10 Best Ways to Manage Car Sickness in Toddlers
Looking for ways to manage carsickness in toddlers and young kids? Try these 10 tips and be prepared for your next family Road Trip!
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Munchkin got quiet. Too quiet. You know what happens when your kids are quiet? They are either sleeping or something is wrong. Well, after the car parked I heard what was wrong. The poor thing spit up all over herself and the car seat.
She started crying as I cleaned her up- thank goodness she had only eaten a banana for breakfast.
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There it was, the telltale sign- she got quiet with a strange face. Muscle motions in her neck and mouth, eyes unfocused. Sure enough she spit up on the way down the windy mountain roads in Sequoia National Park. Let’s just say, I won’t be eating a Snickers ice cream bar in a while…
We have a few more stories like these ones involving our youngest munchkin. She’s gotten carsick a handful of times from shorter freeway drives to the windy mountain roads. There doesn’t seem to be rhyme or reason to when or why she gets carsick.
It’s not always the windy roads.
It’s not always the longer drives.
It’s not always after she eats.
It’s not after eating any particular type of food.
Seriously, she chucked up trail mix on a 45 minute drive, but was good with McDonald’s on a 3 hour drive. She was fine driving to the beach, but not to SeaWorld (equivalent drive times and road types).
So, unfortunately, this article can’t tell you why or when your little one will get carsick, but it does come with a few tricks up our sleeves on how to counter and minimize car sickness in toddlers.
Whenever we follow these 10 ways to manage car sickness in toddlers and kids, our car rides are much less of a sticky mess.
Managing Car Sickness in Kids
Preventing car sickness and dealing with car sickness are 2 different things. One helps you to never get sick in the first place, the other is a way to make sure the experience is as minimal as possible while quickly and efficiently cleaning up the mess.
These 10 ways to manage car sickness include some preventative measures, some tricks to minimize nausea, and some tips on quick and effective clean ups.
It’s a combination of years figuring out how to deal with my own motion sickness while traveling as well as dealing with the signs and cause-effects of our youngest’s car sickness.
1. Dramamine for Kids
If you have a kid prone to car sickness, I recommend getting Dramamine for kids ages 2 and up (please talk to your pediatrician before giving your kids any medication). We used the regular dramamine that was labeled for kids ages 2 and up- and our 4 year old did not like it at all.
She’s not the one who gets car sick, but we didn’t want to test that theory on the super windy mountain roads to cabins or campsites.
Anyway, my husband found this grape flavored Dramamine for kids with a convenient case, cute marketing graphics, and- the best part- grape flavored.
Both girls love taking Dramamine when we ask them to now, and it helps so much!
When doesn’t Dramamine help? When you don’t give it in time.
You’re supposed to give ½ to full dose ½ an hour before your car ride (or boat, plane, train, etc.). We give ½ to full dose the night before in addition to a full dose no less than 30 minutes before the car ride. This is the method that really helped me as a kid. Don’t ask me the pharmacokinetics behind it, but getting it into your system and then giving that next dose seems to do the trick. Please check the packaging for dose requirements and full directions.
When we gave the Dramamine right before driving or only 5-10 minutes before driving, we had car sickness accidents. It takes a bit to kick in and do it’s job right.
Is Dramamine right for you and your kids?
1) Ask your doctor if you’re worried about taking an over the counter medication.
2) Are you ok with motion sickness medication that causes drowsiness?
For our kids, the drowsy aspect of Dramamine is perfect! After all, encouraging nap time is #6 on this list.
Is Dramamine right for adult motion sickness?
For me? I don’t want to have anything that might make me drowsy. I found Bonine works best for me personally, although Dramamine does have a less-drowsy option (I have tried) and a fully non-drowsy option using ginger (I have not tried).
Make sure to read the full directions on the packaging, as each different formula may require different dosage amounts and time frames.
2. Have Ziplock Bags Quickly & Easily Available
This is not always useful in the actual moment, but some kind of non-porous plastic bag or solid container is needed for all the clean-up trash and messy clothes. Something that can seal away the smell is preferred.
That being said, if you can time it right and hold the bag under your toddler’s mouth as he/she vomits, it makes much less of a mess that you need to clean off the car seat. Of course, our toddler sees the bag and says “no, no bag,” refuses to have it by her mouth and then proceeds to spit up all over herself and the carseat.
If your kid connects car sickness with ziploc bags like ours does, your best bet is to be a ninja and catch as much as you can. How good are your reflexes? If your kid is good with a spit bucket of some kind, it makes your job easier. Our friends at @wanderingvaethfully get paint cups with lids that they line with doggy poop bags and calls them “barf buckets.”
3 Things you Need a Seelable, Non-Porous Bag/Container for on Car Rides:
- Catching car sickness vomit
- Placing all wet-wipe/paper towel clean up messes
- Placing the messy, vomit covered clothes
3. Keep a Spare Set of Clothes in the Car
To tie into cleaning up the mess, have a spare set of clothes for anyone who might be affected. We had to put munchkin in my sweater after a 40 minute drive. Not even thinking about Dramamine or spare clothes, we drove on a “quick” errand to pick up a hand-me-down hiking carrier (our blue Kelty carrier we love). It was a bit too much for her and we had a parking lot clean up with no spare clothes.
Another occasion was driving home from my sister’s wedding (again, about a 40 minute drive). We had stayed in cabins at the venue and were driving home the morning after the big event. Luckily when we drove up for the rehearsal dinner a couple nights before, I had changed the girls out of their pajamas and into their dresses in the car so they didn’t risk getting their dresses dirty. The pajamas were still tucked next to the seat right where I left them. This made it a quick and easy clean up (in combo with #4) to get back on the road in record time. The newlyweds passed us by as we’re at the side of the road and called to check in. “Don’t worry, munchkin just got carsick, we’re almost back on the road.”
Needless to say, we now purposely keep extra clothes on hand. Good thing little toddler clothes don’t take up any room. We always had a spare onesie in the diaper bag for baby messes, but once she graduated out of bottles, pacifier, baby blankets (etc.) and needed her diaper changed less often, we graduated to a small stuff bag where we keep a couple diapers, small pack of wipes, and doggy poop bags to place the dirty diapers.
4. Have Extra Baby Wipes
Along with extra diapers in the suitcase and/or car (to refill the small diaper stuff bag as needed), we keep extra wipes and paper towels in the car. These are great for kid food & drink spills, but are priceless when it comes to cleaning up car sick messes.
…especially in the nooks and crannies of the car seat cushions and buckles…
After cleaning as best we can, the car seat cushions go straight into the washer when we arrive home and the car seat frame gets hosed down.
Until then, you really need to clean up the mess as best as you can because the smell of vomit often makes others feel like they need to vomit, and it’s just not a fun car ride anymore.
5. Sing/Talk/Distract
Alright, now that we’ve talked about motion sickness medication and how to quickly and efficiently clean up any accidents, let’s dive into some distraction techniques.
These are not 100% effective, but I’ve had great success at using them myself (I would get carsick on 5 minute car rides as a kid- you can only imagine the mess on cross-country road trips…). Read through them and pick a few (or all) to use to your advantage.
Step 1: Distraction time.
As a note from someone who has gotten car sick her whole life- reading in the car is not a good option, that makes it worse and often causes car sickness. Choose something that doesn’t require focusing on a non-moving item while in a moving vehicle.
Here are some ideas for car sickness distraction techniques:
- Sing
- Talk
- Ask questions
- Tell a story
- Play a car game
Sing
Singing along to the music is great, but making up your own songs or singing from memory is good too. Plus, singing also helps with the boredom and crankiness from keeping babies, toddlers, and little kids cooped up in long car rides.
Have them guess what princess sings this song, then sing some Disney princess songs (or whatever genre music guessing game your kids might know- we are a bit Disney obsessed).
You sing to them, they sing to you. It’s the perfect distraction technique and my first choice.
Talk
Just talk with them. Talk about where you are going, what you are going to do when you get there, how much fun you are going to have. This gives them some images to create in their head, and *BONUS* gets them even more excited about your adventure.
Feel silly talking to little ones who can’t really talk back yet? Don’t worry, many new parents feel this way at first. But the more you just describe what you see, the easier it gets. You don’t have to get too creative for this one.
Ask Questions
Asking your toddler questions builds off of talking with them, but it goes the extra step in encouraging them to answer back. “Look, a cow! Did you see the cow?” or “What do you see?” or “What do you hear?” Get their senses involved to refocus their attention and teach them observation skills at the same time.
You can also ask “what are you most looking forward to?” or “do you know what dinner is tonight?” You can easily integrate questions into your conversation starters mentioned before.
Tell a Story
I’m sensing a theme with words…
Don’t shy away from telling a story just because you aren’t a published author. The story doesn’t have to be long, it doesn’t have to make sense, and if you’re just using it for personal family chit chat (not publishing or redistributing it), you can sum up your favorite stories you already know.
Or, you can go around the car each adding to the story. You can make it as silly or ridiculous as you want. We even let our toddler put in her 2 cents- just because they aren’t old enough for full on reading comprehension and story format doesn’t mean their few words can’t add to the silliness. Like I said, it doesn’t need to make sense.
Not great with stories? Go around telling jokes instead. Or circle back to singing or just talking.
Play a Car Game
Car Games! Now, depending on age, they may not be able to play 100% by the rules, but there are some simple ones to start out with at the toddler stage.
“I Spy” is a great one, especially if they are learning their colors. Our 4 year old loves this, our 2 year old is starting to get the hang of it.
We might say, “I spy with my little eye, something blue,” then they guess the sky, or the car, or daddy’s shirt. It can be inside or outside of the car, but if you are playing this with the purpose of avoiding car sickness, then I recommend focusing outside of the car (a great way to help with #10!).
The toddler version:
Toddler: “I spy my eye- blue car!”
Doesn’t quite leave much room for guessing, but then you can turn it into more of a color and item game, “That’s right, that is a blue car- great job!”
Another great distraction technique not just for car sickness but also for baby and toddler fussiness in the car, is to break out the sock puppets. Take off your sock (or the kid’s sock), stick your hand in, and move your fingers and thumb like it’s a mouth. Use a silly voice to “talk” for the puppet and just have fun with it. If you’re feeling really creative, you can use 2 socks and have them talk to each other.
Sock 1: “What do you mean you don’t know which way is right and which way is left?”
Sock 2: “I do too know! This way is left, right?”
Sock 1: “Wait what? You just said both for the same direction!”
Sock 2: “Noo, I said this way is left, right?”
Repeat. Get laughs. Have fun. It’s OK if they don’t quite understand or appreciate the jokes, they just laugh because you are being silly with a silly voice and they are happy to have your undivided attention.
6. Encourage Nap Time
Nap time helps give the parents a bit of some quiet in the car and makes road trips with kids so much easier. Plus when you’re sleeping, you’re less likely to get carsick- at least in my experience. I always tried to sleep it off and unless I was already nauseous before trying to fall asleep, I had no problems.
How do you encourage a toddler to nap in the car?
- Travel during nap time
- Run around right before the car ride (the girls always fall asleep after a hike)
- Have their favorite stuffed animal with them
- Play quiet music
- Have quiet time
If you keep talking with your toddler, they won’t fall asleep as easily. Don’t ignore them, but definitely have some stretches of road where it’s quiet time.
Also, if nap time is early afternoon, but you can’t leave until after work in the late afternoon, then let daycare (in our case, grandma) know that it’s OK if they don’t want to go down for a nap on time. They can nap in the car when you come to pick them up. Of course if they need a nap, don’t force them to stay awake. And if they don’t sleep in the car (like my niece & nephew), don’t worry. There are plenty of distraction techniques to use if they don’t fall asleep in the car.
7. Take Pit Stops
If they are not asleep when you stop for gas, take them out of the carseat for a bit. Walk into the store with them as you use the restroom or buy a snack.
Changing positions, moving their legs, and getting some air all help.
See a tourist trap coming up? Let yourself be trapped. We stopped by the Seven Magic Mountains on the way to Las Vegas and it couldn’t have come at a better time. Luckily no sign of car sickness yet, but it still helps to stop for other reasons too. Everyone was getting cranky and on each other’s nerves and not listening.
We got out of the car, let the girls run around, took some pictures, and hopped back into the car. The rest of the way to Zion National Park was smooth sailing!
8. Blast the Air Conditioner on Face or Open Windows
This one is more directly linked to carsickness. If I don’t have good ventilation or air flow, I get sick much faster. We were driving down the mountain from camping and little munchkin started getting quiet and making some noises like she was about to get sick. My husband opened the windows and it worked as a distraction but also as a way to get air on her face. Success! No issues. Once we hit the freeway, the windows went back up, and she was good to go.
One thing to keep in mind is that the AC can get cold. Warm air doesn’t always help either. So have a sweater or jacket on hand so their face can be blasted with cool air, but they don’t get their little arms and legs cold.
9. Limit Heavy, Greasy Foods
This one makes sense to me, but we have never (*knock on wood*) had an issue with fast food in the car. So it’s still a good idea to limit food that’s not as easy to digest- if anything to prevent a nastier clean up issue.
Trail mix, banana, Snickers ice cream bar…never would have thought those would have been issues (well, maybe the ice cream). Like I said, if the Dramamine is given right before driving, it doesn’t always have time to kick in- so it’s hard to pinpoint the exact variable that “caused” the car sickness in the first place.
Cheerios are always a good, bland choice to go with. Plus, it’s our go to meal replacement if the girls stick up their nose at actual meals, so we always have cheerios with us.
Think simple crackers without too much flavor, and not too much food. I am positive the trail mix was an issue because she ate way more of it than she should have. To prevent this we have snack containers we can keep refilling with portion controlled amounts. That way they feel like they are getting more food without actually over eating.
For me when I was a kid, mints and starbursts (separately- not combined) were a perfect thing to slowly eat and avoid getting nauseous. As an adult, I still do well with non-chocolate candy. Twizzlers were the perfect solution when driving the windy roads in Zion. Mints still help, but it depends on the mint. Spearmint is better than wintergreen for example.
Try out a few things (age appropriate snacks of course), and see what seems to work best.
10. Encourage Looking out the Window
Last but not least, look out the window. Looking to the horizon is best because it doesn’t change. It’s a nice flat line you can stare at to center yourself. Unfortunately there are 2 things with this.
- It can be hard to explain focusing on the horizon to a toddler.
- If you are in the mountains, the horizon gets blocked from view with the ups and downs, especially driving downhill- it can be hard to see out of the car at the right angle.
You can use Moana to help explain this one “See where the sky meets the sea/land/ground? That’s where you look.” If they aren’t keeping their focus on that horizon line, then just having them look out the window in general can help a lot.
Circle back to asking questions like what they see, or looking for animals, or playing I Spy.
If they aren’t really listening, and the angle out the window keeps changing, just encourage them to close their eyes for a bit. Who knows, they may just fall asleep for the really windy parts.
Final Thoughts
How do you manage car sickness for your kids? Any tips or tricks you don’t see here? I would love to hear them, drop a comment below.
If you try one of these methods, let me know how it goes.
We feel like we have a pretty good routine down so far…now off to more adventures!
