned earlier, this condition can continue until they become adults.

With this in mind, parents need to place their children in specific places in the car or on the plane. This can prevent them from being exposed to sudden movements. Here is a guide to what you can do:

Before the trip

Before you leave, you should follow at least two pieces of advice. First and foremost, give your child food at least an hour and a half before departure. As a parent, make sure your child has not eaten too much. If he gets motion sickness, he will not have that much vomiting from his stomach.

We recommend eating lean proteins and vegetables before the trip. Do not give him foods like pasta or burgers. It will make him feel heavier. If you travel by plane, it will also give him more air in his stomach.

Secondly, it will therefore be best to travel when the child usually needs to sleep or at night. The imbalance in his inner ear will not affect him while he sleeps.

It will therefore be very helpful if one can get him to sleep right away or right at the start of the journey. The best thing is to be able to start the journey when he is already asleep.

What you can do to avoid motion sickness during the trip

The best things to do during the trip are:

• Keep your children in the seats of the car. If they are larger, make sure they are wearing their seat belts. Let them keep an eye on the horizon. If this is not possible, they should at least have their head facing the window.

• Avoid games on cell phones, iPads, dolls or books. Their head is always lowered down when playing with these things. If your vision is focused on a fixed point, your brain will notice how fast the car is driving. Your brain cannot switch between this so quickly. This is what can make you sick of driving.
• Children should not eat during the trip. We suggest that they drink only small amounts of water. If the trip is long, it is best to eat when you take a break. Remember not to give them food that makes them feel overweight.
• Inside the car, do not set the temperature too extreme. Do not make the car too hot or too cold. If your child is already feeling sick, it is a good idea to let some air into the car.

As the last piece of advice, if your child is already feeling sick, help him with breathing exercises. You can also take wet wipes, vomit bags and medicines with you from your doctor.