June 22, 2009

What Goes Down Must Come Up


You think I've simply mixed up a well-known saying, don't you? If that's the case then perhaps you have never experienced the "joys" of motion sickness. I am seriously afflicted with this condition and seem to have passed it on to my daughters, much to Hubby's dismay.
I remember when I was little and I looked through a photo album from my mother's childhood. There are pictures of a family vacation and she's stretched out on a blanket on the side of a highway. She was so car sick her family had to pull over and let her rest until she felt well enough to travel again. So you see, my daughters and I have essentially inherited this urge to purge when in a car.
Growing up, long trips inevitably ended in me barfing. We rarely stopped to eat when traveling, regardless of how long the trip was. It was better to arrive at our destination hungry than covered in vomit. Eventually Bonine and Dramamine made traveling so much easier for me. It seems to only be the car (or a boat) that gets to me. I have never had issues when I fly. Of course I always pop a Dramamine prior to a flight, so that may have something to do with it. I can handle roller coasters with no problems, which makes Hubby laugh. I can go upside down on a roller coaster, but I turn green just looking at a boat.
My daughters always pick strange times to become car sick. On long trips they tend to be fine... and I have never "drugged" them. But on short day trips we find ourselves wishing we had packed extra clothes. About a year ago we spent the day driving through the mountains to go elk watching. It was a great trip. Then as we drove down the mountain Roo started crying. I turned around and frantically instructed Hubby to pull over as soon as possible. As an expert on motion sickness I knew that look in her eyes. We managed to find a pull off spot, but not before Roo became sick. She spent the rest of the car ride in just a diaper... and we spent the rest of the trip with the windows down. A few months ago I was driving around with all four girls looking for an out of the way store. The roads weren't curvy, but we were in the car for about an hour. Cakes suddenly made a gagging sound and... well, I'll spare you the details. We never found the store in question.
Traveling with four little ones who have the potential to become motion sick makes every trip a little dicey. We've learned on long trips to eat light and always have a "run around stop." If the girls have a chance to stretch their legs they seem to be in a better mood and have a better chance to making it to our destination without being sick. At the very least it wears them out and they can sleep for awhile. My family will never take a cruise, but at least my daughters will have some great traveling stories to tell when they are older.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

As one of your Aunt's who saw you after those long car rides to Michigan, I remember you being totally out of it for the first few hours after arriving and your sister roaring to go.. I can sympathize because I suffer from motion sickness, also. Flying and I totally do not mix. I was sick ( going thru barf bags like crazy) on a flight from England to the States . Apologizing the whole looong flight to the man sitting next to me. I would like to say that they will grow out of it but you and I know that is not true. You just get it under better control.

Stephanie Barr said...

I don't get carsick, but I have a family that does so. Lee swears by ginger and has had a lot of success with it.

MaryAnne said...

I only get carsick on windy roads, but my daughter threw up nearly every car ride she went on while she was in a rear-facing carseat. Thankfully switching her to forward-facing reduced the problem so that she rarely throws up now...

Quadmama said...

Getting it under control is sometimes easier said than done. I'm hoping when they're older they'll at least understand the signs.
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Ginger does tend to work... or at least in my experience ginger ale works.
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Facing forward does help... I've tried to tell them to "look out the front window." Interestingly, they can watch our portable DVD player without becoming sick.

LauraC said...

I get bad motion sickness too (and had bad morning sickness) and I've found I need to face straight ahead and have some wind blowing on my face to keep from getting nauseated. Boats are the same thing - I have to be at the front to keep the wind blowing.

But man, car sickness times 4? Have I said again that you are my hero!

Quadmama said...

At least not all four have been car sick at the same time... same trip, yes, same time, no. Did I just jinx myself?

Anonymous said...

I remember not "getting" why my cousins who often travelled with our family kept having to vomit during the long car trips. I myself never had the problem, not even on long boat rides, and neither do my two elder children. However, I've noticed that my 8 month old spits up a LOT during car trips, and I'm wondering maybe we'll be making a whole lot more stops during trips in the near future!

Really enjoy reading your blog by the way!
Eleena

Quadmama said...

Once I had my motion sickness under control I hated traveling with my sister. Not only does she have really bad motion sickness, she always turned my direction to vomit. Nice!

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