Helping your car sick child

I have been thinking about our summer Utah trip lately and how i have got to make it a more enjoyable experience for all involved. I am talking about the 14 hour drive to get there and to get home. My oldest gets car sick. He has never thrown up in the car but he is usually in the back seat crying that he feels sick and has to get out of the car, that is usually about 1 hour into the trip.

I decided to do a little research and try to be prepared this time. I thought i would share my findings with all of you in case you have the same problems with your little ones.

I found this helpful information on momsminivan.com:

Tips for Prevention or Treatment of Car Sickness

• Peppermints...lots of LifeSaver Peppermints, or peppermint candies. Keep a supply in the car
• Ginger snap cookies. Eat a couple before you start the trip and then periodically during the trip. This tip was recommended by several readers!
• Avoid reading in the car, particularly on winding bumpy roads. Be sure to keep eye focus mainly to front. This helps the brain process sensory data and avert the vertigo.
• Use Seabands, which are wrist bands with a small round metal button that presses into the inside of each wrist. They are tight & work by acupressure. Some people swear by them! Also called, "No Queeze Wrist Bands"
• Place the child in the middle of the backseat so they can see out the front, rather than the sides, which can appear as a blur.
• Pick a spot as far away as you can see and just focus on that for a few minutes not the road whizzing by
• Breath deep through your mouth, not your nose.
• Stick your hand out the window, just a little bit; whether it is 100 degrees or 10 degrees.
• Fresh water and saltine crackers
• Keep empty 3-pound butter tubs in the van with their covers, so that in case of an accident, you can re-cover the tub until you reach a place you can empty and rinse it out.
• Keep plenty of lollipops on hand. You can even get special motion sickness ones called Queasy Pops.
• A cool face cloth. The minute someone feels that urge come on, hand them a peppermint and have them place the cool face cloth on their forehead.
• Ginger root capsules, ginger ale and plain cake donuts!!
• An ice pack applied to the back of the neck -- ten minutes on, ten minutes off -- works wonders.
• Wear wrap around sun glasses
• Take Benadryl or Drammamine 1-1/2 hour prior to drive. Don't wait until you are already on the road or it will be too late. Consult a doctor if necessary before using!(You May not be able to use Drammamine with young children, read the age warnings, also Benadryl makes some children hyper as apposed to sleepy, just a heads up on that)
  
• Keep a bottle of Fabreeze to get rid of accident odors
• Never travel without a big tub of wet wipes!
• Keep an extra change of clothing easily available for all travelers

I think there are a lot of great tips in that article and i plan on using several of them the next time we make that LONG trip to Utah.

On a somewhat related note...Do any of you own one of these? Found on Amazon

Have any of you sworn that you NEVER would own one of these? I did, until i had boy #2. I will be purchasing one of these as soon as he refuses to be strapped into a stroller, which is coming soon. I use to make fun of them and say that i would never put my child on a leash but.....boy #2 usually acts like a out of control puppy so i guess i should leash him like one. Really he is all over the place and i actually think he would like this cuddly restraint system. It would be great for the airport or zoo i think.

Do any of you have kids that get car sick? If so do you have any tips to add? I am hoping to find one of the above remedies that works on our next road trip.

- Jaime