Plan ahead for summer trips to avoid car sickness
The family car trip is a time-honored American tradition, especially as the weather gets warmer.
Car travel can be a great way to visit friends and family, and to see the sights. But it can be considerably less enjoyable if you have a child who suffers from car sickness.
Car sickness is a form of motion sickness, like airsickness, sea sickness and other experiences of getting nauseous when moving.
Motion sickness can occur when the brain receives conflicting signals. For example, if a child is riding in a car and reading a book or playing a video game rather than looking outside, the inner ear feels the motion of the car, but the child's eyes, arms and legs do not send the brain a message of motion.
You can plan your trip to lessen the risk if you have a child who is prone to car sickness.
For example, if your child is young enough to take naps, try to schedule your car trips for a time when the child is likely to fall asleep.
"With older children, the best thing you can do is have them avoid reading and screen time, and have them keep their eyes focused on the horizon," said Dr. Henry "Elie" Schwartz, a pediatrician at Amita Health Alexian Brothers Medical Center Elk Grove Village and Amita Health St. Alexius Medical Center Hoffman Estates.
Children often feel less car sick if they sit in the middle of the back seat, because that encourages them to look straight ahead to the horizon.
"If they are older than 12, they can sit in the front seat," Schwartz said.
Keep meals small and food bland right before you leave and during your car trip. For some children, saltine crackers can help to settle the stomach.
"Sucking on a little ginger candy or sipping ginger ale also can help," Schwartz said.
Another possible remedy: running the air conditioning or opening car windows to increase cool ventilation.
If your child gets car sick despite your best efforts, pull over and let the child walk around a little. A cool cloth on the forehead can help, as can having the child lay down in the grass and close his or her eyes.
There are medications that can help prevent car sickness. The most common over-the-counter medications are antihistamines such as Benadryl and Dramamine.
There also is a prescription patch that goes behind the ear. And some people report success from an acupressure bracelet.
"The problem with all the medications is that they are sedating," Schwartz said. "It's a trade-off between the length of the trip and the length of the sedation."
For example, if your trip is 30 minutes and the child will be drowsy for four hours, you might want to try other ways to deal with car sickness.
Finally, Schwartz said, remember that most people outgrow car sickness by the time they reach their teens.
• Children's health is a continuing series. This week's article is courtesy of Amita Health, which is a joint operating company formed by the Adventist Health System in Altamonte Springs, Florida., and St. Louis-based Ascension. With the addition of Presence Health, Amita Health is now the largest health system in Illinois, comprising 19 hospitals and more than 230 sites of care. For more information about Amita Health's pediatric programs, visit www.amitahealth.org.