Car Sick, Vomiting, Taken Dramamine

Posted on Thu, 1 Sep 2011

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 1 Sep 2011 Answered on

Thu, 31 May 2012 Last reviewed on

Question : My almost two year old gets car sick every time we get in the car. He will throw up in as little as 5 miles on a straight road. Could this be a sympton of something else? We give him Dramamine that works sometimes.

Answered by Dr. Dr. Rakhi Tayal (15 minutes later)

Hello,

Thanks for writing to us.

Car sickness is common in small children. It is mostly not associated with any organic problem. Before traveling make sure that the child is not on an empty stomach.

I will give some suggestions :

1)Position the car seat so that the child can look outside and not focus on a single point.

2)Avoid the rear most seat in a car and if the child is in the backseat place him in the middle.

3)Allow fresh air to come inside the car.

4)Make sure that no one is smoking in the car. Child can feel nauseous.

5)Make frequent stops while driving.

6)You can use Sea bands which work by accupressure (which are wristbands). Try on your infant too.

7)Apply ice pack intermittently on the back of neck when you feel the child is uncomfortable.

8)Some antihistamines can be taken for long journeys before starting. You can get a prescription for that which have 'Hyoscine' in it. Same are available as OTC preparation for adults.

Getting an ENT specialist opinion will be helpful in ruling out any middle ear pathology.

Hope I have answered your query.I will be available for follow up if any.

Regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Shanthi.E