motion sickness in younger rear facers?

[irishmama3]

I thought I would start a new thread about this from the "how to keep a rf baby happy" thread. I have been thinking about why some rf's are ok and others scream. My hypothesis is motion sickness.

I have a 14 month old who screams rf, and I think she is getting motion sick. She loves her seat now when she is stationary (it is very upright, she has a tethered mirror, can see big brother, lots of soft toys and books, and a binky) but within minutes of driving she is crying and it escalates to screaming, hyperventilating, and near vomiting by the time we arrive. Last week we couldn't go on a five minute drive without crying. On a longer trip, the crying would stop at each stop light, and start again when we were moving.

When I was younger, we had a third row rear facing jump seat in our big old Plymouth station wagon. I would get soooo car sick, and not just nauseous but a pounding headache as well. However if I twisted around to face forward I was fine. Our family has a ton of problems with motion sickness. Sometimes even elevators give me problems.

To test my theory, I made a short trip in the neighborhood with her ff, and she didn't have a problem. I don't think it had to do with her being able to see me, in fact, I think she missed being able to see big brother, and also her MA is a little more reclined ff than rf, due to the way our captain's chairs in the Windstar slope.

So, what can be done for a motion sick rf child? So far the suggestions are small snacks through out the ride, ginger, and sea bands. Small snacks don't help, but I would like to get some ginger and sea bands. Any other suggestions? I am wondering if this could help more parents keep kids rear facing past 1 year. TIA!

[Kashi]

For quite a time, we had to give Bug either a half-dose of Benedryl or Gravol to get through any trip longer than about 5 to MAYBE 10 minutes.

[irishmama3]

Oh, I hope we don't have to do that. I'd hate to have to medicate her every time we go in the car. :(

[Kashi]

Oh, I hope we don't have to do that. I'd hate to have to medicate her every time we go in the car. :(

Well, it wasn't our first choice, but sometimes you actually HAVE to go in the car for one reason or another, and it was better than letting her be absolutely miserable and sick in those instances.

[bobandjess99]

I'm pretty sure dd wasmotion sick, and Iknow I get motion sick..forward facing is bad enough, but even a SECOND rearfacing and I puke. I took the train for a while a couple years ago and would have to end up arguing about not being in a Rfing seat,until finally I stopped arguing and let my vomit do the arguing for me. I won. every time. barf.

motion sickness can be extreme, and yes, giving dramamine, benadryl,etc might be necesary.

[irishmama3]

Oh, please don't think I was criticizing have to give meds! I'm just hoping that I don't have to, especially because our family has a history of side effects to meds (racing/irregular heartbeat with Benadryl, etc.) Sorry if it came across that I was criticizing, I wasn't at all. Just hope we can find a good solution before that, that's all.

That would really leave me with a dilema, reaction to meds or turn ff before age 2? :confused:

[SamPacey&Joshua]

Pacey used to get carsick (as in throwing up, not just nausea) on longer rides. He started around 1 year old and it happened everytime we drove on a certain rode (it was curvy and I used to get sick on that same road as a kid). He hasn't been sick on that road since he turned FF at 3 years old, so for him, a lot of it was RF. He does sometimes complain that his tummy hurts, but he hasn't thrown up.

ETA: I forgot to add what we did to try to minimize the carsickness :o . It's been a long day, lol. Feeding him a light meal/snack before going was a big help. It had to be something pretty bland (toast, crackers, etc.) with only a little sip of water to drink. We tried keeping the car cool, rolling windows down, making sure he had toys, etc, but I can't say I noticed any improvement with those things.

[skylinphoto]

My 1 year old gets carsick (vomiting) any time we are in the car..in the morning..if it's before 10am ish...she gets sick. Don't know why. She's fine any other time..except for morning car rides.
I haven't found a solution yet..
except avoiding the car in the mornings (for us this is relatively easy..thankfully).

I've been wanting to try the ginger and seabands as well..i haven't yet though.

[irishmama3]

Gripe water for colicky babies has ginger and fennel which should help. DD2 doesn't seem to have any pattern to her car sickness. I don't think I'm comfortable risking a bad reaction to medication just to keep her rf. An irregular or racing heart doesn't seem safer than ff.

[Murphy's Law]

My dd went through a phase around 17 months and I did turn her FF for a brief period of time because I wasn't sure what else to do (knowing what I know now, I wouldn't do it that way again). About 2 months later I tried her RF again and she did great. She stayed that way until she was about 3 and a half.

It's possible that this is just a phase and will be outgrown soon. I personally wouldn't turn a 14 month old FF. I play a lot of kids' music in my car, which seems to help, even with the young one. It is stressful to deal with a screaming kid in the car. I hope you can find some tricks that work and that it gets better soon.