Having sick kids is no fun, especially when your kids get sick in the car. I had never experienced much car sickness myself until I had kids. My daughter was right around 18 mths- 2 years old when her car sickness developed. The very first time she got sick in the car we’d been at the zoo all day. It was warm and I thought it was on the way home after a long day. Luckily I was sitting in the back with her to try and keep her from napping in the car. We all know how important those naps at home are! We were just about home and I could tell something was going on. She started coughing and then it happened. All over. I’ll spare you the details but you can imagine how fun those last 10 minutes were in the car. Blek! A few months later it happened again when my Mom took her to see Elmo Live about 30 minutes away. Car sick all over her sweet self before the show even started. Then again a few months later it happened on the way to her daycare, all over herself. And again and again this began to be a norm for her as we traveled.
We’ve big car travelers for long distances, See how I Survive Road trips. The worst one yet was on the way home from visiting family it happened about 4x and most of those times we could not get her out of the car seat and car in time. Picture me with a 3 month old baby and one vomiting 5 year all over the place. Me screaming at my husband because we couldn’t get the van door to open and my poor vomiting child crying. Salina, Kansas will NEVER be the same in my eyes!! Luckily I have learned some from all of these bad experiences and have become better prepared.
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Tips for Dealing with Kids that Get Car Sick
Sit by the window
No reading or electronics
Gum/Candy I try and always have something like these in my purse for anyone.
Personal space: I make sure my kids are not too crowded with things around them. They all need some space in the car.
Peppermint Oil I keep some in a roller and roll on wrists, neck, tummy
Frequent stops: We try and stop every 2 hours. Everyone needs to stretch their legs and regroup.
Snacks (I’d love to say we stay all healthy but sometimes you just good snack foods!)
[bctt tweet=”I’ve become an expert on dealing with kids that get car sick! Prepare for the worst, hope for the best #momlife #carsickness” username=”dailymomtivity”]
Kids Dramamine (This is a MUST) It’s grape flavored chewable, and non-drowsy.
Barf Bag/Emergency Supplies: I know it’s not fun to think about but you’ll be happy to have a barf bag if needed. Plastic grocery bags work great for this. I usually keep some up in the front with me and a few in the back of the seats for easy access. They come in handy when you can’t stop.
Sea Bands (If space was limited, this is a MUST have) They are wrist bands kids wear and works for adults too.
My best tip is just to be prepared for anything and everything. It takes some extra planning and might make you go crazy before your trip even starts but it’s worth it to be prepared. Prepare for the worst, hope for the best motto 🙂
Do your kids get car sick? How do you deal with it?
This photo was taken in beautiful Breckenridge, Co. On our 14 hour drive home my little one got car sick. Now I’m the lucky Mom that has 2 kids that get car sick!! Thanks to my magic helpers above I will make the best of it 🙂
Brooke says
I’m going to use this list for myself! Haha, I get sooooo sick in the car! Thank you!
Shannon says
Thanks Brooke, no fun being car sick!!
Christina @ RaisingSavers.com says
My little one got carsick for the first time the other weekend, so these tips are so helpful. Thanks!
Rachelle Rosenblit says
great tips! I feel so lucky that so far we haven’t had to deal with car sickness.
candy says
These are great tips and ideas for the whole family to enjoy the car trip or vacation. Nothing worse then sick kids or anyone in a car.
Rachel Osborn says
My oldest gets car sick, too. Not sure about the youngest yet. I’m an expert just because I dealt with it as a kid, too. One thing I disagree with in this post is kids’ dramamine. I say go ahead and get the one that puts them to sleep- it will be the most peaceful drive, since having kids!! It is actually hard for me to find kids dramamine around here, unless I make a special trip to the drugstore. Not happening. The pharmacist at Kroger helped me figure out that the adult works just as well for kids- you just give them half a pill. Dosing is on the bottle! My kids don’t mind that it does’t taste like grape somehow. They chew it right down.
Shannon says
Thanks for the tip Rachel! Good to know in case I can’t find the kid’s version.
Jacky @ Joyful Savings says
Oh…. motion/car-sick sickness, how much can I relate to it, sadly! When I was a child, I used to suffer the worse car sickness case in the world, and nothing worked for me. Unfortunately, my parents did not know about the dramamine pills, so I really suffered from it until I grew up out of it…. horrible!!!! — Still, I won’t survive sea-sickness without a pill!
I am so glad that this information and resources are available now, so no child has to suffer from this horrible thing! Great post!
Joyful Savings recently posted: Prepare Your Own All-Purpose Cleaner For About 55¢ Per Bottle!
Lisa @ Fun Money Mom says
I’ve been lucky so far that my kids don’t get car sick but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen down the road. In fact, we’re driving to Disney next week so I’m remember these tips, just in case (hopefully I didn’t just jinx myself…LOL)
Shannon says
So true. I hope for your sake they don’t get car sick! My husband gets car sick and his started in middle school 🙂
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Jill says
We use peppermint and digestzen essential oils for our daughters car sickness.
Shannon says
Great idea. I need to try the digestzen! I love my oils!!