My first postpartum road trip—my son, Paul was 3 months—we ferried from Juneau to Skagway then drove 439 miles to Dawson City to camp on the Yukon River. Just as Paul was nodding off, we strapped him into his car seat and drove out of Skagway.  The motion of the car kept him asleep for six hours. 

The return drive was not as serendipitous.  An hour outside Dawson City we stopped for gas.  Paul woke as we filled the tank.  I fed him, returned him to the car seat and assumed—like normal babies—the car’s motion would lull him back to sleep.  It didn’t.  He wailed. 

I coaxed him with a pacifier, lullabies, a massage.  Hypothesizing his car seat might be pinching him, we pulled over.  As soon as he was free from the car seat, Paul babbled happily.  I started to put him back: “WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”  I pulled him out:  “Baa baa baa baa.”  Back again: “WAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”  And out: “Baa baa baa baa.”  Clearly something about the car ride was disgruntling my son.  Caught right before nap time, a car ride was uneventful.  Otherwise, it was fitful.

Paul continued to be a difficult passenger: he bawled an entire two hour drive across Texas; he upchucked twice in my sister’s car between Boston and Philadelphia; and again on a bus just outside DC.

The Christmas Paul was 3 ½ we flew to Florida to visit his grandparents.  One mile from their home—2 ½ hours into our drive from the airport—Paul kicked my seat, “Unh!  Unh!  Momma!  Unh!” 

“We need to pull over,” I told my husband. 

“We are on the highway,” he countered.   

“Something is wrong.  We need to pull over.”

“He just wants attention.”

Baaaarrrrffff!!!!  Paul got attention.  Half digested goldfish, water and drinkable yogurt spewed from him.  We pulled over realizing all those past complaints weren’t out of boredom but due to car sickness.

How can road trips be enjoyable with children prone to car sickness?  Grin and bear it as my sister did when her infant daughter bawled from Montana to Anchorage?  Drug them like so many people have suggested?  Here are ideas Paul, now 10, has found work for him.  Other resources back him up:

Try:

• Air conditioning—apparently my son copes better in a cool environment.
• Roll down the windows—perhaps the cool air simulates fresh air
• Cold water—again, something about being cool
• Frequent stops—and fresh air
• Food—Saltine crackers, gummy bears (like jell-o, gummies sooth the tummy)

Avoid:

• Reading—a source of car sickness even for those not prone to it
• The car (if you can)—Paul prefers train travel as you can get up and walk around

Successful road trip activities:

• DVDs—although reading makes him sick, he can watch TV in the car
• Books on tape—fun for the whole family
• Music—Paul’s cousin—the girl who screamed from Montana to Anchorage—plugs into the ipod
• Old fashion road trip games—I Spy, find all 50 license plates… looking outside the window can placate the belly

Amber Ceffalio

For more helpful hints, check out the  Travel section  on the PSP web site.

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Tags: Amber Ceffalio, car sickeness, kids, road trips, Travel with kids

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 27th, 2010 at 11:14 am by Amber and is filed under It's on the Website, PSP Wisdom, Things to do with Kids. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.