This is very odd; please advise if you can.

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
My daughter gets carsick every now and then -- very rarely. It is always when she is riding in the RN65 and never in the RN80. She has been complaining that she doesn't like the RN65 because it doesn't have pillows. I'll be ordering the Comfy-Soft for her, but could it really make a difference in her getting carsick or not? It happens so infrequently that it could just be a coincidence, but I still wonder.
 
ADS

Patriot201

Car-Seat.org Ambassador
Could it be that she rests her head on the pillows in the RN80, which helps her relax, thus reducing the nausea?

Or maybe it is a placebo effect. :confused:
 

lovinwaves

New member
Or maybe it is a placebo effect. :confused:

That's what I am thinking.

Could have started out as a coincidence, but now she is pinning it down to a particular carseat.

There are many factors that come into play with car sickness. I would try and eliminate all of those in addition to adding the comfort pillow.

I don't know much about the subies, but could it be that they ride differently and that is making her sick? Caddys, and Lexus's do me in big time. Blech.

Hope she does better. That must be so frustrating :(
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
She hasn't made the connection between the seats and the sick -- I have, and I haven't voiced it to her. She's just stated that she likes the pillows better. And we've switched the seats between cars a few times (not because of the sick issue) and I'm pretty sure she's gotten sick in both cars, but always in the RN65.

(And it's been about 4 times in the last year, so while it's no fun for her, it's not a pressing issue either. It's just odd to me.)
 

Brilliantmama

New member
maybe she just tends to be more mellow and relaxed in her 80 because of the cushy pillows.

Hey, if you can fix carsickness with pillows, I'd buy them!
 

Monzie

New member
Hmmmm.... I wonder if the problem is that the 65 is secured outboard and she's turning her head to look out the window. I have terrible motion sickness and the absolute worst thing I could do would be to look out of a side window at the scenery going past. Could you install your 65 in the middle, like your 80, and remove the temptation to stare out the side window? Or could you just advise her to keep looking straight ahead rather than sideways?

When I was a kid, sitting in the backseat of my father's Mustang was torture because it had huge bucket seats in front that blocked my view of everything. But if I looked out the side window, I'd get sick. If I tried to read, I'd get sick. So my only choice was to stare straight ahead at the back of my Dad's seat. It wasn't so bad when we were just heading to the mall or something. But on a three day family road trip to Florida? An absolute nightmare!
 
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carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
I really need to update my sig: the RN65 is now center as well. But you may be onto something with the head movement, because she does not move her head as much in the RN80 with the pillows.
 

Wineaux

New member
Motion sickness is an issue with the inner ear.

The Anatomy Of Balance
Dizziness, vertigo, and motion sickness all relate to the sense of balance and equilibrium. Researchers in space and aeronautical medicine call this sense spatial orientation, because it tells the brain where the body is "in space:" what direction it is pointing, what direction it is moving, and if it is turning or standing still.

Your sense of balance is maintained by a complex interaction of the following parts of the nervous system:

The inner ears (also called the labyrinth), which monitor the directions of motion, such as turning, or forward-backward, side-to-side, and up-and-down motions.
The eyes, which monitor where the body is in space (i.e. upside down, rightside up, etc.) and also directions of motion.
The skin pressure receptors such as in the joints and spine, which tell what part of the body is down and touching the ground.
The muscle and joint sensory receptors, which tell what parts of the body are moving.
The central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord), which processes all the bits of information from the four other systems to make some coordinated sense out of it all.
The symptoms of motion sickness and dizziness appear when the central nervous system receives conflicting messages from the other four systems.

For example, suppose you are riding through a storm, and your airplane is being tossed about by air turbulence. But your eyes do not detect all this motion because all you see is the inside of the airplane. Then your brain receives messages that do not match with each other. You might become "air sick."

Or suppose you are sitting in the back seat of a moving car reading a book. Your inner ears and skin receptors will detect the motion of your travel, but your eyes see only the pages of your book. You could become "car sick."

Or, to use a true medical condition as an example, suppose you suffer inner ear damage on only one side from a head injury or an infection. The damaged inner ear does not send the same signals as the healthy ear. This gives conflicting signals to the brain about the sensation of rotation, and you could suffer a sense of spinning, vertigo, and nausea.

I am guessing that the "pillows" help with the visual issues that cause the motion sickness. They also should help with your child's head moving around a lot while the car is moving. Yet another one of the sensory issues related to motion sickness. I'm guessing that a BV would also relieve your little one's motion sickness as well.
 

carseatcoach

Carseat Crankypants
She is long-torsoed and has outgrown a Marathon by height, so I don't think a Boulevard will work. I'm hoping the cushions help; if not, we'll just make sure she's in the RN80 for any long-ish trips.
 

my3sweeties

New member
I'm sure you've thought of this, but my DS gets sick every single time he looks down to look at a book or picture or anything like that. Sometimes I'll think "just this once won't hurt" and he gets sick. Anything with looking down?
 

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