what motion sickness meds for kids?

[botbienvn]

Otherwise, ginger is a great natural remedy for acute symptoms of motion sickness.

Altoids makes a ginger candy

Sea band makes a Ginger gum

 

Thanks for sharing these wonderful information.

 

I was going to buy a bottle of Minty Ginger, a popular motion sickness remedy made by Herbs for Kids, but then when I read the ingredients, it says "Kosher coconut." My son is allergic to tree nuts. So, he can't have Minty Ginger. I think my next step is to make some crystalized ginger.

[reallyexcited]

Thank you for all that great info!! I will be brining benydryl and dramamine :)

[Mom2B&Z]

I also bring powdered rehydration salts with dilutions for both children and adults.

Just an idea, I tend to bring a smaller first aid kit ashore, which includes band aids, alcohol wipes, polysporin, benedryl and tylenol. I carry the benedryl EVERYWHERE, because you never know when an allergic reaction may occur. My youngest is 3 and still hasn't experienced some things, like a bee sting, and there is a seafood allergy in DH's family so I tend to be careful.

The other thing is to try some of the meds on your kids before you go. You don't want to find out onboard that they are allergic to something in one of the meds, or that they have one of the paradoxical reactions (like DS1...he goes crazy on benedryl so we use it very judiciously!).

Interestingly, in Canada I can't find any of the anti-nausea meds you speak of except Gravol :)

 

 

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When I plan on going on a week-long vacation on a cruise... I bring some drugs I consider essential.

- Motion Sickness medication

- anti-diarrhea medication

- ibuprofen and/or acetaminophen (Motrin & Tylenol)

- Benadryl

 

Everything else is first aid stuff. Sunburn stuff, cortisone cream, band-aids, triple antibiotic... but even those things can easily be found anywhere... its' the children's strength diarrhea stuff and Benadryl which can be most problematic...

 

[Mack2]

Interestingly' date=' in Canada I can't find any of the anti-nausea meds you speak of except Gravol :)[/quote']

 

Gravol is a brand name of dimenhydrinate... which is the same as the original formula of Dramamine here in the US.

[Mack2]

Otherwise, ginger is a great natural remedy for acute symptoms of motion sickness.

Altoids makes a ginger candy

Sea band makes a Ginger gum

Thanks for sharing these wonderful information.

 

I was going to buy a bottle of Minty Ginger, a popular motion sickness remedy made by Herbs for Kids, but then when I read the ingredients, it says "Kosher coconut." My son is allergic to tree nuts. So, he can't have Minty Ginger. I think my next step is to make some crystalized ginger.

 

These are pictures of the two products I mentioned.

I've found the Altoids at specialty grocery stores... Like Whole Foods and Trader Joes... but you can also find crystalized ginger and candied ginger at these places.

 

The Sea Band Ginger gum I have in my pharmacy... I'm guessing you can find it at most chain drug stores.

[Mom2B&Z]

I'm not good with the generic drug names, or most of the drugs for that matter, that's why I'm an occupational therapist ;)

I'm still amazed at the selection you have in the US...

 

Gravol is a brand name of dimenhydrinate... which is the same as the original formula of Dramamine here in the US.

[mommyof3girls]

My daughter gets used to get car sick and benadryl worked like a charm every time. She was able to shake off the drowsiness after about 2 hours but still did not feel sick for the rest of the car trip. Good luck!

[reallyexcited]

thanks for all the info!

 

I bought Benydryl..tylonol, motrin, pepto for kids, dramamine, bonine..

 

going to look for the ginger stuff this week :)

[TwoSue]

You can buy ginger pills...

that's what we're going to bring just in case.

[loan_girl]

My doctor said the chewable Claritin works as well as Dramamine or Bonnie for kids. We use it for my son's car & seasickness with good results.

[lesleyswimcoach]

I read somewhere that zyrtec works like benedryl. It is 24 hour. Has anyone tried it?

[Mack2]

I read somewhere that zyrtec works like benedryl. It is 24 hour. Has anyone tried it?

 

Well, Benadryl (diphenhydramine) and Zyrtec (cetirizine) do similar things, but there was a study done using Allegra and Zyrtec to determine whether they work with motion sickness.

 

Unfortunately, they found that the newer non-drowsy antihistamines (anti-cholinergics) do not work well for motion sickness.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12549941

CONCLUSIONS: The failure of the second-generation antihistamines cetirizine and fexofenadine to prevent motion sickness suggests that the therapeutic actions of this class of antihistamines against motion sickness may be mediated through central versus peripheral receptors. The sedative effect of other antihistamines, such as hydroxyzine, may play a more significant role in alleviating motion sickness than previously thought.

 

I got excited when I started searching for references to the use of Claritin (loratadine) in motion sickness, but nothing's been studied with it for that use. Since loratadine was one of the first "2nd-Gen" antihistamines, it could tie into the Zyrtec study, and be less likely to help with motion sickness.

[Momto5]

Bonine used to be sold as Bonamine here in Canada, but I stopped being able to find it over 2 years ago. I am a Neo Transport nurse and I use it when I fly in the really small planes, as it does not make me drowsy and I can still do my job. It is also not available anywhere in Buffalo (as Bonine) which is also a new development. I have seen it in Fort Myers but could not find it near Disney. I have found it in New Orleans in the Walgreens in the French Quarter. We are going there next month and I am buying all I can, to stock up for work and for our cruise next March (DH is very seasick and it works like a charm).

 

My one son will be almost 12 that cruise, and I plan on giving it to him as he gets car sick. He is the weight of a small adult female, and I figure his renal and hepatic clearance of the drug will not magically change a month after the cruise when he turns 12-lol.

 

The other kids (6, 7 and 10) will have to make due with Gravol. It does not knock them out, as we sadly discovered on the loooong drive to Florida the past few yrs. :eek:But great for cruising!:):)

[FIVEONTHEAVENUE]

Just bought some Original Dramamine today. There are directions on back for both children and adults. Hoping we dont need it.

[Mack2]

Bonine used to be sold as Bonamine here in Canada, but I stopped being able to find it over 2 years ago. I am a Neo Transport nurse and I use it when I fly in the really small planes, as it does not make me drowsy and I can still do my job. It is also not available anywhere in Buffalo (as Bonine) which is also a new development. I have seen it in Fort Myers but could not find it near Disney. I have found it in New Orleans in the Walgreens in the French Quarter. We are going there next month and I am buying all I can, to stock up for work and for our cruise next March (DH is very seasick and it works like a charm).

 

My one son will be almost 12 that cruise, and I plan on giving it to him as he gets car sick. He is the weight of a small adult female, and I figure his renal and hepatic clearance of the drug will not magically change a month after the cruise when he turns 12-lol.

 

The other kids (6, 7 and 10) will have to make due with Gravol. It does not knock them out, as we sadly discovered on the loooong drive to Florida the past few yrs. :eek:But great for cruising!:):)

 

Bonine's active ingredient, meclizine, is also the main active ingredient in a prescription drug called Antivert - for the treatment of vertigo.

 

Bonine and Antivert are both the same drug, but Bonine is recommended for motion sickness, and Antivert is indicated for vertigo.

For the US, the drug is basically interchangeable, but the indication isn't.

 

It's a little confusing.

 

Basically, a US doctor can prescribe Antivert for the treatment of vertigo. This is because a doctor can help make sure that the vertigo isn't the result of some ischemic cerebral event (stroke) or brain injury or ridiculously high blood pressure or infection or something.

If someone has dizziness for no good reason, it's always a good idea to get the doctor to figure out why before they'll throw an anti-vertigo pill at you... don't try to treat dizziness without seeing the doctor.

 

Motion sickness is something the FDA feels is easy for people to self-diagnose themselves with. Get in a car, boat, bus, plane and get nausea... sure.

Motion sickness.

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure that one out... or a brain surgeon for that matter.

[StarCruz]

Great thread. Luckily for us, Children's Gravol is easy to find in Canada.

 

Great suggestion on ginger too. We keep ginger tea in the house for general nausea, but never though about using ginger as a remedy for sea sickness.

[arpie05]

As others have mentioned you just have to figure out what is best for your child. Mine at age 9 wouldn't listen to me and ended up seasick on our Alaskan cruise. So the next cruise he tried mom's advice and it worked. I made him repeat many times who was right.

Now he won't cruise without his regiment. (Even the one time he went with dad, I wrote it out for him)

 

My friend Jaimie went on her first family cruise with boys ages 2 & 5. I had given her some Ginger People candy. Everytime they started to feel queasy they asked for the spicy candy. She said it was awesome and it saved their 7 day cruise out of San Juan. She even brought me back a small gift to thank me as it was such a lifesafer. She had been skeptical until they tried it.

 

My son is now old enough to swallow pills so we start on ginger capsels about one day before we fly, two days before cruise. The night before we fly I give him meclinzine/bonnie because it's good for 24 hours. Then ginger in morning too.

He took one motion sick medicine every night including the night after we disembarked in case of any residual effects (I take it for about a week after due to gran mal disembarkment). The ginger was then a night and morning thing. The ginger settled his stomach in the mornings.

 

I would give him the strong level of dosage for the nights we were onboard until the last night to ween him off. (so if bottle said 1-2 tables every 24 hours - then one tablet night before flying and night before cruise. 2 tables while onboard until last night then 1)

 

I personally get really sick so I also snack on the ginger candy, ginger cookies, and drink ginger tea during the day on the ship. I even fix a gingery meal the night before we leave for one.