Car sickness -- Last ditch effort before FF

Brooke789

New member
Does anyone have any advice that might help my DD to NOT get carsick?

Here is the rundown of what we've tried:
At 15M she started getting car sick. After the first time it happened it suddenly started happening every single time (seriously about 95%) we were in the car for as little as 5 minutes.
We started keeping the A/C blasting (even all winter...DH and I wear jackets), that made no difference.
We switched her side of the car because she had the tire partially blocking her view before (that did nothing).
We started using Motion Eaze (This made a slight difference - maybe 1 less puke per 2 weeks).
Got the Angle Adjuster (didn't make a difference)
At 17.5 months we started seeing a chiropractor. This made a huge huge huge difference. We went from puking 95% of the time to about 20%. It has stayed at about 20%.

Here is my dilemma -- now that she is going to turn 2 (this month) we're going to try turning her FF to see if this helps. I really want to keep her (and her twin brother) RF to 3, but I know it just feels awful for her and it would be great for us to NOT be dealing with puke all the time. We have to ride in the car 5 days a week and usually need to go somewhere on the weekends too.

We are still seeing the chiropractor weekly, using motion eaze and running the a/c full blast.

So....if you have any advice please let me know. I'm willing to try most things, but do realize I can't try thing that her twin brother won't be allowed to do!
 
ADS

T4K

Well-known member
Could there be something in her diet that causes upset and motion just aggravates it further? Say, like dairy?

I'm glad the chiro helps. Sorry I don't have further suggestions.
 

Brooke789

New member
We're dairy eaters -- so we're not willing to cut out dairy.

However, when she started getting car sick she had never had cows milk (she was still EBF). She did have cheese and yogurt regularly though. I assume this is not making a difference, but don't know how I could even find out without taking away her dairy and to be honest she wouldn't eat anything! (She won't drink soy milk and her favorite food is cheese).
 

T4K

Well-known member
Brooke789 said:
We're dairy eaters -- so we're not willing to cut out dairy.

However, when she started getting car sick she had never had cows milk (she was still EBF). She did have cheese and yogurt regularly though. I assume this is not making a difference, but don't know how I could even find out without taking away her dairy and to be honest she wouldn't eat anything! (She won't drink soy milk and her favorite food is cheese).

Unless you were dairy free while nursing, she had dairy.

ETA: dairy was just a suggestion. So many times, "our" GI problems are related to diet whether it's gluten, soy, dairy, or whatever. My daughter was super refluxy when she was itty bitty and I cut dairy and soy out of my diet (nursing her) to cut down on her reflux.
 

Brooke789

New member
Yeah, I wasn't dairy free. I didn't drink milk but I definitely ate cheese, had cream in my coffee and sour cream on occasion!

We never had any issues (tummy or otherwise) based on my diet.
 

babyherder

Well-known member
So....if you have any advice please let me know. I'm willing to try most things, but do realize I can't try thing that her twin brother won't be allowed to do!

My only advice to to not worry about having her and her brother do the same thing all the time. They can't. I wouldn't give one of them ice cream every day while the other one watches or anything extreme but some differences are ok. If one kid is ff and one is rf that does't mean one has a privilege the other doesn't. It just means one needs something and the other needs something different.
 

Brooke789

New member
Yes, we're planning on keeping DS RFing after DD turns, but honestly if it causes drama every car ride I will turn him FF, also. My main though with my statement was eating in the car. We don't eat in the car. None of us do and I don't want either of them to. Some people recommend snacking in the car for carsickness. That is something we haven't tried. I don't think it is safe, so DD has not had the opportunity to snack on something while riding down the road. I wouldn't let her (even to try) because I don't want DS eating in the car either. They are too young to understand that she is doing it for her health.

Also, with two years under my belt with twins tells me you MUST do the same with each. If one does it the other does too. It just doesn't work like that to treat them differently. (At least not at this age).
 

Brooke789

New member
I'm really surprised that you guys are saying to turn her. I've posted seeking advice over the last 9 months on another forum and everyone gave me horror stories telling me they wouldn't turn their child FF before 3, etc. Even someone who actually did have a child that got sick every single time he was in the car, yet she did not turn him FF. That makes me feel a little better. We won't turn her until after her birthday, but that does make me feel like it is OK is our situation.

BTW, I have no reason to think it has anything to do with food allergies. The only food allergy in our family is my shellfish allergy. We've had zero issues with food (even while I was BFing).
 

Brigala

CPST Instructor
Frequent vomiting is a serious medical issue that can have long-term consequences. There's a small but significant chance you could get in an accident, and an even smaller chance that the difference between RF and FF will make a "lasting" difference if you do get in a wreck. But there's a very very strong chance that if you can't get the vomiting under control that she'll have lasting damage to her esophagus. In the grand scheme of things, if FF solves the problem and nothing else solves it, then FF is probably the best choice.

Facing her forward may not help. It seems to me from the many posts I've read on the subject that it usually doesn't help, but sometimes it does and it's worth trying. The only other things I'd try before that (in addition to what's already working) would be a sippy cup of strong ginger ale and some accupressure device such as Sea-Bands.

If these don't work, I would try turning her only (not her brother) and if it doesn't help, switch her back to RF. If she's going to be puking anyway she might as well be safer in the car. Worry about whether to turn the brother too after (a) you see whether it helps and (b) you see whether the kids even make a fuss about it being different. They may really like being able to see each other with one RF and one FF.

I have no idea whether a dietary change is in order, but whether you are "dairy eaters" or not is irrelevant. If your child has a food sensitivity, that child needs to not eat that food - whether that's dairy or soy or nuts or wheat or whatever. Eliminating dairy for a couple of weeks won't kill you or your child, and if it solves the problem then that indicates she has some kind of sensitivity. It's not a matter of "should we eliminate dairy OR should we face her forward" but rather "Is dairy making my child sick?" Because if she's vomiting due to something in her diet, even if facing her forward reduces the symptoms the offending food is still making her sick.

Believe me, we're dairy eaters too. My son had to be dairy free for a year while his body healed from damage due to eating gluten (my son and I are both sensitive to gluten). I won't lie. It SUCKED to have someone in the house who couldn't eat dairy. But it sucks worse to have a child who is less healthy than he should be. And, fortunately, he healed up and started tolerating milk again, so we're back to "just" being a gluten free household.
 

babyherder

Well-known member
I'd ff your dd after age 2 and if it helps the car sickness I wouldn't give it a second thought. Good for you for making it this long!

I start to feel carsick on an empty stomach so snacking does help me. I would let your dd try it when you feel she's old enough for it to be safe if she's still getting car sick. For shorter trips maybe feeding her right before you leave would help so she's not traveling on an empty stomach.
 

newyorkDOC

New member
DD threw up every car ride until ~2.5. I tried turning her once at 2 just to see if it'd make a difference and she puked even worse than when she was RF.

In the end, we never let her eat less than an hour before getting into the car. No car seat mirror either. She had those bracelets too but I don't think they did much. I still sit in the back with her bc she still pukes occasionally. She can aim for a bag but she can't clean herself up. She's 3y5m and still RF.
 

ketchupqueen

CPST and ketchup snob
Staff member
a sippy cup of strong ginger ale

While I love ginger beer for nausea- works wonders- soda in a sippy cup is a bad, bad, bad idea! LOL! (Don't ask me how I know what happens when you put carbonated drinks in a sippy cup. Ahem.)

I'd try ginger tea sweetened with sugar and cooled instead. ;)

I would also consider an elimination diet. The most common offenders in small children (unless you eat a lot of seafood) are dairy, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, wheat. Believe me, I know the suckness of eliminating foods to figure out if they're making a kid sick, and I know even more the suckness of living without certain foods (soy- my daughter's allergen- is in practically everything, grumble. Now we get to avoid peanuts too.) But having a healthy child is so worth it. :)
 

MommyShannon

New member
Big hugs. My girls and I get car sick a lot too. It got tons worse after moving to where the roads are really curvy. We really miss the flat straight roads Oklahoma. Even there, DD used to get carsick and throw up at least a few times a month when she was little. I didn't know anything about ERF and turned her at 1. She puked just as much FF. I agree with trying FF, but there is a good chance it won't help since you have her sitting fairly upright already. Heck, i get really nauseous and I'm FF and know i should look out the front not sides, eat crackers, etc. As she got older, it got better and now just happens on longer trips, but obviously she is old enough to tell us before it's really bad. Then came DD2 and hers was worse. Not 95% of the time but a lot! Taking DD to school everyday sucked since I knew she was likely to get sick. I finally stopped feeding her before the morning drive since she would just throw up. The afternoons were less likely to make her sick. The #1 thing that helps her is keeping air blowing right on her face. Our van has vents over each seat and I can guarantee if hers isn't pointed right, she's likely going to throw up. That's how I am too. Yep, our AC was used all winter too and DS and DD had snuggis in the car. Being cool isn't enough, we need air blowing on our faces. I've seen the idea on here to run flexible tubing like dryer hose from a vent to the car seat if she doesn't have an overhead vent. Driving style makes a big difference too. DH can make all us girls sick pretty fast. He doesn't drive dangerously but he takes curves and hills faster than I do and accelerates and slows down more jerky. I have to ask him (ok tell him) to slow down or I will puke. Surprisingly since her 2nd bday, it's been much, much, much better! I think she'd is outgrowing it to a point. She also had an ear infection and bad build up of wax removed recently so I'm wondering if that's part of it. Good luck, I hope your DD starts feeling better and outgrowing it soon.
 

Brooke789

New member
I've been researching carsickness for the last 9 months and I'm really surprised that so many think it could be a food sensitivity. I have never read that before. How could a sensitivity only show itself in motion sickness?

We don't have vents in the back of our car (Rav4). I guess we could do some sort of clip on fan, but then that would be a projectile.

I think we're going to plan on FFing her at 2 and we can move her to the middle seat where she can have the air blowing straight on her face from the front seat.

I am hoping that they will actually enjoy facing each other with on RF and on FF, but we'll just have to see what happens.

Thanks everyone for the advice!
 

T4K

Well-known member
Brooke789 said:
I've been researching carsickness for the last 9 months and I'm really surprised that so many think it could be a food sensitivity. I have never read that before. How could a sensitivity only show itself in motion sickness?

We don't have vents in the back of our car (Rav4). I guess we could do some sort of clip on fan, but then that would be a projectile.

I think we're going to plan on FFing her at 2 and we can move her to the middle seat where she can have the air blowing straight on her face from the front seat.

I am hoping that they will actually enjoy facing each other with on RF and on FF, but we'll just have to see what happens.

Thanks everyone for the advice!

I was just suggesting something sort of of-the-wall since it sounded like conventional methods failed. Since the chiro was brought up, I thought maybe going another "alternate" route could be explored.

It's kind of like me not wanting to eat a huge greasy meal right before running 10 miles (some people can). Some foods may just trigger motion sickness in certain people.

I'm not saying I think it's the case, I was just trying to bring up something that may not have been thought of.
 

julia94115

Active member
Another suggestion- coming from someone VERY prone to motion sickness...(me)

Is she frequently congested or runny nose, sneezy, etc? Having motion sickness comes from an imbalance in the inner ear. It is also hereditary. If she has any fluid at all in her inner ears, she will get motion sickness much quicker. For adults and older children (not sure about young kids) it is suggested to take a decongestant to help "dry up" any excess fluid in the ears. Being a scuba diver and "adventure" traveler, I have indeed found that this helps me tremendously.

So, just something else to look at/think about, if not now but for future motion sickness issues.

Poor thing. It is a miserable feeling to be car sick, especially so frequently. :(
 

JOII

Active member
Regarding the food allergies/intolerance, my son used to get car sick, but only on trips longer than 2 hours, so not near the severity of your daughters. We travel to Ohio frequently, which is a 5-6 hour drive and he would get sick twice each time, every time, on the trips both there and back from about age 2, till a few months ago. He has some behavioral and other issues so we decided to try gluten free last October. He hasn't got car sick on our trips since. It could be some freakishly strange coincidence, but it true. So it worked for us, not saying it will work for you, but if she does have other symptoms of intolerances, it may be something worth looking into.

Eta: oh, being ff didn't help, in fact it got worse when he went ff :(
 

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