Preventative or Wait and Sea - Sea Sickness and kids

[JillianinMN]

I'm interested what everyone thinks. We are traveling with our four year old daughter on a May cruise. While she hasn't experienced motion sickness as of yet, I'm worried about a cruise.

Just wondering if most people do the wait and see approach, or maybe a preventative measure with kids like sea bands.

I have heard once the seasickness sets in there is nothing you can do... and I would hate this ... for her and me!

Thoughts...

[Shmoo here]

Originally Posted by JillianinMN

I'm interested what everyone thinks. We are traveling with our four year old daughter on a May cruise. While she hasn't experienced motion sickness as of yet, I'm worried about a cruise.

Just wondering if most people do the wait and see approach, or maybe a preventative measure with kids like sea bands.

I have heard once the seasickness sets in there is nothing you can do... and I would hate this ... for her and me!

Thoughts...

It depends on the length of the cruise. If it's a short cruise, and your child already seems to have some issues with motion sickness otherwise, I'd probably go with preventative.

The first cruise we took the rest of the family on was a longer one (7 nights), and I just brought along ginger pills, bonine, and MotionEze. Nobody needed any of it. I don't know that once you have seasickness it's too late to do anything about it. It just may seem that it takes longer to take effect. On a longer cruise, you have the time to "waste" a day while the meds take effect if you need to use them.

Our first cruise (DH & I) I didn't take anything, even though as a child (like 1 year old) I did get seasick. Turns out, I have no problem with it now. DH, on the otherhand, who has motion sickness issues, got the patch from his doctor. And he says that he thinks it was a good move for our first cruise. Since then, he put the patch on before our second cruise, and took it off after a couple of days because the side effects were worse than being seasick (he said). He tried sea bands on those days that were a little more rocky, and says they seem to work fine. Our last 3 cruises, he hasn't used anything.

[Dayenu]

Originally Posted by JillianinMN

I'm interested what everyone thinks. We are traveling with our four year old daughter on a May cruise. While she hasn't experienced motion sickness as of yet, I'm worried about a cruise.

Just wondering if most people do the wait and see approach, or maybe a preventative measure with kids like sea bands.

I have heard once the seasickness sets in there is nothing you can do... and I would hate this ... for her and me!

Thoughts...

I can tell from my personal experience it's not true once you got sick there is nothing you can do. Once I woke up with huge waves, took a Bonine and a couple of hours later felt fine. I would ask a pediatrician about doses and bring medicine with you, just in case.

[broberts]

In my experience one can take something after the onset of nausea and it will be effective.

I'd suggest consulting your daughter's pediatrician or at least a pharmacist regarding treatment options. Simply providing a smaller dose of something an adult would take may not be appropriate, might even be dangerous.

[Ashland]

Forget the SeaBands...Ask your pediatrician...as there is an otc. chewable raspberry flavored Bonine (WalMart has it) even though it says children over 12 your doctor can make that decision and perhaps the option of cutting them in half...They work great.

[dsrdsrdsr]

I'm never keen on the idea of medical treatment for people who aren't ill. As long as you don't let her know you expect her to be sick, she probably won't be. You're always far more likely to be sick if you think you're going to be.

[luvtoteach]

Eating a green apple with the peel works great. A green apple each day helps prevent motion sickness.

[Shmoo here]

Originally Posted by luvtoteach

Eating a green apple with the peel works great. A green apple each day helps prevent motion sickness.

I've heard that this works, also. My only question is, by "green" apple does that mean an apple that is green in color? Or an apple that isn't ripe yet (green)?

[RunnerGirl26.2]

Originally Posted by Shmoo here

I've heard that this works, also. My only question is, by "green" apple does that mean an apple that is green in color? Or an apple that isn't ripe yet (green)?

Green Granny Smith I believe. They will have them at the buffet area.

[klauer]

I think that it's very hard to understand motion sickness if you don't experience it yourself --it's like trying to explain a severe migraine to someone whose headache is cured by a couple of Tylenols. I would definitely talk to your daughter's pediatrician before your cruise.

[GoVikes]

I would also recommend talking with your DD's pediatrician. We (correctly) assumed that my DD would have some seasickness, as she will sometimes get car sick. We also assumed that both of our sons would be fine. They were. For DD, we did have her eat Granny Smith apples as well as ginger snaps. She had seabands. If she still feels poorly, we encourage her to take Bonine. It does help, even though she didn't take it before she started feeling seasick.

I find that her seasickness also depends on the how rough the water is. Baltic was like glass, she didn't have even a touch of seasickness. The Caribbean was still churned up from a tropical storm that had just passed, so she didn't feel fantastic.

[johneeo]

Originally Posted by JillianinMN

...... While she hasn't experienced motion sickness as of yet, ......

I suggest you do nothing.

Do not even bring up the subject of sea sickness with her.

[B&Z's Mom]

Originally Posted by johneeo

I suggest you do nothing.

Do not even bring up the subject of sea sickness with her.

I completely agree. Our DS1 gets quite motion sick in the car, but has been on 3 cruises, two with significant weather, and has never been sea sick. I do bring some medication with us, but he doesn't know about it. We take preentative measures like spending time outside on the first day to help the brain get accustomed to the ship's movement or staring at the horizon when the ship is really rolling.
I don't like treating anyone for a condition that may or may not develop. I do speak to our doctor and pharmacist about options, but they are a last resort.