- I have two daughters and have done my fair share of catching puke with my hands during trips.
- Now we travel with anti-nausea medication and medical-grade puke bags, just in case.
- We focus on prevention, which includes not using tablets or drinking dairy during the trip.
I've caught puke more times than I'd like to admit while traveling with our kids. On one particularly traumatic trip, one daughter vomited, and our other daughter, in sympathy, fainted minutes after we piled into our rental car.
Traveling with kids is stressful at baseline, and when you add in motion sickness, it becomes downright miserable. After countless flights and days of road trips under our belts with our two kiddos in tow, there are a few essentials we've come to rely on and a few nuggets of wisdom we've gained.
Get an anti-nausea medication if your kid always pukes
We tried over-the-counter Dramamine for my daughter, but she had an allergic reaction to the medication. We then tried Benadryl, which we were told can help with nausea related to motion sickness. It didn't work. After a few miserable trips, I finally talked to our pediatrician. She was able to write a prescription for a stronger anti-nausea medication called Zofran.
It was a game-changer. Now we give our daughter the dissolvable tablet prior to the start of the trip to prevent nausea and vomiting from the get-go. If you find that over-the-counter medications are not working for your child's motion sickness, it is definitely worth having a conversation with your pediatrician. There are also homeopathic options, such as aromatherapy or acupressure wristbands.
Always focus on prevention. Once the puking starts, it can be very difficult to stop. We pre-medicate before trips, regardless of how our children are feeling, and avoid screen time.
Invest in medical-grade puke bags
As a nurse, I understand the value of a high-quality puke bag. The flimsy vomit bags provided by airlines are not ideal. Which is why, yes, I buy hospital-grade puke bags. My daughter was able to hold her own bag at age 4. Airline vomit bags work great for double-bagging the hospital-grade puke bag after the eruption ceases. Gallon ziplock bags also work well for that.
But puke bags are only helpful if you can reach them and if your child gives you a warning before they erupt.
I have one daughter who is great at letting me know when her stomach hurts. The other daughter won't say a word. She'll act normal and then give me a look immediately before opening her mouth and unleashing gastric fury. This is why we now review before each trip that they need to tell us if their stomach is bothering them, and where the vomit bags are located.
But also, be prepared to clean up. If shit hits the fan, or vomit hits the floor, be prepared. I pack Clorox wipes and gallon-sized ziplock bags to seal off the stench.
Try anti-motion-sickness glasses
I didn't know about these genius glasses until I was perusing Amazon one day. Anti-motion-sickness glasses have circular rims filled with brightly colored fluid. There are four rims — two in front like a normal pair of glasses, and two on the sides, covering the peripheral vision. The brightly colored fluid creates an artificial horizon that helps the brain process movement, reducing motion sickness.
While I'll admit these do look a little ridiculous, they work.
Limit screen time
It took me an embarrassingly long time to realize that the tablets my daughters liked to watch on trips were contributing to their motion sickness — same thing with reading or coloring. Now, we like to listen to audiobooks on the Libby app. We also recently discovered Aaron's Thinking Putty, which provided hours of entertainment for my 5 and 7-year-old on our last road trip.
For younger ages, the little plastic figurine sets — dinosaurs, princesses, sea creatures — are fantastic and a great toy to have at your final destination.
I feel inclined to include this point after having to clean up curdled milk vomit twice. Do not order your kid a large-sized milk at the airport. Just don't.