Motion Sickness
Apparently motion sickness is written in your genes and it’s therefore hereditary. So given that I get sick when riding backwards in a black cab or when I’m waiting on the platforms for a motorboat in Venice, my poor son was bound to have a motion sickness issue.
I am glad to report that he is getting somehow better as he gets older; at least he can now warn you when he is about to throw up… a major improvement!
Every tip I’m going to give is just common sense — we have never tried medicines (we thought he was too young and not sick enough) and we never tried the elastic armbands (because they did not work with my pregnancy sickness).
The first important thing is to try to keep the fluid intake on the low side before you get on the car (or bus or boat), and definitely avoid milk. If he throws up milk you will regret it for the whole vacation. Juice, chamomile or baby tea do not leave the same smell!
Of course the ideal would be for your child to be asleep during the more troubled part of the trip (open sea tracts or mountain roads), but one can’t always be that lucky. My advice is to bring some very dry savory snacks and let him eat those during the most troubled moments. Sailmen swear on bread with anchovies, but that may be a dash too strong of a flavour for Junior!
Sweet fizzy drinks have been very helpful for me, but unfortunately my son does not like them so I have not tested this trick on him.
Other than that we always have a few big plastic bags neatly folded in my handbag so that at the first sign we can catch it all! Needless to say, carseat covers are a must and spare outfits too.
Try to remember everything — worst episodes always happen when you forget some element of the rescue kit!
-Michela
1 COMMENT - Add your own
Oh my gosh. I can’t imagine having to deal with motion sickness. Traveling is bad enough without worrying about that! My kids seem to be fine, but I’m getting worse and worse as I get older. Maybe I need some salty anchovies!