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Carsickness:

Some kids can ride across the country and never get carsick, while some kids will start feeling queasy while on a 10 minute drive. Just as with adults, some children have issues with this that others don't. While there is really nothing you can do to keep your child from ever getting carsick again, there are a few ways to try to avoid it, and to try to ease it when it does occur:

• Consider your child when making travel arrangements—if you will be making a long trip, it may be cheaper and easier to travel by car, but if your child gets carsick, it can pose quite a huge problem. And, this problem won't just be for your child, either. If you have to stop every few minutes for your child to throw up or to clean up when they already did, the trip can become quite long and bothersome for everyone involved. Not to mention that your child will be miserable the entire time.

• Medicate them—there is a wonderful medication that is available for motion sickness called Dramamine. This can help ease carsickness in almost all children. Contact your child's doctor to make sure that it is safe for your child to take, and to find out how much you should give them. If your pediatrician says it is okay for you to give this medicine to your child, you should give it to them about 30 minutes before leaving in the car. This way, it can take effect before you ever expose your child to the car ride that may make them sick.

• Don't let them read—even people who normally don't get carsick can start to feel queasy if they read while riding. The movement of the eyes doesn't go well with the movement of the vehicle, and it can cause carsickness or make it worse.

• Have them sit up front—many times, when kids get carsick, it is where they are sitting in the car. Many children only get carsick if they are sitting in the back. The view as you drive by is a little different and it can affect the stomach differently.

• Provide a smooth ride—this isn't always possible, of course, but if a child is prone to getting carsick, the smoother the car rides, the better. One way to help with this is to make sure you have good shocks on your vehicle.

• Keep them lower to the ground—this doesn't always help, but with many kids it does. The higher off the ground the vehicle is, the more it will rock as you are driving. This will make a carsick child even sicker than if they were lower to the ground in a smaller vehicle.

• Keep food and drinks handy—you should keep the same kinds of stomach-settling foods and beverages that you would use if your child had a stomach bug. Dry crackers and 7UP are excellent choices and can help settle your child's stomach. Any other type of foods, drinks, or snacks that are known for helping to ease a queasy stomach can work too, such as candied ginger.

• Ask your doctor—if you have tried everything you can think of and your child still gets carsick the minute they get in the car, you should ask their doctor about it. Pediatricians have much more experience with what may or may not work and yours may be able to supply you with some great advice.


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