Car sickness and kids

Unfortunately, we are very imprudent when traveling with children. According to some study, 22% of children aged 0 to 6 travel by car without the necessary safety devices or by using them incorrectly.

So, to travel by car with children in total safety, the first thing to do is checking the seat (it must be right for the age and weight of your child) and the safety belts (which must not be too wide ). Important: do not give in to the whims of the little ones if they try to refuse to use them.

Secondly, never hold children in your arms while traveling: it is very dangerous on both the front and rear seats. In the event of an accident, in fact, the adult’s body can impact with that of the child and worsen the damage of the collision.

Third essential tip: the central rear seat is the safest place for children; in any case, speaking about safety, during the car trip avoid giving children lollipops or ice creams with the bar because it can be dangerous in case of sudden braking.

Then there is a particular problem to take into account, even in preventive terms, when traveling with children: car sickness.

What is Motion sickness?

Known as motion sickness, car sickness is characterized by a set of ailments such as nausea, vomiting, dizziness, pallor and cold sweating that affect some subjects during a trip by car (car sickness), or by plane, or by ship (seasickness).

These are symptoms due to the repeated shaking caused by the moving vehicle, which affect the system that presides over the body’s balance.

When the person is moving in relation to fixed points, his eyes perform a whole series of fast movements that can alter the sense of balance with consequent annoying symptoms that can occur immediately after departure. It is, indeed, a rather annoying malaise that affects adults, but especially children, not used to traveling and with a sense of balance not yet stabilized, especially if they are very young.

Plus, if the road you are traveling on is particularly rough, the symptoms could amplify.

Over the years, however, our body gets used to moving by car, train, ship and plane allowing symptoms to lessen. In the meantime, however, how to act to prevent children’s car sickness and travel in peace?

Some useful remedies

Here are some simple tips to travel with children without unpleasant surprises:

• To begin with, if the child suffers from car sickness, choose to travel during the night or to leave early in the morning: your kid will sleeps and the visual stimuli that can cause or accentuate motion sickness will be less.
• Let the child travel on a special seat so that he sees in front of him.
• Make sure your child won’t be moving around the car during the journey: it is dangerous and increases the symptoms of motion sickness.
• If the child is old enough, have him sit in the front seat of the car. If instead you are on the plane, choose the seats at the wing and on the central area; if you travel by train, make sure that the child is always seated in the direction of travel.
• Do not let the child play video games or use the mobile phone during the time you are traveling so as to minimize head and body movements.
• Make sure to keep the window semi-open in the car so that there is an air change: it favors the alleviation of symptoms.
• It is preferable to face the trip on a full stomach in order to reduce the feeling of nausea. Have the child make a small snack before departure and during the trip offer small but frequent meals based on breadsticks, bread and crackers. Avoid foods that are difficult to digest, especially fried or very fatty foods and carbonated drinks.
• Finally, if, despite all the precautions, the child begins to feel unwell, stop the car, lower the car window so as to circulate the air and do not leave again until the situation calms down a bit .

At Civitavecchia Shuttle Express, our team of drivers is prepared to face this type of situation and will do everything int their power to make your trip to Fiumicino Airport as comfortable as possible.