Motion sickness: how to help your child
7 June 2012
The car is packed and you’re ready to embark on a great family adventure. As you see the city buildings getting smaller in your rear-view mirror, the stress ebbs away. Then you hear the dreaded words, “my tummy doesn’t feel well”. The child who was once an easy traveler has suddenly developed motion sickness. Who knew that the trip to paradise could so easily turn into a messy nightmare? Is there anything you can do?
What is motion sickness?
Motion sickness can happen from any kind of movement. In general, people tend to get motion sickness on a moving boat, train, airplane, car, or amusement park rides. It occurs when your brain receives conflicting messages. When your child is in a car, their body senses movement but if she is not looking out the window, her eyes tell her she is not moving. This causes confusion for the brain, which in turn activates a response that can make the child sick.
Motion sickness is most intense when the movement is at right angles to the body (e.g. curving motions) and is most frequent with up and down motions (e.g. in a roller-coaster or going up and down hills).[1]
Children under 2 years don’t usually experience symptoms, and those between 3 to 12 years are most susceptible.
Signs and symptoms
Motion sickness usually begins with an upset stomach. A cold sweat, loss of energy and appetite may follow. Sometimes, this progresses to vomiting. A young child may not be able to describe the feeling, but will demonstrate it by becoming pale and squirmy, and then yawning and crying.
What can you do?
Don’t panic, your trip may not be ruined. Motion sickness usually stops when the movements does. Thus, the first thing to do is to stop the activity that is causing the problem. If you’re in a car, stop as soon as you can and let your child walk around. If your car trip is long, frequent stops may be necessary. Also, you may want to try the following:
- Give your child a light snack before the trip. Hunger pains seem to add to the symptoms. Avoid acidic foods, including fruit juice and carbonated beverages. Good food to eat includes oatmeal, bread and bananas;
- Try to focus your child’s attention away from their queasy feeling. Listen to the radio, talk or sing;
- Have her look outside the car – not at books or games that can lead her to focus her vision on one area of the car; [2]
- If nothing works, remover her from the car and have her lie on her back for a few minutes. A cool cloth on the head may also help.
Medications
If you are going on a trip and your child has had motion sickness before, you may want to consider medication, which may prevent some of the symptoms. Although you can purchase some of these medications without a prescription, it is always wise to talk with your pediatrician before using them.
When to be worried
If your child has symptoms of motion sickness when she is not involved in a movement activity, talk with your pediatrician. Symptoms such as headache, difficulty in walking, in hearing, in seeing or in talking may be signs of a greater problem.
Did you know?
- Up to one third of military flight trainees become airsick at some point in their training and about 1 in 5 suffers severe airsickness;
- Motion sickness is more often experienced by females than by males;
- Car travel is the most common cause of motion sickness in children, however, the more they travel, the more they get used to the motion[3].
References
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