turned FF, now car sick?

CEVmommy

New member
My 3.5 yo has been RF in the Marathon and this weekend I turned her FF in the Nautilus for the first time. Afterward, she kept complaining that her tummy hurt and she cried on our car trips. She thought she might have to poop, but when we brought her to the bathroom she didn't. When we got back in the car, it started again. This happened every time we were in the car this weekend. I thought maybe the seat or the straps on the Nautilus were just less comfortable than the Marathon maybe, but she says it's fine when I first strap her in before we go. My husband had the idea last night that she's getting car sick, but that she just doesn't know how to describe the feeling. She has not actually vomited as of yet, she just feels bad. DH used to get car sick as a child all the time though.

It seems to me that most people have the opposite problem - their child feels car sick when RF and turning them FF helps. My child was fine RF though. I suggested returning the Nauti and getting her a high weight RF seat instead, but DH is very opposed to that at this point. He's been ready for her to FF for a long time now.

So, any ideas on what the problem might be and how to solve it?
 
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mylittlet

Senior Community Member
Can you try her ff in the ma? To find out if its the seat maybe.

I would rf in another seat if you can. She is not even 30# yet, even though she is 3.5 y.
 

babygirlsmom1005

New member
Personally, I would turn her back around and keep her that way for as long as possible (but I do have my 4+ year old RF'ing - I turned her back RF'ing at her own request - well request = begging LOL).

That will be a discussion your DH and you need to have. What are his reasons for him "being ready" for her to turn FF'ing? If your DD isn't comfortable FF'ing and it's indeeded causing the issues, I would think her comfort at this point would over-ride your DH's choice of which way she faces.
 

TechnoGranola

Forum Ambassador
She's a small 3.5 year old and if RF stops the queasy feeling, I'd totally flip her back (well, I'd flip her back anyway, my personal minimum for FF is age 4). What didn't your husband like about her RF?

How tall is her torso? At her height, if her torso isn't overally tall, she should still have 2-3" of growing room RF in the MA and still have room with regards to weight (does your MA go to 35#?). If you were finding the leg room squishy, at her size (again, assuming not a super tall torso) you could try the MR which should take her to 4 and older but with a greater weight limit and much more leg room than the MA.

The new Radians are a good choice too although whether or not they'll fit RF depends on your vehicle. The MR fits in most any vehicle.
 

abigaylebelle

Active member
I was a very car sick kid so I can commiserate with your dd on that one. Is it perhaps that she can't see out the windows in the nautilus? The marathon sits up high off the seat so when she was rf she could see out but now that she is lower she can't. If that is the case then she could ride either rf or ff in her marathon since it sits up on the base. Just a thought.
Honestly, I would do whatever I could to prevent the carsickness, maybe put her seat in a spot where she can see out the front or back window. If riding rf fixes it, I would definitely keep her rf as long as possible. Good luck
 

CEVmommy

New member
Our Marathon goes to 33# RF, and she's only in the 2nd slots. She's not going to outgrow it any time soon. That wasn't the problem. But my baby is growing out of the Snugride, so we want to put her in the Marathon and put the 3.5 yo in a new seat. And as long as we were putting her in a new seat, I agreed that she could FF. DH just thinks she's "too old", not any good reason really - I've been delaying it since she was 2. And she's started noticing that other kids (friends, on TV) ride FF and she wanted to do it too. I guess the only legit issue he has with her RF is that it pushes the driver's seat so far forward in his car, but we had even gotten that to be manageable with the Marathon.

I can try her FF in the Marathon, but then I'd still need another seat. We are visiting friends with a MR in 2 weeks, so maybe we can try her in that and see if DH likes it. It will be a hard sell though, since I did just buy two Nauti's...
 

CEVmommy

New member
I wonder if riding in the center vs outerboard should make any difference? I installed in in the center in my car (Taurus), and outerboard in DH's car (Acura TSX), but we've only driven in his car with it so far. Maybe I should try her in the center in my car and see if that helps. If so, I can try to take his car to a tech to see if I can get help installing it in the center in DH's car (next to the RF Marathon).
 

abacus2

Well-known member
I find that reminding my oldest to look out the window helps with carsickness. I'm guessing that's the issue here, that she was regularly looking out the window while RFing, but isn't now.
 

Calideedle

New member
My DD just turned 4yrs-old. She wanted to ride FFing so 2 months ago we turned her. Since then she has got car sick on almost every ride! She is RFing again now.

I'd turn your DD back around just because I know how awful it was for DD.
 

aeormsby

New member
What seating position is the seat in? (and what vehicle?) I'd also guess that it's because she can't see as well. We switched my DD from a FF MA to a Frontier and she can't see out the side windows anymore because she's sitting so much lower. She's happiest FF in the center so she can see out the front window, but the Frontier isn't compatible with that spot.

So if you can fit the 2 seats side by side I'd try putting her in the center and hopefully she can see out the front (that's what helps the most when I get motion sickness.)

Ann
 

dogmelissa

New member
DH just thinks she's "too old", not any good reason really - I've been delaying it since she was 2. And she's started noticing that other kids (friends, on TV) ride FF and she wanted to do it too. I guess the only legit issue he has with her RF is that it pushes the driver's seat so far forward in his car, but we had even gotten that to be manageable with the Marathon.

I can try her FF in the Marathon, but then I'd still need another seat. We are visiting friends with a MR in 2 weeks, so maybe we can try her in that and see if DH likes it. It will be a hard sell though, since I did just buy two Nauti's...

Couple thoughts here (non-tech not-quite-mom opinion);
1. Has your DH seen any of the videos/read any information on ERF? Here's a couple of recent articles that you/he might not have seen: http://tinyurl.com/kuf9wo & http://tinyurl.com/y8hao4q I would encourage him to get educated on what is the safest choice for your children - things have changed in recent years and all sources say that children should stay RF until they reach the limits of their seat, regardless of age (basically) and many seats have a RF limit of 35 lbs or higher now!
2. If the driver's seat is being pushed too far forward the first thing you should check is the angle of her seat - I assume that you don't still have it at the 45 degree angle necessary for an infant? If that doesn't solve the problem with his seat, I'm wondering if an install in a different seating location (middle?) might help, as she's old enough to be able to crawl into the seat on her own and all you'd have to do is reach over and buckle her up rather than trying to lift her in.
3. Re: DD seeing others FF, I would have a discussion with her reminding her first that her safety is the most important thing to you and her facing the back is safer. Also it seems that FF does make her car sick, so even if she wants to do what others are doing, if it's not comfortable for her that's probably a good argument to keep her RF - she's happier that way!
4. I'm not 100% sure, it depends on store policy, but you *might* be able to return the Nauti's or at least exchange them for something else. You might want to consider another convertible for DD (the MA can still go to the baby), whether that's a True Fit (RF to 35# I believe) or perhaps a new Radian XTSL which is RF to 45 lbs! You'd definitely want to try any new seat RF to see how it fits with the driver's seat and checking to make sure you can get a good tight install on it but if you can get a good install on either of these seats, DD will be able to stay RF longer, thus potentially avoiding the car-sickness issue altogether or at least putting it off for a year or more.
If you're unable to return the Nauti's, I'm sure that you'd be able to sell them - you might not get full price for them since they're 'technically' used, but considering how much use you've put into them you should be able to get practically all of your money back for them; if you haven't lost any/much money on the purchase then it's harder to use that as a reason to not buy something else. (You may find that you need a different seat for the vehicle DH drives vs the one that you drive if driver's seat position is very different.)

Last resort: I do agree with the PP who said to try DD FF in the MA. If she's not as affected in that seat, then you could try returning/exchanging/selling the Nauti's for a pair of new MAs - either keep DD in the current MA and put the baby in a new one or vice versa. Just make sure that whoever is in the current one gets a new seat before it expires.

HTH & good luck,
Melissa
 

scatterbunny

New member
My daughter did start getting carsick (vomiting and all) once she was turned forward-facing. It didn't seem to matter what seat she was using, but the vehicle seemed to make a difference. Cars where you "feel the road" a lot seemed to be worse, "floaty" rides seemed better. But for a period of 4ish years, she vomited on pretty much every car ride longer than 20 minutes. It was hard until we got the hang of it. Now we just pack a receptacle for her to vomit in, a gallon of water, some rags, and a clean change of clothing, just in case. We also started pulling her hair back from her face before a road trip. At 3-4, my dd was able to reliably aim into a bowl/bag and keep the mess to a minimum. We also started talking with her about her feelings, and around 4-5 she started being able to tell me when she was feeling bad, so we could find a safe spot to pull over for a breath of fresh air. For the 75 mile trip to visit our family, we usually have to stop at least twice for fresh air, to let her get out of the car and stretch her legs. It's been about 3-4 months since she vomited in the car, and before that, it had been 3-4 months, as well. So, there is hope! :) I would turn her back RF if you could, but if not, the motion sickness might just have to be managed until it gets better.

You could also try Dramamine or some other motion sickness medicine, but we used it only a couple of times, and while it worked, it made dd a zombie that kind of scared me. :eek:
 

swtgi1982

New member
Personally, I would turn her back around and keep her that way for as long as possible (but I do have my 4+ year old RF'ing - I turned her back RF'ing at her own request - well request = begging

You had a begger too?? :D DD did this at 3yrs old this summer! We had a 35lber scenera and she outgrew it by height, so we got her the complete air and she was in heaven!
 

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