Be Well

HOW TO BATTLE car sickness

ON YOUR SUMMER ROAD TRIPS

Growing up, I was the child my parents always packed vomit bags for on road trips. I wouldn’t make it 30 minutes before puking. I ruined many holiday dresses and car seats before my parents learned to wait to put me in my nice clothes until we got to my grandparents — a decision that saved both time and money at the Seward Walmart.

As I got older, I still got carsick even when driving across town to my dad’s workplace. Now, I can make it greater distances without motion sickness setting in, but I always bring puke bags on longer trips.

Knowing this, you can imagine my horror when Methodist Hospital Pediatrician Dr. Mikail Kraft told me motion sickness is hereditary.

“Car sickness is a form of motion sickness,” Kraft said. “It’s sort of a disconnect between the brain and the body’s balance system, which occurs in the middle ear.”

Though genetics play a part in your sensitivity to motion sickness, some common car activities do make you more prone to motion sickness. Playing games on a phone, watching movies on a screen or reading a book (all things I enjoyed doing in the car growing up) can actually make you more motion sick, Kraft said.

“We think about a quarter of all people get some degree of it (motion sickness),” he said.

Most children start experiencing car sickness around school age, but sometimes parents (like mine) report their infants getting carsick as well. Some children grow out of it, while others will experience it well into adulthood, Kraft said.

There is no sure x to motion sickness, but a combination of these tips might just help you avoid stopping at the Seward Walmart for new clothing and a car seat on your road trip this summer.

Kraft said there are precautionary things parents can do before hitting the road with a carsickness-prone kiddo. He said to have your child sit in the passenger seat if old enough and or in the middle of the back seat. These two spots force them to look out the windshield and focus on the stable horizon. You should not feed your child big meals before hitting the road and make sure to offer sips of water to the child while driving.

Sometimes, even precautionary measures won’t stop children from getting carsick, and they will start saying their stomach hurts and they feels dizzy.

Acupuncture wristbands are proven to help combat motion sickness. They are cloth bands with a small plastic ball on the inside. The band is placed typically three ngers from your wrist bone. Some studies have shown pressure on that spot on the inner arm can reduce motion sickness, Kraft said. They can be bought online or at a local pharmacy.

Herbal patches, fake horizon glasses and ginger lozenges could also help your child feel less sick in the car, but Kraft said acupuncture bands tend to work the best and have the best research proving their effectiveness.

Dramamine, a nausea relief medication, can also be given to children with the proper dosage.

“The most common side effect from Dramamine is feeling sleepy, falling asleep and fatigue. So depending on the car ride, that can be a good thing or a bad thing. If it’s a shorter car ride, you’re going to be at Grandma’s house, and you sleep the whole time, that’s kind of a bummer,” Kraft said. “But, if you’re gonna be in the car for eight hours, that can be OK.”

Kraft said Bonine, another over-thecounter motion sickness medication, tends to leave users less drowsy and is another option for children over the age of six.

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