# Extended Rear Facing and Car Sickness



## emma1325 (May 23, 2005)

Ok, so I was totally uninformed on this when mine were little. I had heard that it was safer to keep a baby rear-facing for as long as possible, but I didn't think it was really necessary.

When my oldest turned a year, we bought her a new larger car seat. I had my husband install it rear-facing. She vomited twice in one day (in the car) and I thought she had a stomach bug. The next day, she did it again, and I realized that she was actually getting car sick because she was looking out of the window while backward.

So I immediately turned it forward facing, and the vomiting stopped.

Since this seemed to work well for her (going to forward facing @ 1 year) I repeated it with my second child.

Any tips for me for getting better informed next time? (we're hoping to have another baby.) Are there any good websites to visit?

And any suggestions for what should be done if a child gets car sick while riding rear-facing?


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## pixiepunk (Mar 11, 2003)

i'm curious to hear what others have to say about this. i had to turn both of my older two kids due to extreme car sickness, but thankfully DD2 doesn't seem to suffer from it like the other two did.


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## Raene (Jul 24, 2008)

There was never vomiting, but there was excessive crying, and my daughter never cried at any other time. Even if I was sitting next to her she cried a lot. I don't think it had to do with her being away from us...I think she was feeling sick.


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## Pepper44 (May 16, 2006)

I thought that was why my daughter was crying too. She would get hysterical to the point of grabbing my shirt and refusing to let go as I tried to put her into the seat. We'd have to pry her little fingers away and she would make her body rigid and scream the entire car ride. When she was around a year old I turned her forward facing out of complete desperation, and she laughed in the car. She's been happy ever since. I really think it was because she felt motion sick. I always rode in the back seat with her when she was rear facing, so it wasn't because she couldn't see me or anything...

I think if the child is sick or hysterically upset it is safer to turn them around. Your driving is impaired when you are trying to soothe a screaming infant or deal with projectile vomit, you know? I can't tell you how many times I nearly wrecked because she was screaming so loud and I was trying hard to calm her.


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## elanorh (Feb 1, 2006)

My dd1 didn't have carsickness until she was forward-facing (maybe once or twice before that, but not enough for us to realize she was carsick, she had reflux as a babe) ....

She does have carsickness issues and we travel alot. What I have found that works for carsickness, and would recommend trying with a rearfacing toddler too -- is to fold a piece of newspaper up into a square to cover your little one's tummy (between it and their shirt) before buckling them in. We tried this on the advice of a mom here on Mothering -- we'd hit the point where it was dramamine or something (!!) and we didn't want to do that.

It has worked like a charm. It makes no sense, I have no idea why it works, but it does. Give it a try! You may be surprised. Of course, if kiddos remember feeling carsick while rear-facing previously, they may fight this for the first few trips, out of fear that they'll feel that way again -- but once they find that it works, they may settle right down.

We've been using the newspaper for 2+ years now -- only one carsick episode during that time (and it used to be we had carsickness every trip at least 1-3 times); that carsick episode was because we forgot to put the paper in. DD1 asked for it, and threw up a few minutes later (too late with it).

Initially DD1 was resistant to the newspaper (she was probably 3 when we tried it?). But after two days of using it, she's asked for it ever since, so she noticed a difference!

It's worth a shot.


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## Llyra (Jan 16, 2005)

This is the reason why my 2 1/2 year old DS is forward facing, while his twin sister, who is nearly exactly the same height and weight, is still rear-facing. I just couldn't keep cleaning up vomit every time we drove anywhere.

I myself am subject to severe motion sickness, so I know how it feels, and I couldn't put my DS through that anymore. I also couldn't keep cleaning vomit off the entire car AND my other two kids, and I couldn't deal with the stress of having to concentrate on driving while hearing poor DS be so miserable.

I also wasn't willing to regularly drug him, nor was just staying home an option for us.

So I turned him, and he still does get motion sickness occasionally if there's a lot of twisty turns or stop-and-go traffic, but it's so much better than it was.

What can help, if you are coping with motion sickness? Lots of fresh air-- open the windows. Encourage him to look out the window, not at some close-up activity like a toy. If the child is old enough, candied ginger or ginger ale can be a big help. Noticing the signs, and getting the child out of the car to sit or run and play on solid ground for awhile, helps a lot too. Light snacking is helpful, too. And sleeping in the car seems to help prevent motion sickness well, too, so doing your driving at a time when the child is sleepy is a big help. Those bands that you can wear don't seem to fit small children very well, so those haven't been helpful to us.

And just in case all else fails, you'll want to keep a cleanup kit in the trunk, with changes of clothes for the child, you, and any other children in the backseat with the child, towels, rags, bags, disinfectant or other cleaning product, something that can deoderize, etc.


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## E1meh (Oct 4, 2018)

Hello ladies! So I am here suffering the same car sickness episode and following clean up (massive) after each episode. Every time my 2 and a half year old eats something while driving or gets in the car an hour or so after eating it is bound to happen. I have a one year old as well who doesn’t have this issue but between my husband and I one of us constantly sits between the 2 car sets and is always prepared for the episode and the clean up that follows. She is also not barf bag friendly so even though we are holding it to catch it.. she keeps pushing her neck away and ultimately it all lands in her clothes and the car seat ... please help


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