8 year old Triplets flying for first time.

[TripletDad]

We will be flying out 2 weeks from Wednesday. This will be the first time flying for our 8 yr old triplet daughters. I was wonder if anybody had any advice on kids flying for the first time? I DDs do travel well in a car. We are lucky we got non stop flights also. The girls are getting excited about the trip. Thanks

TripletDad.

 

[debster812]

Our 6 YO had his first flight in January. We were REALLY lucky, in that we had a practically EMPTY SWA flight. Literally. There were 24 people registered for the flight, 18 of them actually showed up.

We brought lots and LOTS of busywork. Color Wonder pens and paper were GREAT!!! Travel size games. Snacks. Playing cards. A discman with some of his music.

He also REALLY enjoyed looking out the window, and just checking everything out.

I will try to think of some more stuff we did/brought.

 

[Megan's Mom]

Ear Planes You need to get these for the children. They are wonderful. You put them in their ears before take off and they can take them out after lift off or leave them in until landing. they equalized the preasure in their ears and it keeps their ears from hurting.

 

[debster812]

Oh yeah. What Megan's Mom said. EARPLANES!!!! And if you have non-stops, you will only need one box for each child. Each set of earplanes is good for 2 takeoffs and 2 landings.

I found that DS was really excited, and the activities we brought were all NEW to him, so that it kept him occupied looking in his backpack to see what else was there.

 

[jcanary]

My kids have always gotten a few new travel games and the word find books. MAke sure they bring their own CD players with headphones. My girls have been flying for a while but always get excited for every new trip. Beware - My 4 16years will probably distract your girls on our flight down because I am sure they will be noisey and having a great time. The travel games won't keep them quiet this time.
Oh also bring a few card games. The less than 3 hours trip will go by really fast. Make sure they chew gum to help their ears pop.
See ya in 14 days 23 hours.......

 

[Sandi]

With three kids, try to work out the seating arrangements ahead of time. You'll likely be in two rows with two windows. That means someone won't get a window (and that is a big deal with kids). If you can negotiate that little aspect of the trip, there will be less of a problem just getting on the plane and ready for take off. (The people behind you will also appreciate your wisdom!)

My 8 yo DD is an only, but our friends with triplet 8 yo DDs fly a lot with them. Experience.

 

[Claudia Kellenberger]

If your children are using " Ear-Planes" AND chewing gum, the action of chewing just might loosen the ear plugs too much.
Be careful with that ! " Ear-Planes" really work, you can get them in any drug store. For me, flying gives me the most awful, un-bearable pain in my ears, even extending to my jaws.
I used to cry like a baby on my DH's shoulder on the flight.
I felt so stupid crying on the plane. I had been using the Ear-Planes for a couple of years, and the pain was much better, but not actually gone. Just this past week I was on a flight, ( not to WDW, though ), and I used the "children's size" Ear-Planes, and it worked MUCH better for me. I hardly had any discomfort at all !! By the way......I'm 49 years old.

 

[NotUrsula]

Have them carry their own backpacks with their travel goodies, and make sure that each one has a bottle of water in their pack. Drinking water during takeoff and landing helps immensely with ear pressure, and planes are very dehydrating, anyway.

Some kids won't use Earplanes, mine won't. If they don't like earplugs for swimming, they probably won't like Earplanes. I don't like them myself. Swallowing helps, but the best pain preventative is a decongestant about 30 minutes before boarding (NOT an antihistamine, which will not help at all.) Decongestants containing guiafenesin work best to prevent pain from ear/sinus pressure. Combined with water to swallow on takeoff and landing, ear pain should not be an issue. For a first flight, carrying a small pack of chewable Dramamine would not be a bad idea, either, but be aware that it tends to make kids drowsy.

I allow my son to have Lunchables on airplane trips; I normally don't buy them. They are good for kids on planes, as they are completely self-contained, and they can eat whenever they get hungry. I carry it on in a small insulated bag, and give it out when he gets hungry.

 

[Pembo]

Pipe Cleaners!!!

When we went with our 5 yo I read to buy a bag of these at a craft store. He played with them the entire flight! You can make bracelets, characters, whatever. And they are lightweight, cheap, and quiet.

Have a great trip.

 

[TripletDad]

Thanks for all the great advice. Our AAA office sells Ear-Planes. I think when we go to get our Travelers Checks we will pick some up.

TripletDad.