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Nausea, heartache… What are the symptoms of motion sickness in children?
However, you have traveled few kilometers that the first symptoms are already appearing. Your little girl becomes quite pale, has dizziness, headaches, nausea. Sometimes she even vomits. She is a victim of motion sickness, called motion sickness.
What are the causes and at what age are children sick in cars?
“Motion sickness is the result of a sensory conflict between the body which remains motionless in the seat, the eye which sees the landscape passing by or gives it a feeling of stillness if it is reading, and theinner ear which feels acceleration movements and vibrations, ”explains Dr Michel Kossowski, who works at the Falguière oto-neurological functional exploration center, in Paris. “Confronted with contradictory information, the brain cannot find its way around and control the crisis. »A benign, but unpleasant problem that affects children of 2 12 years to.
Travel sickness: homeopathy before departure
To prevent car journeys from turning into an ordeal on the preceding days, we take the time to reassure the child about the conditions of the upcoming trip. “A little one who is prone to motion sickness usually starts to feel nauseous as soon as he knows he is going to be on the road,” says Dr. Kossowski. Also make sure he sleeps well the night before to be rested. In prevention, it may also be judicious to offer him ginger powder diluted in yogurt, or to give him homeopathy (Nux Vomica or Cocculine). To start the day before and to renew half an hour before departure.
Glasses and drugs as a remedy for road sickness
If homeopathic treatments prove ineffective, consult your pediatrician. Your child may be prescribed a antihistamine first generation, which will reduce sensory activity and limit the risk of nausea on the journey. the metopimazine is also a medicine that you can use for motion sickness. This is freely available in pharmacies.
In recent years, new means have also appeared to fight against road sickness in children (and older!). There is an acupressure anti-nausea bracelet. During the trip, just wear a bracelet on each wrist, the ball pressed against the skin, on the Point Nei Kuan (P6) and it works in a few minutes! (Sea-Band Child). Special glasses have also been created by the Citroën automobile brand. These reduce nausea in about fifteen minutes once worn (they are however recommended from 10 years).
What to do when a child is sick in the car?
For the journey to take place as well as possible, “On D-Day, the child must not leave on an empty stomach to avoid hypoglycemia, which can cause nausea”, recalls Dr Loïs Bonne, ENT at the Hospital for the instruction of. Armies in Brest. Plan a collation, avoiding soft drinks, fat food and difficult to digest. Install your child in a strategic place. “At the back in the middle, so that it fixes the horizon in front,” says Dr. Bonne. Open the windows a little to renew the air, put a soft music and adopt a smooth ride. “Get the child interested in driving to make him an actor of the trip, or offer him riddles to occupy his superior functions to something else,” insists Dr. Bonne. And have patience, it passes by growing up.