Travel Sickness

The words no parent wants to hear while they’re driving: “I feel sick”. … Read More See less

Travel sickness (also known as motion sickness) is an extremely common condition in children (particularly girls) aged two to 12, though it peaks at age nine.^1,2The condition then declines during teenage years and becomes less common in adulthood, with elderly people being the least susceptible to travel sickness.¹

While travel sickness isn’t dangerous, having to deal with sickness when travelling can be extremely challenging.³Naturally then, many people want to know what they can do to prevent travel sickness and treat the symptoms when they occur.

So, here we’re discussing everything there is to know about travel sickness, such as how to prevent it with motion sickness tablets, children’s travel sickness tablets and travel sickness bands.

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What is travel sickness?

Travel sickness is a normal response that occurs when your body is stationary, but you are being moved by a vehicle (like a car, boat or aeroplane).^3–5 Anyone can develop travel sickness if they’re exposed to enough motion, but some people are very rarely affected while others have to deal with it more often.⁵

You can also get a kind of motion sickness from playing video games or virtual reality games, or from standing on a moving platform (e.g. on a lake).^3,5

What causes travel sickness?

Travel sickness occurs when your eyes are sending signals to your brain to say that you’re not moving, while your balance mechanisms are sending different messages to say that you are.^3–5 This is particularly triggered if you’re focusing on something inside the vehicle (such as a book), as your inner ear senses motion, while your eyes and body don’t.²

Travel sickness symptoms

The symptoms of travel sickness can develop slowly or come on suddenly. They include:^2–5

Dizziness
Feeling or being sick
Headache
Feeling cold
Going pale
Sweating, particularly a cold sweat
Tiredness
Loss of appetite
Feeling irritable
Rapid breathing
Salivating more than usual

The tiredness associated with travel sickness can last for several hours to days afterwards.¹

Rarely, travel sickness can cause more severe symptoms, like:¹

Difficulty walking
An inability to do anything
Difficulty standing
Vomiting that does not respond to treatment

How to prevent travel sickness

You can’t always avoid your children getting travel sick, but there are some things you can try that should help:^2–5

Focus your child’s attention on things outside the car, rather than on books, games or screens
Travel during nap time, so your child can sleep during the journey
Don't give your child a large meal right before or during car travel. If the trip will be long, offer a small, bland snack (like dry crackers) before it's time to go
Make sure there is plenty of fresh air or you have air conditioning running through the vehicle
Distract your children by talking, listening to music or singing songs
Seat them in the front of a car or in the middle of a boat to minimise motion
Have regular breaks during long journeys to breathe in some fresh air, get a drink or take a walk
Try using travel sickness medicines (find out more below)

No matter how you’re travelling, it may also help your child to sit facing forward.³Here are some seating suggestions for most types of travel:³

Car –the front passenger seat
Bus –a window seat
Boat –the middle of the boat on the upper deck
Train –a forward-facing window seat
Cruise ship –a cabin toward the front or middle of the ship, on a lower level, close to the water
Aeroplane –the wing section

How to treat travel sickness

Once your child feels travel sick, you probably can’t stop it completely, but there are some things you can do to help them feel a bit better:^3,4,5

Get some fresh air, either by rolling your window down or directing air vents towards you
If you’re reading or looking at your phone or tablet, look outside of the vehicle instead
If you can, lie back and close your eyes
Have ginger tablets, biscuits or tea
Try eating something sweet
Close your eyes and breathe slowly

What to do if your child is sick

If your child actually vomits, this may help to relieve their symptoms.⁵ To help them recover from being sick:⁵

Place a cool flannel on their forehead
Get some fresh air on their face
Don’t give them anything to drink straight away
After 20 minutes, let them have very small sips of water, ginger ale or coke
Give them a small amount of a carbohydrate (e.g. Toast) to eat
Let them sleep, if possible

Travel sickness medications

There are some over the counter and prescription travel sickness tablets for kids and adults that can help to prevent travel sickness:^2,3,5–8

Antihistamines – children over two years old can have cinnarizine (Stugeron). This is a drowsy antihistamine medicine that can help prevent travel sickness by blocking the effects of histamine to the brain and improving blood flow in the inner ear. Give your child cinnarizine about an hour or two before traveling. Be aware it may make your child feel sleepy; some children who take drowsy antihistamines can be irritable as the medicine wears off
Hyoscine hydrobromide – adults and children over 10 years old can use the travel sickness patches and children over three years old can take hyoscine hydrobromide tablets. Hyoscine works by affecting your inner ear and your brain to control vomiting and relaxing the muscles in the walls of your stomach. The travel sickness tablets start working within 20 to 30 minutes, but the patches take up to six hours to reach their full effect. Side-effects of these travel sickness pills include a dry mouth, drowsiness and blurred vision. They are generally considered the best travel sickness tablets
Anti-sickness tablets – not every anti-sickness medicine will work for travel sickness, and even those that may be prescribed for motion sickness may not work for your child. Finding one that does work can be a case of trial and error. Anti-sickness medicines that may be prescribed for travel sickness include prochlorperazine, metoclopramide and ondansetron. These are all best taken up to an hour before you travel