Most children who get sick on a trip have one of five things: car or motion sickness, an upset stomach, a fever from a new bug, ear pain on a flight, or constipation. Nearly all of it is preventable or easy to manage if you pack the right few items and know which symptoms mean you should find a doctor. This guide covers each problem in the order parents usually meet it.
For flights, road trip stops, packing and itineraries, read Traveling With Kids: Flights, Road Trips, Sleep and What to Pack. This post sticks to health.
Why Kids Get Sick on Vacation
A trip changes several things at once. Your child touches hundreds of new surfaces in airports, trains and hotels. Meals come at odd hours. Sleep gets cut short. Children also drink less when they are busy and they dehydrate faster than adults. The usual protections slip and germs take the opening.
How to Prevent Car Sickness in Kids
Motion sickness happens when the eyes and the inner ear disagree. A child in a back seat reading a book feels the car turn but sees a still page. The brain reads the mismatch as a problem and nausea follows.
It is most common between ages 2 and 12. Babies under 2 get it less often, though some do.
Signs of car sickness in toddlers
Toddlers rarely say “I feel sick.” Watch for these instead:
- Yawning or sighing a lot
- Going quiet, pale or sweaty
- Sudden crankiness
- Closing their eyes or refusing a snack they normally like
What helps
- Give them a view out the front. Keep the child in their car seat in the back, but in the middle position if it is safe, so they can see the road ahead. Front seats are not safe for young children.
- No books or screens. Audiobooks, songs and “I spy” work better.
- Cool air. Crack a window or point the AC at their face.
- A light snack before you leave. Dry crackers, a banana or plain toast. Skip greasy or heavy food.
- Stop every 1.5 to 2 hours. Ten to fifteen minutes outside is usually enough to reset.
- Drive during nap time. A sleeping child rarely gets car sick, which is useful on winding hill roads.
If your child vomits anyway, pull over, let them lie down in the back with a cool cloth on their face and give small sips of water once the nausea settles.
Motion sickness medicine for kids
Antihistamines such as dimenhydrinate are labeled for children 2 and older and they work best taken 30 to 60 minutes before the journey. They cause drowsiness. Do not give them to a child under 2 unless a doctor says so. Ask your pediatrician before a long road trip if your child gets sick on every drive.
Child Has Diarrhea or Is Vomiting While Traveling
Stomach infections are among the most common travel illnesses in children, according to the CDC. Contaminated water, ice, cut fruit and undercooked food are the usual sources.
Prevention
- Drink sealed bottled or boiled water. Use the same water for brushing teeth and mixing formula.
- Skip ice in drinks unless you know the source.
- Choose food that is cooked fresh and served hot. Peel fruit yourself.
- Wash hands with soap before every meal and after the toilet. Carry sanitizer for when soap isn’t around.
- Clean pacifiers and toys that fall on the floor. If you breastfeed, keep nursing as usual.
What to do if it starts
Dehydration is the danger, not the diarrhea itself. Your job is to keep fluid going in.
- Start ORS early. Use WHO-formula oral rehydration salts (sold in India as Electral and similar brands), mixed exactly as the packet says. Juice, soft drinks and glucose water can make diarrhea worse.
- For vomiting, go slow. Give 1 teaspoon (5 ml) every 5 minutes. Much of it gets absorbed even if your child throws some up. Increase the amount as the vomiting eases.
- Keep feeding. Once vomiting stops, offer normal, simple food such as rice, dal, curd, khichdi or banana. Children recover faster when they keep eating.
- Ask about zinc. For children under 5 with diarrhea, the WHO and the Indian Academy of Pediatrics recommend zinc for 10 to 14 days. Your doctor will give the dose.
- Do not give anti-diarrhea pills such as loperamide to young children. Anti-vomiting drugs need a prescription.
See our guide to keeping children hydrated.
Toddler Constipation While Traveling
The opposite problem is just as common. Less water, less fiber, hours of sitting and a toddler who refuses an unfamiliar toilet all add up.
- Offer water through the day, not only at meals.
- Pack fiber snacks: pears, apples, guava, dried figs, prunes or roasted chana.
- Build in movement at every stop.
- Sit your toddler on the toilet for 5 to 10 minutes after breakfast, when the urge is strongest. A foldable potty seat helps a child who is scared of hotel or train toilets.
Fiber without enough water can make things worse, so increase both together. If your child goes more than three or four days without a stool or has belly pain, see a doctor.
Baby Ear Pain on a Plane
Air pressure drops during takeoff and rises during landing. Adults clear their ears by swallowing or yawning. Babies have narrow Eustachian tubes that block easily, so the pressure builds and hurts. Landing is usually worse than takeoff.
- Feed during descent. Breastfeed, give a bottle or offer a pacifier. Keep a bottle-fed baby sitting upright. Start when the plane begins to descend, about 20 to 30 minutes before landing.
- Older children can sip water, chew gum or suck on a hard candy. Gum and candy are choking risks under age 3.
- Pain relief. If your child reliably gets ear pain on flights, ask your pediatrician about a dose of paracetamol or ibuprofen 30 minutes before landing.
If your child has an ear infection or a heavy cold, ask the doctor whether to delay the flight.
Fever on Vacation: When to See a Doctor
A new virus is the most common cause of fever on a trip. Most pass in 2 to 3 days. Weigh your child before you leave and ask your pediatrician for the right paracetamol dose by weight, then write it on the bottle. Ibuprofen is not for babies under 6 months and no child should get aspirin.
Get medical help the same day if your child:
- Is under 3 months old with a temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher
- Has a fever above 102°F (39°C) that lasts more than 2 days
- Keeps vomiting for more than 4 hours or can’t keep ORS down
- Shows dehydration: no urine for 6 to 8 hours, dry mouth, no tears, sunken eyes
- Has blood in the stool or severe belly pain
- Has a rash that does not fade when you press a glass on it
- Has trouble breathing, a stiff neck, a seizure, or is unusually sleepy and hard to wake
In India, dial 112 for emergencies. Save the nearest children’s hospital before you arrive, not after your child falls ill. A fever in the weeks after you return home also needs a doctor visit; mention where you traveled, because dengue, malaria and typhoid can show up late.
Jet Lag in Kids: How Long to Adjust
Children adjust at roughly one hour per day, so a 5-hour time difference takes about 4 to 5 days to settle. Flying east is harder than flying west.
Get outside in morning daylight, keep naps short on day one and serve meals on local time. Ask your pediatrician before trying melatonin.
Altitude Sickness in Children
Destinations such as Leh (about 3,500 m) and parts of Sikkim or Spiti sit high enough to cause acute mountain sickness. Hill stations like Shimla or Ooty rarely do.
Older children get headaches, tiredness, nausea and poor sleep, like adults. Toddlers can’t describe it, so watch for fussiness, poor appetite, listlessness and broken sleep. At altitude, assume these are altitude-related until proven otherwise.
- Fly to Leh only if you can rest for the first 48 hours. Driving up over several days is gentler.
- Above 2,500 m, do not raise the sleeping altitude by more than 300 to 500 m a day. Add a rest day every few days.
- Keep fluids up and skip hard activity for the first two days.
- If symptoms get worse, go down. Descent is the treatment.
Mountaineering bodies advise against taking babies under 6 weeks to high altitude at all. Talk to your pediatrician before going above 2,500 m with a child under 2.
Mosquitoes, Heat and Sun
In much of India, mosquitoes spread dengue, malaria and chikungunya. DEET repellent at 10 to 30% is safe for children older than 2 months; use a net for younger babies. In summer, keep outdoor time before 11 am and after 4 pm and use SPF 30 sunscreen on children over 6 months.
Kids’ Travel Medicine Kit Checklist
Carry this in your hand luggage, not the checked bag:
- Digital thermometer
- Paracetamol syrup, with the dose for your child’s weight written on the bottle
- ORS sachets, at least 6 to 8
- Zinc syrup or tablets, if your doctor prescribes it
- Antihistamine for allergies or motion sickness (age 2 and up)
- Saline nasal drops
- Band-aids, antiseptic wipes and tweezers
- Mosquito repellent and sunscreen
- Hand sanitizer and wet wipes
- Any regular medicines in their original packaging, plus prescriptions
Add a copy of your child’s vaccination record and your health insurance details. Our first aid essentials guide explains what each item is for.
See your pediatrician 4 to 6 weeks before an international trip
Use the visit to catch up on routine vaccines, check whether your destination needs extras (typhoid, hepatitis A, yellow fever) and get prescriptions for anything your child takes. Our guide to preparing your child for a vaccine can help.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are the most common health problems in children while traveling?
Diarrhea and vomiting, motion sickness, fever from viral infections, constipation, ear pain during flights and in some places mosquito bites and sunburn. Jet lag and altitude sickness depend on where you go.
What should I do if my child gets sick on vacation?
Check their temperature, keep them drinking (ORS for diarrhea or vomiting) and let them rest. Most travel illnesses pass in a day or two. See a doctor for any warning sign listed above.
Can I give my child motion sickness medicine?
Children 2 and older can take antihistamines made for motion sickness, dosed by age and weight from the label. They cause drowsiness. Ask a doctor before giving any to a child under 2.
Why does my child get sick after every vacation?
New germs, short sleep and a changed diet all weaken the usual defenses and illness often appears a few days after you return.