Flying Air Canada - first trip for kids...

[littlesuitcase]

We decided to use a major carrier for the kids first trip - just wondering if they will make a fuss over kids who are flying for the first time or not? We have ordered children's meals for them - there will not be a movie (not that it would interest them anyway) and I have made them up surprise packs with disney books, the printoff of the disney journal and some other little bits.

I will have to give my daughter something because she gets car sick everytime she is in a car - I just don't want her to miss the experience. What kind of timing am I going for?

And finally - both kids have ear problems - both have had tubes but they are no longer in - what do i do to help with that area. Give them a wack of gum to keep their jaw moving?

 

[Mortlives]

Do they have their own aeroplan cards? They gave DS a puffy sticker, and a luggage tag. I don't know if this is standard op, but getting the cards will at least let you collect aeroplan points for them.

Kungaloosh!
Morticia.

 

[littlesuitcase]

I think my husband put the tickets on his aeroplan plan.

 

[riu girl]

DS4 and DD7 flew for the first time Dec. I was a little worried. But no problems. I gave them gravol (1/2 a pill for DD7 - 60lbs. and 1/4 pill for DS4 - 36 lbs) prior to flight. By the time the plane took off they were drowsy from the meds and fell asleep on take off. I tried to keep them awake so that they would chew the starburst for their ears (DS also had tubes) but to no avail. They didn't wake up until after we landed. With the gravol I also gave them 5 ml each of a cough/cold med (I forget which one, the doctor recommended it) and this kept the ear passages open. Since they were asleep when we landed I was worried that they would have sore ears since they weren't chewing starbursts. This wasn't the case. No problems at all.
Maybe talk to your doctor about the use of gravol/cough/cold med. After seeing the meds put my kids to sleep, I think they had too much meds in their system (they also were on antibiotics at the time). They also were awake at 3:45 am for the 6:45 am flight so maybe it was a combination.

I have read time and time again that Starbursts or fruit chews are a good choice for kids since they really have to CHEW IT.

Good luck
Suzy V.

 

[littlesuitcase]

Thanks - starbursts are a great idea. I will talk to the doc - I am 90% sure my daughter is getting an ear infection - she is sick right now and that usually follows.

 

[Sandyincanada]

I don't recall the airlines fussing over kids unless they are travelling alone, never fussed over mine anyways, lol

As for ears...earplanes, earplanes, EARPLANES!!!

My DD used to have alot of ear problems, her first flight was horrible, she was in agony landing.....did the chewy candy, cupping her ears, yawning, all the little tricks. Someone on the plane suggested I get earplanes for the trip back, which I did. These are wonderful, you can get them at Walmart or shoppers for about 6.00. They are good for 1 round trip. DD swears by them and we bought them for every trip for her until she outgrew her ear troubles.

You can buy them in both adult and children's sizes.

 

[Bea]

We flew AC to BC 3 years ago and they gave the kids each their own activity pak with stickers and a colouring book with crayons. But we flew last April and they were not given anything special (cut backs? ). We always order the kids meals and the kids are never disappointed. Last year at Easter we flew to Orlando and they each got their own big Cadbury's egg with their meals.

I go to the dollar store and buy them toys, colouring books etc and put them in their backpacks. I make sure what we put in those backpacks is stuff that can be "left behind" (ie. I don't put their good Crayola's crayons in). They know they can't open the packs until they are on the plane, and with their new found toys, they are occupied for awhile. I also put in snacks (pretzels, gold fish, etc) .

Have a great time. I find getting there sometimes produces as many memories as the vacation itself.

 

[MECH8T7]

Flew AC to UK last Easter with DS5 and DD3. Our kids' first flight (other than DS when he was 8 mos.)

The good thing about ordering the kid's meals is that they always got their food first (along with everyone else that had made a special food request). The flight attendants came around with a sort of loot bag for the kids with stickers, puzzles, etc. Nothing great, but our kids loved it.

A gameboy (w/ headphones) kept our son happy and our daughter occupied herself with colouring.

On the flight over, everything was fine until we landed...at which time DS began to throw up as we were getting to leave the plane (and a couple of more times in the Heathrow terminal while we were waiting for a connecting flight). Poor kid! Unfortunately, we also had the same experience on the way home when we landed at Pearson with DD. (I learned the hard way that the taps in the airplane's washrooms don't work after the plane has landed) In both cases, they had just woken up from sleeping just before we landed.

So, at least for our kids, the lesson learned is to not let them fall asleep for too long or at least be careful with what we let them eat / drink after they wake up. I was also grateful that we had brought a change of clothes for the kids on the carry on for the flight over.