Motion sickness medication for children

[Bobbigrl27]

My daughter gets carsick easily so I am worried that she might suffer from seasickness as well. Does anyone know if they make motion sickness medication for children that doesn't make you drowsy? If so, do you know where I can buy it? She can't swallow pills, so it would have to be something in liquid form. Thanks so much for your help!

[jwlnroe]

they make bonine for kids and adults. they are chewable tablets and they last 12 hrs. . Walmart has them. I use them and they also make sea wrist bands for motion sickness that they also sell at walmart or target and you can check any pharmacy. just put one of those on her wrist for the trip and between that and then bonine she should be fine. If you are really concerned they do have ear patches depending on how young she is. you can talk to your doctor about those as they are a prescription you would have to get.

[wgraves]

I get carsick pretty easily, but I've never gotten sick on a cruise. Good luck, and have a great trip. :)

[Mack2]

Bonine For Kids is a chewable tablet form of cyclizine (old med for motion sickness), but it's not indicated for children under the age of 6.

 

Bonine and Dramamine Less Drowsy are chewable forms of meclizine... but not indicated for kids under the age of 12.

 

You can use Benadryl (diphenhydramine) for motion sickness, and it's been proven to be safe for children and infants... but it has a larger side effect of drowsiness.

http://www.drugs.com/benadryl.html

How should I take Benadryl

...

...

For motion sickness, a dose is usually taken 30 minutes before motion, then with meals and at bedtime for the duration of exposure.

 

Always, with any medication it's always a good idea to ask your child's pediatrician's advice, but those are the things that are currently available for kids.

 

I would also like to endorse ginger.

Ginger is a natural remedy for motion sickness, and you can even find ginger candies (Altoids, candied ginger, Sea-Band brand Ginger gum) as well as ginger supplements.... but ginger seems to work.

[Mack2]

Oh, my one son doesn't get car sick, but stick him on a Merry-go-Round, and he gets nauseous. He got motion sickness on our last cruise (Some hurricane was going west, we were going east) but he was old enough to take the Bonine For Kids.

[Bobbigrl27]

Thanks for all of the advice. My daughter is 8, so she is old enough to take the Bonine for kids. I will also call the pediatrician to make sure the Bonine for kids is OK for her to take.

 

The funny thing is that she never gets carsick when we are going somewhere she wants to go. It's usually on the way to school or if she has to go with me to run errands or get groceries. My guess is that most of it is all in her head. But I want to be prepared just in case. I would hate something like motionsickness to ruin her first cruise. I told her if she likes cruising, we will book the Oasis or Allure next spring break. :D

[Mack2]

I forgot to mention to you that all the medications available for the treatment of motion sickness may cause drowsiness.

 

They are all in a family of drugs known as anti-cholinergics and drowsiness is a common side effect of most anti-cholinergic drugs. Of the ones I mentioned, Bonine (meclizine) causes the least amount of drowsiness and Benadryl (diphenhydramine) causes the most.

 

If your daughter takes the Bonine for Kids, she will probably experience some degree of drowsiness, but hopefully, she won't need to take it throughout the cruise. Even with my son, we only had to dose him once or twice for the day we crossed close to the bad weather.

[tigerfan2000]

I talked with a pharmacist before our last cruise, I have a son who is 5 and he said to get the less drowsy formula of Dramamine and give him half of the tablet. Luckily he did great and didn't need anything.

[cruzingduo]

A few things that I have used are:

 

Altoids candy (bought usually at CVS) in GINGER Flavor

 

GINGER Candy found in health food shops

 

Green apples

 

and the wrist bands as were previously mentioned. These are non medicinal things. I would inquire with your doctor for his/her suggestions.

[Mack2]

I talked with a pharmacist before our last cruise, I have a son who is 5 and he said to get the less drowsy formula of Dramamine and give him half of the tablet. Luckily he did great and didn't need anything.

 

I keep forgetting about Original Dramamine.

 

Original Dramamine is dimenhydrinate... which is as old as and chemically similar to Benadryl.

 

Both dimenhydrinate and diphenhydramine (Dramamine and Benadryl respectively) can be used for motion sickness.

Although... when compared to cyclizine and meclizine, these drugs will cause drowsiness.

But they've been studied and proven to be safe and effective in children and infants.

 

I am a pharmacist, and I always forget about original Dramamine because of the drowsiness thing. Benadryl is so much easier to take for kids and will cause drowsiness on the same level, so I usually recommend it over the Dramamine.