Motion sickness: Tips for preventing it in kids?

Our 5-year-old daughter often gets sick on long car rides. How do you prevent motion sickness in young children?

- Rhonda / Indiana

Answer

Few things can ruin a long car trip faster than motion sickness in a child. Motion sickness usually starts with cold sweating and a queasy stomach. It can then lead to nausea, dizziness and vomiting. But there are measures you can take to prevent and relieve motion sickness in younger children:

• Focus your child's attention elsewhere. If traveling in a car, distract her from the queasy feeling in her stomach by having her look at a toy or out the window — not at books or games.
• Have your child sit near the front of the vehicle. If traveling in a minivan or SUV with three rows of seats, have your daughter sit in the middle row of seats rather than the last row.
• Feed your child before you leave. I know, it sounds counterintuitive, but feed your daughter a light snack if she hasn't eaten in several hours. This relieves hunger pangs, which seem to make motion sickness worse.
• Keep things cool. A constant cool breeze from the air conditioning vents may help ease motion sickness. If you don't have air conditioning, crack a window and let her breathe the fresh air.

If none of these things works, stop the car and have your daughter lie on her back with her eyes closed. Applying a cool, damp cloth to her forehead also may help.

Medications are another option for preventing or relieving motion sickness in children younger than 12 years. However, consult your child's doctor before using medications for this purpose.

For children 2 years and older, antihistamines and anti-nausea medications may help prevent motion sickness. But they often produce adverse side effects such as excitability or agitation, drowsiness, dry mouth and constipation. Also, such medications should not be given to children with seizure disorders. Although skin patch motion sickness medicines can be effective for adults, they should not be used on kids younger than age 12. The safety of their use in children has not been tested.

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