Question Very Car Sick Baby

So as the title suggests, I have a very car sick 18 month old baby. She did fine until she hit about 1 year and since then she has thrown up on nearly every car ride since. We've moved her to a new seat, moved her around the car, used benadryl, used the wrist bands, made sure she was well ventilated...you get the idea!

I think the time has come to consider trying forward facing. I really don't want to do that, but all of our other options seem to be exhausted.

I've been looking at various car seats that have special ff technology, and am intrigued by foonf's REACT technology and Britax's Safe Cell. My hope is that facing forward will be temporary, and that she will eventually be able to RF again once her motion sickness gets under control.

I'm trying to measure head excursion but of course it's hard when foonf released its testing and says it reduces head excursion by 40%, but Britax says only that it is "best in class". Are they even in the same class?

Obviously I just want to do what will keep my daughter safe, which will likely mean just limiting driving with her as much as possible. When I MUST travel with her, I'd like her to be in the safest seat.

Obviously if someone has any miracle car sickness cure I would love to hear about that too, but I'm most interested in knowing if Foonf's React/Britax SafeCell is "worth it" and actually does offer substantial head protectionl

My DD was the sane way until 2.5.
I tried her FF and she puked all the same. So before investing in another seat, I'd just turn her in her current seat for a ride and see if she barfs.
Lollipops helped marginally. I bought some all natural vegetable based lollies at the organic grocery store.
What made the most difference was ensuring that at least one hr had passed between any food consumption and getting in the car.
Oh and the RF mirror has to go too.

Oh and teach her to aim for a bucket. I have a small hello kitty bucket in the back and I line it with a baggies. And always tie her hair back so she's not puking in it when leaning over.

All I can say is that before you buy the foonf make sure that she wouldn't vomit while being FF... Apparently it is possible to remove the cover but I am still waiting for Clek to get back to me on that one... For small stains, you can just wipe it off, great fabric for that!!

Also, in order for REACT to work, the seat has to be attached with LATCH. Since the LATCH weight restriction of 65# (car seat + baby), I use seatbelt and LATCH which Clek allows.


Good luck!!

Mag

PS: have you tried to giver some ginger? It's supposed to help with upset stomach.

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What seat is she in now and what seat did you move her from? Is it possible to have her sit more upright? This would be the first thing I try.

My DD2 threw up all the time at that age too. I was frustrated but right around 2 she stopped almost completely and continued RF until right before her. 4th birthday. My oldest was the same except we turned her FF at 1 before knowing better. She still threw up just as much. I would really look at what she eats. It could be a food allergy or intolerance that shows up more in combination with car sickness. The biggest thing with my girls (and me) is having cold, cold air blowing on their faces. Luckily our van has vents over each seat. Even in the winter I'd have the A/C as cold as it would go and give the kids blankets. I've heard of people using flexible ducts ( like dryer vent hoses) to route air straight back. You'd just have to find a way to secure it safely with things that won't become projectiles. The other thing was just making cleanup as easy as possible. Use a big bib over the harness, towels on the sides, etc. Good luck. It's miserable dealing with this.
ETA: I would give DD2 cold wash cloths in the car too. Did she switch to cow's milk right around 1. That might be the first thing to try eliminating.

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I didn't realize that the foonf's cover couldn't be completely removed. That could definitely prove to be problematic!

Right now she's in a CA 65. She's in the most upright position, but that hasn't seemed to help. We moved her from the Onboard Air 35 because she outgrew it by height. She's really a lightweight and only weighs 22lbs, but she's 30 inches tall and has a 12 inch shoulder height (roughly, measured while she was spread out asleep). Looking at Dorel they say 32 inches is the height limit, but she is definitely less than an inch from the top.

We're also in a van so I have that vent blowing on her all the time. I had thought about finding the preggie pops for her, but was worried about the choking hazard. Ugh, it's definitely a rock and a hard place since she vomits so violently in the car.

Unregistered said:

Thanks for all the replies, everyone. I didn't realize that the foonf's cover couldn't be completely removed. That could definitely prove to be problematic!

Click to expand...

According to the owner's manual it can be removed and it refers us to the "support" section online but I haven't found anything on the support page about how to remove the cover... I have e-mailed Clek a while ago but no answer... I will resend the e-mail and see what they say... When hear back from them, I'll let you know.

I truly hope that you'll find a way to keep her RF!!

Mag

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There is a thing called a "noggle" that connects to the vent to route air to a child in the back.

This is going to sound crazy but is there a possibility there could be something in her diet that makes her vomit? Dairy for example?

ETA: looks like another poster mentioned something similar

DD2 had a CA, Roundabout 55, and TrueFit. It didn't seem to matter which seat she was in. I'd really look at her diet and maybe even do an elimination diet, but dairy would be the first I'd try. Try keeping the air as cold as it goes right on her face. Every time I didn't realize the vent had been moved and wasn't on her face, she threw up. She threw up even with it, but always did without it.

Is she able to see outside in her current seat? Since motion sickness usually comes from mixed signals between the eyes and the inner ears, one of the great advantages of the foonf is that it sits so high that my kids are now able to see out while RF, maybe it would help...

Great suggestions also about the elimination diet! I would even go further since we usually don't know what to eliminate first, I would give her veggies, fruits, meat and fish and that's it for at least a week (two weeks would be better) and see how it goes. No refined sugar, no dairy, no eggs, no gluten. If symptoms are gone then you know that it was food related and you can slowly reintroduce those food, one kind per week.

I know this may sound extreme but believe me, food can do crazy things to you and not in a good way :-( especially food that we have here in the US!!

HTH,

Mag

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I would definitely do absolutely every thing in my power to avoid FF such a tiny babe. I swear The Car Seat Lady invented a magic car seat vomit bib. I'll look that up.

I agree with everyone else about the diet.

Did you switch from her infant seat to the CA right at a year when her car sickness started? Maybe she's a kid that does better more reclined, you could try reclining her seat back to 45 degrees.

In the opposite direction, that seat has big head wings, maybe she'd do better in a seat where she could see on all sides.

I found the "puking poncho" here : http://hyenacart.com/KidCozy/mt/2429/64047/Neat-n-Cozy