Motion Sickness Prevention for kids

[Jewel99]

We are taking a cruise next month with our son (who will be 5 1/4 years old when we cruise). I'm a little concerned he may have a mild sensitivity to motion - so I want to know what others have used when travelling with kids this age on a ship to prevent and/or treat motion sickness. My biggest concern (other than him getting sick and feeling awful) is giving him medication that will make him drowsy, especially if it's not necessary to medicate him at all.

 

Here's our experience with him.

 

We've travelled a fair bit with him - flights, long car trips (5 hours), and he's been on two sailboats (short trips - one just 30 minutes and one about 90 minutes). We never had any issues with motion sickness until last summer, and I'm not even sure if it was motion sickness. We'd travelled a fair bit to get to where we were going over the course of two days (two hours in car, night in hotel, two flights, then another night in a hotel, then about a 4 hour drive)... so we were all a little tired. We were about 2 hours into final leg of drive when he told us he felt like he was going to be sick, so we stopped and he did throw up a couple of times. With our previous car, we had a DVD player that was in the ceiling, so he would be looking up at movies for longer drives, and for shorter drives he'd usually just chat with us or look outside, etc. On this trip, he was wearing headphones and watching a movie on an ipod, so he was looking down... and I think that may have been the factor as I know some people get sick when they read or look down, but not if they're looking straight or out of car/vehicle. He might have also just been tired or had a bug.

 

On the same vacation, he threw up one other time when we were in the car for a short drive, but again, he'd been looking down at a book (and he might still have had the same bug).

 

About 3 times since then he's told us he felt like he was going to be sick on car rides, but other times he's totally fine. We don't really allow the ipod anymore for movies in case that's the issue, but my husband tested him with it last week and we had no issues. He's been on a 3-hour train ride since then with no issues and many car rides, as well as the two rides in the sailboat.

 

So since he's not someone who gets sick frequently in cars, trains, airplanes, etc., I'm truly hoping he'll be fine on the cruise - but I want to be prepared just in case. I know with kids who are prone to seasickness, it's recommended you pre-dose to head off any symptoms, but I'd prefer not to medicate him unless we run into problems... but at the same time, I also know it's easier to deal with something like that before it starts, and is much harder to handle once someone already feels sick.

 

Any advice from others who've travelled with kids for medications that work? Do most parents dose only with symptoms?

 

Oh one other thing... we're booked into a balcony stateroom, so I think that will help as I've heard fresh air and being able to see outside and go outside helps a lot with feeling the motion of the ship. We're also on a relatively low deck (deck 4), but towards the aft of the ship.

 

Thanks so much for any advice and info you can provide.

[tao1]

As always, check with your pediatrician for dosage, etc.....

 

Having said that, they make a Bonine JR which I think is far superior to giving Benadryl. We have personally found that ginger chews (avail. at a natural or health food store) work wonders for both kids and adults with no side effects. http://www.gingerpeople.com/ginger-chews/original-ginger-chews-3.html

 

We usually have the kids chew one while waiting to board and again after sailaway and then only as needed.

 

Hope this helps....

[NJCruiser23]

I get very motion sick. But I love my cruises. What I and My DD have used are the seabands. You just put them on your wrist and wear like a bracelet. No medication in them. They put pressure on pressure points on your wrist. You can find them at any pharmacy or drugstore, like CVS. They run about $7 or $8 U.S. I also on last cruise took ginger pills that you can find in health food store or pharmacy. The ginger, like above poster stated, you can also get in candies or chews. Most recently, on a car drive that I took for about 9 1/2 hours I used something called Motioneaze. I heard about it here on CC. It is all natural oils, like lavendar and such, that you put behind your ear. You just use one drop. This may also work for your son as it is not a medication. It does have a slight odor that you have to get used to. But I did not get sick at all on my car trip when I used this along with my seabands. The Motioneaze I heard you can get a store, such as Walmart or others. I did not find in store here, so I ordered on Amazon online and received without a problem.

 

Well good luck with whatever you try. I personally hate to take the medications, because I hate how I feel. They usually make me drowsy. That is why I use the methods I mentioned above. Hope you have a great cruise. He will be fine, if you bring some of the above mentioned choices just is case. He may suprise you and not need anything. :)

[seashell36]

Before we took the kids on their first cruise I checked with their pediatrician. He and his family also cruise - he uses Bonine JR for his kids. So, that is what I used. We give them 1 when we are waiting to board the ship then one at bedtime the first night. After that they only took them when the seas got rough. One of the kids has gotten sick while we were on a cruise. One evening DS was in Camp Carnival (at the very front of the ship on the Legend) and the seas were rough - that is the only time that anyone of us has felt ill.

[smoothy]

DS6 gets seasick fairly easily, we used ginger candies and when the seas were going to be a little rougher, Gravol for Kids (Gravol works best if you dose ahead of time rather than when symptoms show). Having a balcony and being able to see the horizon did help him a great deal; we were in Alaska so the cool air probably also helped.

[Keith1010]

I highly recommend that you check with the pediatrician. I think they are best prepared to give advice.

 

When our daugher was young she had similar issues and we found that bonine for children worked best for her but this was after we spoke with her pediatrician.

 

Keith

[Mack2]

I highly recommend that you check with the pediatrician. I think they are best prepared to give advice.

 

When our daugher was young she had similar issues and we found that bonine for children worked best for her but this was after we spoke with her pediatrician.

 

Keith

 

I would take all these recommendations to your pediatrician.

 

Ask the pediatrician their opinions of the Kids Bonine, the Sea-Bands, the ginger candies, and any side effects you may want to avoid (e.g. drowsiness)

 

 

 

My one son gets motion sickness on carnival rides... but he's been fine on cruises.

Go figure. :rolleyes:

[isk8]

On the first night of our cruise last week, my 4 year old was acting weird and said his tummy had steam in it. We took this to mean he was feeling seasick (as were DH and I). We gave him half a tab of children's Bonine. He was fine the rest of the trip.

 

Our pediatrician was no help when I asked him about motion sickness before we left. He mentioned Dramamine and Benadryl but wasn't sure of dosages or anything. I'm a nurse and my sister is pharmacist, so we decided to bring the Bonine and Benadryl with us. Unfortunately, the Bonine label lists the dosage by age rather than by weight, so we made an educated guess to start my son off conservatively with only half the recommended does for a six year old.

[Cuizer2]

We are taking a cruise next month with our son (who will be 5 1/4 years old when we cruise). I'm a little concerned he may have a mild sensitivity to motion - so I want to know what others have used when travelling with kids this age on a ship to prevent and/or treat motion sickness. My biggest concern (other than him getting sick and feeling awful) is giving him medication that will make him drowsy, especially if it's not necessary to medicate him at all.

 

Here's our experience with him.

 

We've travelled a fair bit with him - flights, long car trips (5 hours), and he's been on two sailboats (short trips - one just 30 minutes and one about 90 minutes). We never had any issues with motion sickness until last summer, and I'm not even sure if it was motion sickness. We'd travelled a fair bit to get to where we were going over the course of two days (two hours in car, night in hotel, two flights, then another night in a hotel, then about a 4 hour drive)... so we were all a little tired. We were about 2 hours into final leg of drive when he told us he felt like he was going to be sick, so we stopped and he did throw up a couple of times. With our previous car, we had a DVD player that was in the ceiling, so he would be looking up at movies for longer drives, and for shorter drives he'd usually just chat with us or look outside, etc. On this trip, he was wearing headphones and watching a movie on an ipod, so he was looking down... and I think that may have been the factor as I know some people get sick when they read or look down, but not if they're looking straight or out of car/vehicle. He might have also just been tired or had a bug.

 

On the same vacation, he threw up one other time when we were in the car for a short drive, but again, he'd been looking down at a book (and he might still have had the same bug).

 

About 3 times since then he's told us he felt like he was going to be sick on car rides, but other times he's totally fine. We don't really allow the ipod anymore for movies in case that's the issue, but my husband tested him with it last week and we had no issues. He's been on a 3-hour train ride since then with no issues and many car rides, as well as the two rides in the sailboat.

 

So since he's not someone who gets sick frequently in cars, trains, airplanes, etc., I'm truly hoping he'll be fine on the cruise - but I want to be prepared just in case. I know with kids who are prone to seasickness, it's recommended you pre-dose to head off any symptoms, but I'd prefer not to medicate him unless we run into problems... but at the same time, I also know it's easier to deal with something like that before it starts, and is much harder to handle once someone already feels sick.

 

Any advice from others who've travelled with kids for medications that work? Do most parents dose only with symptoms?

 

Oh one other thing... we're booked into a balcony stateroom, so I think that will help as I've heard fresh air and being able to see outside and go outside helps a lot with feeling the motion of the ship. We're also on a relatively low deck (deck 4), but towards the aft of the ship.

 

Thanks so much for any advice and info you can provide.

 

Try ginger. It works for me and it is not a drug. Just make sure he drinks some water with it. I took one tablet in the morning before breakfast and one tablet in the evening before dinner and I was fine.

 

Ginger is the only thing that worked on Mythbusters. You can pick up a bottle of 100 tablets in a drug store for about $6.

[Mack2]

On the first night of our cruise last week, my 4 year old was acting weird and said his tummy had steam in it. We took this to mean he was feeling seasick (as were DH and I). We gave him half a tab of children's Bonine. He was fine the rest of the trip.

 

Our pediatrician was no help when I asked him about motion sickness before we left. He mentioned Dramamine and Benadryl but wasn't sure of dosages or anything. I'm a nurse and my sister is pharmacist, so we decided to bring the Bonine and Benadryl with us. Unfortunately, the Bonine label lists the dosage by age rather than by weight, so we made an educated guess to start my son off conservatively with only half the recommended does for a six year old.

 

 

Yeah... Children's Bonine is Cyclizine... it really hasn't been studied in kids under the age of 6... ditto with Adult Bonine (Meclizine)... so without accurate studies, no one should really recommend it for use with kids under 6. Nobody aside the physician should assume the risk if something really bad happens.

It's not that it's dangerous... it's just not documented... so it's just best to err on the side of caution.

 

 

Benadryl, on the other hand... is in the same family as Meclizine and Cyclizine... and there are studies in kids for the use of it. Since it's in the same family as the drugs used in Bonine, and has been proven to be safe and effective... you can actually use it for motion sickness... it's just that it'll also dry you up and make you drowsy.

Bonine does that, too.. but to a lesser extent.

 

<---pharmacist