4 hours on a plane with a 4 yo

[sl_underwood]

Our 4 year old son has aspergers, sensory issues, etc. Any suggestions on how to make our plane ride peaceful? I am thinking maybe a dvd player with headphones to entertain him but no clue how he will react to the taking off and landing. I imagine he will be fearful. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[SharpMomOfTwo]

My neighbors daughter has aspergers as well, though she is older than your son. My only suggestion is to have as many distractions with you as possible. A gameboy or something, though I'm not sure if he can play that at only 4... DVD player, stuff to draw on (Mickey ofcourse!) maybe some large piece puzzles, play-dough.... anything thats small, but can keep his attention for a while. Hes a boy, so maybe he likes little cars, or have him make your Mousekeeping envelopes while on the plane with stickers and such... And don't forget, you will hopefull be able to get up for most of the flight, so bathroom trips may help calm him because then he can get a good view of everything thats going on and such.

Hope I helped a little, and have a great trip!

 

[perkinsrose]

DVD probably good idea for portion of trip; Leapster (hand-held learning games like game boy) if you have one; MP3 player or CD play with headphones--many libraries have audiostories on CD; Disney stickers to stick in notebook; crayons-markers-& notebook paper; gum for chewing during take-off and other times as gum is also used in some classrooms for kids stress/tension relief through chewing; shoulder pressure/massage sometimes helps center and relax kids with sensory issures; bag of small toys like animal figures/cars etc. Snacks crucial for the long trip? I'm not impresses with the snack packs they offer for sale. Its hard to pack with restrictions i know.

My experience with children with autism in new or frightening experiences is that explanations & preparation before hand helps them know what to expect. Read what books you can find on "going on an airplane" to help know what to expect, Mister Rogers has an episode on airtravel though may be hard to locate.

Hope trip is magical!

 

[tinkandpan]

Make sure you have something "cool" to take the place of the dvd or gameboy. YYou are not allowed to have those on during takeoff or landing- so yyoyu would have to take it away yfor landing prep.

 

[LSK]

I don't have experience with Asperger's but have had great success with role playing with my 4 year old. I explain exactly what's going to happen and then we pretend to be on the plane and she guides me through what will happen.

DVD's are wonderful, coloring books for the time just after taking off and just before landing when electronics have to be turned off, LOTS of snacks.

The other big tip is to make your child at least sit on the potty before boarding the plane. On our most recent trip there was lots of turbulance and a young flight attendant who did not understand my daughter's urgency to use the potty. Finally, I asked for an empty cup and he let us go to the restroom.

 

[Nom]

I don't have experience with the Aspergers part of it, but I did take a 2.5 yr old on an 8 hr plane ride! And back again! And survived!

DVD player is a great idea and bring extra batterys and more videos than you think you will ever need. Bring all new books and activites... nothing that he has seen before, new will be more exicting. Space out what you give him so that he does not go through it all too fast. My rule of thumb is at least one item for every 15 min of flight- seems like a lot but think about the short attention span we are dealing with here.

If you have not already bought your tickets, consider Jet Blue- they have a personal entertainment system in the back of each seat and you can actually watch it during take off and landing (you can't watch a DVD player then). We always fly Jet Blue to Orlando now and it makes for a much more pleasant flight.

As for the take off- consider noise reducing headphones maybe or earplgs (if they won't bother him). it is going to be very loud.

I hav found that those magazines called 'Playroom' that you can find at the supermarket really occupy my dd for a LONG time. I always pick up multiple copies of those (they have one called 'playroom' and then one wih disney characters, one with Thomas the Tank engine, one with Barney, one with My Little Pony). They are lightweight and I can not say enough good things about them.

Don't bring any beloved figures, because remember that figures will probably be dropped beneath the seats within 45 seconds. I made that mistake and probably spent 2 hrs of the flight digging in the nasty area of the seat to recover JoJo and Goliath.

Similarly, if you bring activity books bring lots of markers or crayons because 75% of them will be dropped during use. Actually, I prefer sticker books, like 'The Ultimate _______ Sticker Book's that you can buy at book stores. They are another item that occupies dd for a long time, are light-weight and don't need markers that will be dropped. If you don't get sticker books (they can be expensive), just any stickers and plain paper can hold attention for quite a while. Michael's (craft store) has good sales on stickers quite often.

I minimize traditional books, because they tend to be heavier and then you will have to read them to him again and again and again. I try to focus on things that dd might be able to do on her own for a little bit, so I can get a little break.

Hope this helps! Just one add'l note: they no longer allow Play Doh on the plane due to the new restrictions on carryons... looks too much like explosives I guess. If you bring it to the airport they will make you throw it away (been there!).

 

[tmatthews]

For our almost 4 year old flying 5+ hours I tried to make sure we left when he was tired. We had to be up really early for the flight so he eventually got tired and slept over an hour. He also really likes color wonder (markers that won't leave marks anywhere but on the special paper) and also traveling aqua doodle. (same idea-you don't have to worry about messes!) Favorite snacks too!