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Do Babies Get Motion Sickness?

by Caroline Tung Richmond

Growing up, I was always that kid who got nauseous on long trips. It didn't matter if I was in a car, on a boat, or flying to see relatives on the opposite coast, I always had a stick of gum and a barf bag ready, just in case. And so, after I became a mom, I started worrying a little if my daughter would get my motion sickness curse. Do babies get motion sickness? After all, she would be sitting rear facing in a car seat and bumping around on our country roads. Thankfully my daughter didn't seem to have inherited my weak stomach, but was she just one of the lucky ones? The answer I found definitely surprised me.

While my daughter barfed a lot during her first six months, she rarely did so in the car, which is why I thought she had escaped my penchant for motion sickness. But as it turns out, most babies and toddlers aren't all that affected by motion sickness, according to the Mayo Clinic, although they're much more susceptible to it between ages 2 and 12. The medical community isn't quite sure either why motion sickness afflicts some kids more than others, but there is a consensus on how parents can treat it.

If your baby is plagued by motion sickness, What To Expect offered a list of remedies that you can try. First, feed your baby before you hit the road — but not too much. Motion sickness tends to hit when our stomachs are either too empty or too full, so be sure to breastfeed or formula feed your little one before strapping them in the car seat. Second, you can try using an acupressure bracelet to fend off nausea. These bracelets work by activating pressure points on our inner wrist — I bought two of them to treat morning sickness when I was pregnant — and a child-sized bracelet might fit your baby's adorably chubby hand. And third, roll down your windows if it's pleasant enough outside. Sometimes a little fresh air is all you need to fight off a case of nausea.

Because babies tend to have sensitive tummies, you should rely on natural remedies to treat motion sickness unless your doctor tells you otherwise. Once your child turns 2, however, you might want to check out over-the-counter medicines like Dramamine or Benadryl, suggested Dr. Kathleen Berchelmann in an article for Childrens MD. Just make sure to always read over the packaging label to measure the right dosage.

Motion sickness is never fun, no matter what age you are. The dizziness, the sweating, that awful feeling in your stomach — you're probably familiar with the symptoms, and chances are likely that your kids will come to recognize them, too. Fortunately for parents, there are many existing remedies to prevent motion sickness before it starts and to treat it when it hits, which means you can breathe a little easier the next time you take a long road trip with your little one.