Managing a Toddler’s Carsickness

One of the biggest issues we’ve had with our almost 3-year-old is managing his carsickness. It presented itself for the first time when he was just a few months old. He’s always cried bloody murder when we are in the car, and eventually, it transitioned to full-on carsickness. It has made driving in the car stressful and we’ve experimented with a bunch of remedies. Here is what has worked for us.

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1. Carsickness Wristbands. These have really worked for us. But we definitely had some issues with our toddler wearing these initially. I have purchased them in a few different colors and designs and try to make a game out of him wearing these. He now wears them without resistance! 
2. Kids Dramamine. When things got really rough with my son’s carsickness, we began giving him kids Dramamine. I am not a fan of how drowsy Dramamine makes him, but it made traveling in the car much easier.

Other tips:

1. Turn the seat around. We got the A-OK from our son’s primary care doctor to transition him from rear- to forward-facing. He is close to the 30-pound weight for making that switch and it definitely had an impact on cutting down on his carsickness episodes. (Check with your physician if this is an option you’d like to take.)
2. Ensure a view of the horizon. While switching his carseat to forward-facing benefited his symptoms, the other suggestion we got was making sure we put him in the middle seat so he could stare out toward the horizon (and not through the side windows). Carsickness is caused by inner ear issues: a child’s inner ears will sense the motion, but their eyes or body won’t. Ensuring that he can watch the motion with what his body is feeling has helped in leaps and bounds. 
3. Cut back on dairy/milk. Our toddler has a tendency to ask for milk all day (he’s a picky eater) and we used to oblige. Our primary care doctor suggested we cut back on his milk consumption since it’s a major trigger for his carsickness. He still has a few ounces a day, but right before we head into the car, we dilute it to ensure the dairy doesn’t make him sick. It’s made a huge difference!

Throw some comments below if you have any other tips!