With summer holidays fast approaching, it could mean long journeys to the seaside or the airport for a getaway abroad. The car leasing experts at LeaseCar.uk and its sister site LeaseElectricCar.co.uk have come up with some useful tips to help children in the car who might be susceptible to travel sickness.
The churning, sickly feeling of dread that many children feel as they embark on their journeys is something which can often be avoided or overcome, with planning and preparation in advance. A spokesperson for LeaseCar.uk said: “It’s tough for children when they experience motion sickness in a car as they can often feel there is no escape from the onset of queasiness or worse.
“Summer holidays can create an added level of excitement which can often only exacerbate the possibility of travel sickness. Our guide hopefully helps prepare parents and carers to prevent sickness before it strikes, so the family can concentrate on reaching their destination and enjoying their break.”
Keeping a bag inside the car and anti-bacterial spray and wipes to hand are also important if things don’t improve on the journey and a child becomes sick and needs to vomit.
Here are some of the ideas from LeaseCar.uk to help motorists stave off travel sickness for their minors:
I Spy and The Snooker Game: Traditional games such as ‘I Spy’ or looking out for different colour cars on the road can help occupy a child’s mind and encourage to look at things on the move, while the car is travelling - lessening the possibility of motion sickness. It can also take their minds off feeling queasy on a long journey. One game involving car colours is called ‘The Snooker Game’ where participants look for a red car followed immediately by another specific colour car (yellow, green, brown, blue, pink and black), followed by another red and so on, to mimic the scoring system in snooker.
Careful with entertainment: Children sitting still in a car looking at a digital screen or book may have internal conflict with their inner ear sensing a car’s motion, and this can lead to sickness with mixed messages being sent to the brain. It might be an idea to vary their view so it is not constantly static.
Importance of the middle seat: If a child is more prone to sickness in the car, one of the contributory factors can be as they are looking constantly at the driver or front passenger’s car seat. Move them into the middle of the car at the back so they can instead look more easily at the road ahead through the front windscreen.
Encourage sleep: Children are excited on their holidays and may feel they are missing out things if they nod off. But in actual fact it can be helpful for them to switch off and have a snooze while travelling.
Medication and food: It is worthwhile exploring suitable children’s travel sickness pills as recommended by a pharmacist, and giving them to a child with something bland like a biscuit before the journey starts. Plain food can also help line the stomach and keep it more settled for longer.
Open windows: Fresh air can help keep children from feeling ill, and in a similar vein, if it is safe to do so, it is often good to break up the journey by stopping at convenient intervals to allow children and everyone to have a short stretch of their legs and enjoy the open air.
