Flying alone with my children - Help with carryons & ears

[fam4jc]

Hi. My girls will be flying with me for the first time in April. They are 5 & 8. My 8yr old has trouble with her ears. Any suggestions for preventing the pressure pain? Also ours is a short flight (GSP to MCO about 1hr 30min), what if anything should I bring to occupy them? and finally, I am afraid of overloading my carryon to be too heavy for me to pick up over my head to place in the bin. I always help people I see who need it, but I don't want to intentionally put myself in that position. Should I split up our carryon things into the girls backpacks to even out the weight? I have the Mickey three piece set so the carryon is very roomy.

Thanks for you advice. I've already got my luggage out thinking about packing - I'm nuts.

 

[Disneymaddness]

My son has problems with his ears when we fly and we use EarPlanes. They are these little tubes that you put in the ears. They work great!! You can get them at the drug store. Have a great trip!

 

[Sandyincanada]

I second Earplanes...my DD swears by them, I know you can get them at Walmart and Shoppers. Chewy candy helps during take-off and landings too abit.

I travel alone for business sometimes and if my carry on isn't too big but heavy, I store it under the seat ahead of me instead.

 

[Luckymommyx2]

We always make a short trip to Walmart and have the kids pick out one of the $1 activity books that has a variety of activities like coloring, mazes, connect the dots, etc. Also, SWA always give them an additional activity pack with a color pencil. I also take a headset from home and allow each child to pick one Disney story on tape/cd to listen to on the way down. The only other thing I take for them is the Earplanes. Good luck and have a great flight!

 

[ducklite]

I'd pack something for your girls. I'd have each of them carry a smmall backpack and put a few items from your carryon into their's to ease the load/size.

You are right in thinking you need to be able to manage your own bag, out of fear of lawsuits or injuring themselves, many passengers and FA's will no longer assist. You might want to put some of the heavier items into your handbag. That's what I do. My cell phone charger and CD case go into my pocketbook, that's about five pounds less in my carryon. Doesn't seem like it would make a difference, but it does.

You can also really evaluate what you're carrying, chances are you'll decide that you *really* could put an item into the checked bag. I split my toiletries into two cases. One with toothbrush/paste, deoderant, sample packet of moisturizer and cleanser, comb, and travel size hair gel. Everything else goes into the checked bag. I carryon a clean shirt and change of underwear, all the other clothes get checked. You get the picture.

Anne