Hellobee Boards

So hard. I had terrible motion sickness most of my childhood. Dramamine definitely helped at times.

The only full-proof thing for me (and still to this day) is that I can’t do ANYTHING in the car. If your LO is looking at a screen, playing with a toy, eating, etc. it could easily trigger it. We’d take 12+ hour car trips many times a year growing up and I’d have to look out the window while my sibilings watched movies and played. I’m sure for an 18 month old that’s extremely challenging because she doesn’t understand yet. Does she typically have toys or a movie while you’re driving? Cutting all of that out might make a huge difference. She’ll be bored at first, but the pros may outweigh the cons.

@annem1990: all of this is spot on. The other things that help me are cold air and facing forward. Like I can’t sit on a train or boat backwards. Also experiment with food, sometimes a full stomach is better then an empty one

@Clementine12: will she drink bubbly water? Carbonation helps me sometimes

@Clementine12: My DD was TERRIBLE in the car when she little. We HAD to turn her carseat to FF-ing before she was 2 as her pediatrician stated that facing her forward and placing her in the middle seat [so she could look out the front window] "may" alleviate a bit of her car sickness. It did ... but not by much. Come to find out, the excess fluid in her ears was adding to her nausea, as was her GERD from 2 hernias. (* I am in no way saying this is what is the catalyst for your DD's carsickness.) After my DD had tubes put in, was put on allergy medication to help "dry" up any drainage, and had her zantac increased, DH and I saw a vast improvement in her tolerance to longer car rides. My DD is now 10-1/2 and she reads and plays on her Kindle with no sickness every time we drive the 3+ hours to visit family.
Hopefully, with time and a few adjustments (seating, full stomach vs. empty, possible use of medications, pepermint oil, ginger candies, nausea bands, alcohol swabs, etc), your DD will be far less queasy in the car as well. 🤞 Sending *hugs* because until then, it is a rough ride for both you and your LO.

@Clementine12: Tons of sympathy to you. I was a car sick kid and I still get carsick as an adult. LO1 also gets car sick very easily. We ended up turning her car seat around at age 2 because of how often she was puking in the car - even on short trips (riding backwards is also a trigger for me).

Things that work for us - making sure she doesn’t get too hot in the car, making sure we’re avoiding stop and go traffic, making sure she isn’t too full (or too hungry), and keeping an empty plastic container & lid (old protein powder container) in arms reach for when she does get sick. She’s old enough now to tell us when her stomach doesn’t feel good and we’ll stop the car if possible to let her walk around and get some fresh air. Ask your pediatrician about dramamine. We were told absolutely do not give it to her until she was older.

I have no experience with car sickness but I remembered this old thread and the paper on the window solution http://boards.hellobee.com/topic/car-seat-hater-long-trip-how-to-not-go-over-the-edge#post-2760424
That kind of stuck with me 🤷‍♀️

My 3.5 year old has gotten carsick multiple times over the past 2.5 years. We don’t drive much and it typically occurs on longer drives at or over an hour. We just got back from thanksgiving travel and she barfed on the way down. My tips:

Forward facing hasn’t made much of a difference fwiw. We flipped her around 3.25
No dairy for at least 2 hours prior to travel
Bland foods for meal before travel. We just do plain pasta. Easier to clean too
Windows cracked if possible
No screens
Once or twice if she allowed it I put one of those pocket bibs on her to catch the mess
We just tried Benadryl on this trip home and no car sickness so we might start doing that from now on, but 18 months might be too early for that. Ask your pedi if a small dose is advised
My sil swears by sea bands
You have a great car seat for cleaning barf. I’m a pro with our nextfit. I’ve also put the disposable puddle pads under her which prevents the mess from getting in the nooks and crannies

Good luck. It’s no fun.