I need some advice. My youngest boy (4 years old) has started to suffer from travel sickness. While it's particularly bad when he's in the back of my wagon and I'm driving in an enthusiastic manner, he is also not feeling good in much softer and more sedately driven cars.
Any tips or tricks that mean I can still enjoy driving and don't have to buy something boring?

 

You've answered your own question there mate. Maybe don't drive so 'enthusiastically' when he is in the car. Bit selfish really if you know he is feeling rough.
As for the normal sedate driving, I am no doctor but had this when I was a youngster, would imagine something has triggered it (maybe your enthusiasm) and he feels rough on any journeys now and feels anxious about being in any car.

 

Our youngest daughter is the same - things we do to 'reduce it':

Get her to wear a travel band

Keep her cool - take shoes off on long journeys / keep window open slightly to keep fresh air coming in (We generally keep the car cooler now just in case also)

Make sure she doesn't spend the whole time looking down at phone/ipad/book - apparently your eyes need to see something stable in the distance (as your brain is feeling 'movement' but not seeing anything to reference against)

All of the above have definitely helped her - previously she would be sick 3 or 4 times on a long journey, last week we went to N Wales (4 hours) and she was sick once on the way there, and not at all on the way home.

 

I'm my defence, as soon as he mentions he's not feeling too good I slow right down.
But you're probably right, I need to be more considerate to my passengers.

 

put him in the passenger seat so he can see out the window in front of him

 

Thanks for the tips. It's definitely worse when we're travelling at night so not being able to see something stable in the distance makes sense.

 

+1 for front seat passenger, better view of horizon. Travel (and sea)sickness is usually due to a mismatch between what your eyes are telling your brain ("I'm not moving") and what your balance organs are telling your brain ("I'm being thrown around at 1.4g").

Giving your eyes a chance to see the horizon means that your brain can adjust to local movement against the fixed reference.

 

The front seat does work and my youngest is good company when he's up front, but it does provoke howls of injustice from my older boy ("why do I never get to sit in the front!") and a frosty atmosphere from my wife.

 

Get either of them to hold the sick bag in the back next to the littlun for a couple of journeys, then see what they say

 

Ha! Brilliant idea.

 

Send the kid on the bus