Flying with a scared child, any advice?

[kopmom]

We leave a week from today for our Orlando trip. We are going out of BWI and this is the first time my children are flying. My son who is 4 is a bit scared. I am so afraid about him loosing it on the plane during boarding/take off. My son gets very emotional when he is upset, lots of screaming and crying

I am planning on taking things to keep him busy...coloring, movies, favorite music, snacks.

I am also unsure if it will be better to board as soon as we can or wait till the last minute...thoughts?

Any other advice?

 

[jtopp]

Try taking him to the airport ahead of time to see everything. My DS, at 3 was amazed at all the traffic at the airport, and enjoyed looking out the window enough that he forgot all about being frightened. When we mentioned it to him after we returned home, he forgot he was scared.

 

[kopmom]

Try taking him to the airport ahead of time to see everything.

My mom just happen to take him to a local small airport around the corner from her house this past weekend. I think it made him feel better but he still seems a bit scared.

 

[Singinglizzie]

When my son was younger, and on the advice of my pediatrician, I used to give him a small dose of tylenol (the liquid drop kind). I don't believe in using medication unless necessary, but I did find the tylenol calmed him. I also carried a sippy cup with apple juice as the "sucking" motion helps equalize the eustation tubes on take off and landing. With all the 9/ll security rules I don't know if you will be able to board with a liquid - maybe just bring a sippy cup and fill it with water from the plane. Does he have a favorite toy or animal that he could bring along. You could make up a story about how his toy wants to fly and is going on a great adventure. This might make flying seem more fun. Also bring his favorite blanket or pillow, as these will help him feel more comfortable. My kid used to worrry about throwing up, so I always made sure he knew where the barf bags were. I also used to bring a "surpise" bag with a couple of new toys and small books. This made the trip more of a reward. I would give him one of the new toys once we settled down and were safety belted in, then we would read and quietly play. We also colored on the plane, so my bag would always have a new coloring book. Hope your flight isnt too long and good luck.

 

[dawnball]

When flying with my daughter, we talked a *lot* about the process.

"We get the airport and dad drops us off at the curb. We'll go inside and get in line to check our bag (insert description of check-in). Then we go up the escalator and get in line for security. Do you remember what the rules for security are?"

Then when we started traveling - we'd talk through the steps as we did them. "Do you remember where we go next?" "What are the rules for boarding the airplane?" Sitting on the airplane we read every emergency information card. Several times. With descriptions and explanations of all the pictograms. "This picture means that if we have an emergency landing on the water - you should only go out of the over-wing exits, not the front exits."

That sense that she knew what was happening/what was expected was important for her. We had a lot of turbulance on descents, but we just called it "fun" since it was like going up and down really fast on Alladin's Magic Carpets.

 

[mistymouse5001]

May be you can help his fear and the magic of the trip with a little bottle of glitter and a note from peter pan. Everyone knows all you need trust...and a little bit of pixie dust! You could make authentic with parchment and a ribbon!
Your DD will get a kick out of it too I bet.

 

[kopmom]

Thanks for all the great ideas !!

 

[aidansmommy]

We're not going til January, but I'm bookmarking this thread. Thanks for the ideas!

 

[Married2Mickey]

Three words - distraction, distraction, distraction! Though my DS is not opposed to flying, he isn't very fond of it. The airports have a lot of hustle and bustle to help occupy kids, and it never hurts to have a surprise bag filled with new toys (or old toys the kids forgot they had ). My son LOVES his DVD player, and we watch movies everywhere we go. He never sits in the window seat anymore because he doesn't want to look out of the window as it taps his fear of heights. As long as he has something to occupy him and sits away from the window he's fine. Good luck with your trip!

 

[minkydog]

My DD was afraid to fly, mostly because she is unsure of herself in unfamiliar situations. We practiced at home putting our shoes in a bucket, pretending to walk through security, finding our gate. In the car we would pretend we were on the plane--I would remind him how the wheels make a "clunk" when they go up and how all the hows and cars look like toys.We played pretend A LOT.

When the day came she did pretty well. She was a little nervous, but not crying or out of control. It was an overcast day so shortly after take off we were in heavy cloud cover--she thought that was the neatest thing of all, that clouds don't look like she thought they did! By the second leg of the trip, she was telling other passengers not to be scared, that "clunk" was just the wheels being put away and the clouds were very soft and went right over the wings

 

[disneymarie]

Three words - distraction, distraction, distraction! Though my DS is not opposed to flying, he isn't very fond of it. The airports have a lot of hustle and bustle to help occupy kids, and it never hurts to have a surprise bag filled with new toys (or old toys the kids forgot they had ). My son LOVES his DVD player, and we watch movies everywhere we go. He never sits in the window seat anymore because he doesn't want to look out of the window as it taps his fear of heights. As long as he has something to occupy him and sits away from the window he's fine. Good luck with your trip!

Ihave a high anxiety daughter that has flown at least a dozen times now but still expresses that she is not a fan to fly. especially a flight that is bumpy and she is motion sick.

I also am a DVD player Mom and noticed that this helped so much. I buy a good DVD that they want and save for the trip, one that is an all time favorite and also one of the planning DVDs from Disney.

I use Benadryl quick melts, she is 12 so the Jr strength, dd is also like me no meds unless ill, but anxious and motion illness are an illness that if a dose can help that is great.

A flight two years ago the plane lost power on the run way, we were in the rear about 4 rows from the lav. The air conditioning was off, the smell of lavs came in and I had two throwing up, The steward brought a kitched garbage back for us it was so bad. I had him at 5o minutes into it take the dd up to the front and they had to open the door for her to get air.

They needed a generator to come jump start the plane, it was as big as a Volkeswagon car, lol. My older son worked at Delta comair and kept us posted to what the delay was and how long until they could get another plane.

I often wondered if they lost the power when the pilot had to shut down the plan just as he was going to back out and found out the oldest dd was in the lav still losing her cookies.....
It was miserable. Thank goodness no repeats.

Oh, the trip for dd at 4/5 years old, I had a sticker book, color forms. activity set, a $1 Targat velvet color picture of Disney characters,

Enjoy your trip, keep everything upbeat.....
My boys use to make Katie a plane from chairs and cardboard for her to fly before we left too. she was into trains, so they changed it to planes for her too,

She still is anxious to fly and I don;t believe I could get her on a plane to anywhere but Disney. I want to go to San Fran to visit and even offered to go by train and she is saying no way....
We stayed in Niagara Falls last week and she had anxiety attacks every evening. we even stayed at her older sisters house and she shook, sobbed, cried over and over to please drive her home she did not want to sleep over.

Hope your son out grows it,
dianne

 

[proteus]

Act natural and very calm. As a kid I was a little nervous then I would glance at my parents, they acted as if we were in a car going down a highway. Very reassuring.

 

[NMAmy]

DD was a nervous flyer when she was young. I'd go over everything that would happen in minute detail--she wasn't worried about the airport or security but being on the plane. We'd talk about boarding the plane, finding our seats, buckling up, listening to the safety talk, pulling away from the gate, takeoff, drinks and snacks, landing--every thing I could think of. She was a huge creature of habit. As long as she knew what was going to happen, she was fine. She's 17 and flies by herself now and loves it.

 

[Married2Mickey]

A flight two years ago the plane lost power on the run way, we were in the rear about 4 rows from the lav. The air conditioning was off, the smell of lavs came in and I had two throwing up, The steward brought a kitched garbage back for us it was so bad. I had him at 5o minutes into it take the dd up to the front and they had to open the door for her to get air.

They needed a generator to come jump start the plane, it was as big as a Volkeswagon car, lol. My older son worked at Delta comair and kept us posted to what the delay was and how long until they could get another plane.

I often wondered if they lost the power when the pilot had to shut down the plan just as he was going to back out and found out the oldest dd was in the lav still losing her cookies.....
It was miserable. Thank goodness no repeats.

Wow! I'm so sorry to hear about your horrific flight! Your poor kids! I'm glad there were no repeats, though. Flying can definitely be an adventure all by itself.

 

[Brer Shay]

My DS - 5 at the time - was VERY nervous about flying. He is prone to getting loud as well when things aren't going well for him. He said that he wouldn't get on the plane when we talked about it. Needless to say I was quite scared about what was going to happen.

We took him out to the airport and showed him the planes taking off. We were even able to arrange for him to sit in an actual plane. We watched the TSA screenings. We got books out of the library about "my first plane ride". As we did this, his attitude certainly improved and he was willing to try, but was scared. After much, much more talking, I discovered that he was afraid that the plane would fly too close to the sun and that we would burn up. That would make me scared too!! We explained where planes actually fly and between that and all the other things we had gone through made things bearable. He was nervous and practically on my lap during the first leg of the flight, but it got better each flight afterwards.

My pediatrician also suggested the option of giving him Benedryl to calm him, but we didn't need to go that route.

 

[kcdoodles80]

My almost 4 year old daugther is a little hesitant too - but partly because forever she thought when I said the pilot was flying the plane she thought I said PIRATE! Poor kid!

Anyway you could try taking him to Friendship Park right by BWI. They have a playground and you can watch all the planes land. It's really neat!

Lastly you could try this site. https://secure.uvoxnetworks.com/disney/affhome.html?affno=66 Maybe have one of his fav characters call and encourage him about the plane ride Good Luck!

We leave a week from today for our Orlando trip. We are going out of BWI and this is the first time my children are flying. My son who is 4 is a bit scared. I am so afraid about him loosing it on the plane during boarding/take off. My son gets very emotional when he is upset, lots of screaming and crying

I am planning on taking things to keep him busy...coloring, movies, favorite music, snacks.

I am also unsure if it will be better to board as soon as we can or wait till the last minute...thoughts?

Any other advice?

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

At our local regional airport there is a group of guys who get together on Sat. morning at the airport to shoot the breeze. Maybe take you kid/s to the local airport and see if a pilot could talk you them and show them the inside of an airplane this might easy them a bit. Then hang out and watch planes take off and land.