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Originally Posted by MalnadMansha How did you resolve it and what steps did you follow? |
My daughter has motion sickness since she was 6 months old and here are few things we do to manage it. Its mostly trial and error to see what works for your child.
1. No milk.
2. Do not travel empty stomach except when traveling in morning. When starting early, wake her up at least an hour before the planned trip. Let her play around so that she is fully awake. Then when you start, try to get her to sleep again. Keep small quantity packet of food she likes with you. When she wakes up again take a break and her her small quantities to eat. There should be a minimum 20 min gap between food intake and resumption of the journey. In the mean time, let her play outside.
3. Another option which you may try is to transfer the sleeping kid to the car seat. It never worked for me as my daughter used to wake up and not sleep later. In addition, this will not work as she gets older.
4. Plan your trip: Find out good rest stops where the child can just move around. We used to stop at a place with cots so she used to play on it and then we would move on. Sometimes it worked, other times it didn't.
5. Take a break during journey: Any travel of more than 2 hours will require a break. I made a mistake many times of keeping on driving past my pre-decided rest stop when she was sleeping only for her to wake up some time later and vomit. Then any time you gained is lost and you will need to stop at an unfavourable location.
6. The reclining position should be optimal. If the position is not optimal it puts pressure on the childs abdomen and causes discomfort and vomiting.
7. Reduce your speed: I made this mistake many times. When my daughter was asleep, I drove at my usual speed thinking that as she is asleep I can cover some time. This doesn't work unless the road is super smooth. She will vomit when she wakes up. The trick is to ask your wife if she is feeling comfortable or the ride is feeling bouncy. There is a lot of difference in the comfort during driving in front and rear seat. If the ride is bouncy, you will have to reduce the speed. If she is awake drop it further by 5-10 kmph.
8. Add 1 hour to your ETA. Google maps ETA is for solo driving. Add one hour to every 5 hours of driving.
9. As she gets older, give her something to munch on when she gets hungry in car like chips, makhanas etc. Biscuits, cookies do not work, I do not know why.
10. If travelling in afternoon after meals, a gap of 1 hour is essential. This way, the food moves down and the child is sleepy. You may cover good distance in that time. Keep list of rest stops according to when the child is sleeping and awake. Usually a break is not needed for initial 2.5 hours if you drive slower.
11. No long distance travelling please. Any trip of more than 7-8 hours is seriously tiring for the child. Take a train/flight if the total travel time (after adding 1 hour) is lesser.
12. Keep garbage bags in your car. As soon as your wife senses the danger signs put it around her. It reduces the mess and the number of clothes that require changing.
13. Travel with window partially opened. If it is not possible due to pollution or any other reason, select fresh air option (turn recirculation off) and also turn on air purifier in the car. (Please do not buy ozone based purifier, they are more harmful). Even then, you will need to open windows in between.
14. It goes without saying: No mountain travel.
15. If the car seat is soiled, it need cleaning before travel as the smell itself causes vomiting.
16. Once she has vomited, you will need to travel with windows partially open. No other option is available.
17. Keep some toys in car. When she is awake, actively engage in games, sing alongs etc.
It will improve as she gets older.
Hope this helps.