For the holidays, you decided to go on a trip by car, but here's the problem: your baby is severely motion sick in a car. What to do? Doctors call motion sickness kinetosis, or motion sickness.. This is a complex of unpleasant symptoms that occur in vehicles: lethargy, drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting. Some babies get sick not only in cars and planes, but even in a stroller on rough roads, in an elevator, on carousels, swings, while riding an air mattress or boat.

Do not believe your eyes The mechanism of the appearance of kinetosis is not fully understood. Most experts believe that it occurs due to the immaturity of the vestibular apparatus (it is formed only by the age of 12) and the autonomic nervous system.. An undeveloped vestibular apparatus cannot combine conflicting information coming from different organs.

For example, muscle tissue receptors indicate that the body does not move in space, and visual receptors report a quick change in the picture outside the window.. The consequence of the underdevelopment of the autonomic nervous system of the child are spasms of cerebral vessels.; as a result, oxygen starvation occurs, dizziness and other symptoms of motion sickness appear.

A typical plot Kinetoses usually occur in babies from 1.5 - 2 years old, when the main structures of the brain are formed. Toddlers up to a year old may be disturbed by discomfort on an airplane due to pressure drops in the inner ear, but motion sickness in a car is rare among them.. Most often, children " From 5 to 12 years, 35% of children suffer from kinetosis. Doctors do not classify motion sickness as a disease and classify it as an uncomfortable condition..

A very small child is unlikely to be able to explain what makes him sick.. He will whimper, act up, roll around restlessly, touch his head or ears, then burst into tears and calm down for a while after vomiting or strong regurgitation with a fountain. Then everything can happen again and, perhaps, more than once. Some children respond to motion sickness by becoming lethargic and lethargic.. But upon arrival at the destination, well-being quickly returns to normal.. With age, vomiting from road jolts is less common, but nausea most often remains..

Plan of Action. What will help prevent the problem?

The ideal solution is to go on a trip at a time when the baby usually sleeps. In a dream, the motion sickness mechanism does not work, and if the baby manages to fall asleep, you can be calm about the outcome of the trip..

A simple and effective remedy - sucking. Due to sucking movements, the difference between external atmospheric pressure and internal, in the nasopharynx and ear, decreases, and the load on the vestibular apparatus is reduced.. Sometimes spitting up or vomiting can be prevented by giving the baby a lollipop in time, and giving the baby a bottle of milk or water, a breast, a pacifier, or even a clean mother's finger..

A baby prone to motion sickness does not need to be fed tightly before the road, but you can’t leave hungry either.. Suitable low-fat light food. Doctors even recommend diluting breast milk if the fat content in it exceeds the norm.. Mint and ginger tea, acidified water are advised to drink before the trip, but carbonated drinks are categorically not suitable..

Get some fresh air to help fight nausea. It is worth opening the window, and it is best to park the car and make a short stop as soon as you notice that the baby is muddied. Sometimes this is enough to prevent spitting up or vomiting..

The drug for motion sickness to a baby should be prescribed only by a doctor, taking into account the characteristics of his health (the state of the cardiovascular system, a tendency to allergies, etc.).. Tablets from motion sickness based on dimenhydrinate are suitable for children after 1 year. They are taken with water, half an hour before the trip and, if necessary, on the road 2-3 times a day. Sometimes homeopathic medicines are also recommended for children.. These sweet pills dissolve in your mouth.. In order for the active components to accumulate and act, the drug is taken before departure, and then several times during the trip..

Some babies are helped by non-drug motion sickness remedies such as patches and acupuncture bracelets..

Prevention for life For babies with severe kinetosis, especially if adult family members have this problem, doctors advise to strengthen the vestibular apparatus. Then, with age, the child is more likely to “outgrow” this problem, and it will not remain with him for life.. The vestibular apparatus needs to be developed daily, step by step and for a long time - remember how astronauts are trained.

Let the baby spin in place, waltz, jump on a trampoline and a large inflatable ball, spin on a floor spinning disc, learn to roll.

For the development of the vestibular apparatus, any rotation, swaying, tossing, flips are useful.. The same swing will become medicine for the baby if you increase the riding time gradually, starting, for example, from 1 minute and adding literally 5-10 seconds every day. It is very important that the exercises and the load end before the onset of discomfort.. If you "

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