Anyone turn FF earlier than they hoped due to motion sickness?

[gradstudent19]

@commissionerfd1 (Disclaimer: I 100% respect your right to make this decision for your own kids.)

That being said, this is insane to me! Every single time? And he’s 2.5?! And this has been happening since he was 1??

Maybe it’s just because I am a big baby and hate throwing up, but a CERTAINTY of vomit every single time would definitely outweigh risks of turning the seat around for me.

 

[commissionerfd1]

@gradstudent19 I can count on 1 hand the number of trips that he hasn't thrown up. (So 8/10 times, not every time if we are being precise...we started using medication a few months ago which seems to help a bit).

We live in a European city where many things are within walking distance or accessible via train. We limit our car trips because I'd rather do that than turn him around.

If we had daily trips, then yeah, we'd probably turn him around.

 

[newreborn]

@commissionerfd1 Did you check which carseat you have ?? I heard some have more of a "C-shape"and some have more of an "L-shape". The latest would be better for kids that have motion sickness.

 

[commissionerfd1]

@newreborn It's L shaped. Trust me, I'm aware of pretty much everything that's supposed to help motion sickness at this point.

Motion sickness is highly genetic. My husband was like my son as a child. Even as an adult, he still suffers from it, although he rarely vomits now.

2 of my nephews on his side, same thing. They're older, and turning their seats around only helped marginally.

So yeah, for now, we avoid car trips when we can and give medication when we can't. We plan to switch to forward facing when he maxes out on this seat or when more car trips become necessary (whichever comes first).

 

[gradstudent19]

@commissionerfd1 Ah that makes a lot more sense!

 

[cloud235]

@pulickalbrothers We turned my son forward facing way earlier than I planned. I can’t remember what age now. He was throwing up just about every time he was in the car, and he’s borderline underweight so eventually we just couldn’t do it anymore— neither felt like a great option. I think it’s just risk versus risk. He did improve significantly with motion sickness once he was facing forward.

 

[hollye554]

@pulickalbrothers Yes, my LO has horrible motion sickness when rear facing. Projectile vomit on multiple occasions until we switched around 2. Now that she's older she can tell us when her tummy is hurting so we're able to stop the car but this behavior didn't start until about 3.5. I really wanted to RF until she maxed out the weight limit but she can't do it. Even if she's on something else and moving backwards, it bothers her. Her father is the same way, horrible motion sickness.

 

[oobobbi]

@pulickalbrothers Our neighbors went forward facing around two for the same reason, and their pediatrician supported it (even advised it!) because the alternative was their daughter throwing up on car rides. For what it’s worth, I think it helped that she is on the tall side, and therefore closer in size to an older toddler, like yours. There are a lot of 3.5 y-o kids smaller than your baby. It has helped her motion sickness a lot. No evidence. Just anecdata.

My niece also gets sick on car rides while forward facing in grandparents’ cars. My sister thinks it’s because they use screens? I assume your kiddo isn’t watching videos rear facing, but is he reading books or doing anything else that could be exacerbating motion sickness?

 

[samgitonga]

@pulickalbrothers We had to do this with my oldest. It turns out she has two very different prescriptions and her eyes and being reversed just made it worse.

 

[knh777]

@pulickalbrothers My 10 month old vomits every time we take the car. Every single time.
It's a nightmare. I think I will wait until 18mo...
I've washed her carseat like.... 80 times ?!

 

[emtbag]

@knh777 I started using disposable puppy pee pads on our car seat when my daughter was puking! Gotta wrap it around the straps too cuz those are the worst to clean!

 

[knh777]

@emtbag Oh wow thank you that's a great idea. I don't know why I didn't think of this before!

 

[avleigh]

@pulickalbrothers They make Dramamine for kids. 1/2 tab helped our kiddo immensely and we kept her rear facing until 4.

 

[jl090812]

@pulickalbrothers I’m an adult who has had motion sickness my whole life. (Baby is still in the incubator, but gets very active when I am in the car, so worried she got that gene )

Anyhow - have you tried seabands? They are pretty contingent upon being placed correctly (2-3 finger widths below the wrist line.) Your kiddo may be old enough to have grown out of oral fixation so you wouldn’t need to worry about them being a choking hazard.

 

[dbbell]

@jl090812 I wouldn't trust that in a rear facing car seat for an under 2 year old.

 

[jl090812]

I still can’t stand the taste of artificial orange due to all of those nasty chewable Dramamine tablets. Gross)

 

[heegar]

@pulickalbrothers There are glasses that could help with the motion sickness. More on that (and why they work) here.

 

[atonement511]

@heegar I can vouch that while the science is valid, these glasses don’t always work. I get reallllly bad motion sickness and am even the commuter who has to face forward for all bus/ train journeys, ferry is out of the question and I can’t look at my phone or I’ll be very nauseous in

 

[kjbbeliever]

@pulickalbrothers We did around two. Mine would get sick even five minutes in the car, so even when he could have motion sickness meds at two years old, it didn’t make sense to give it to him and have him be sleepy for a five minute ride. We tried everything else and nothing worked unfortunately.

 

[palomaespecial]

@pulickalbrothers Have you talked to your pediatrician? They may suggest a bit of Benadryl or zofran to help.