My daughter is scared to fly! (What should I do)

[ty&brenmom]

My ten year old son has an anxiety disorder and he worries about many things, especially flying. Since we live in Alaska flying is pretty much our only option. He has flown about seven times and each time it gets a little worse. Once we are up in the air he is fine, it's just from the time he knows that he is going to get on a plane (even now when we aren't leaving for over a year he will say I'm not going, I'm not getting on a plane). I have to constantly remind him of all the fun things that we are going to do and how much fun he has once we get there. Talking about all the safety features on the plane and the fact that we have more small plane accidents seems to help, another tactic I use is look how many times we have flown and how many times my parents have flown (they usually go on vacations twice a year) and in all that time nothing has happened to their planes. Once I tried the there are more car accidents than plane accidents and he didn't want me to drive anymore.
I agree with other posts if talking with her isn't decreasing her anxiety, maybe getting a prescription to take the edge off might make it easier. Also alowing her to pack an ipod, portable dvd and some comfort thing (a stuff animal or something from home) may help.
Hope things turn out alright and you have a great time once you get there.

 

[MouseFan71]

I'm 36 years old from Rochester, NY and do not like to fly. I loved it as a kid but now with children of my own, I'm petrified. The only place I will fly is WDW. I tried everthing from lack of sleep (so I'd sleep on the plane) to cocktails (just made me sick and I wouldn't recommend alcohol to a minor). I finally spoke to my Dr who prescribed Diazepam (Valum), it worked great but you need to be careful when giving it to children. I'm not even sure if they would recommend it for her. Speak to your Dr TODAY, they will recommend a safe alternative without jeapordizing her safety. Tell her if an old lady from Rochester can suffer through the flight for a week with Mickey, certainly she can get through it!!! I understand the science behind flying and realize it's the safest form of travel, I'm not even worried about hijackers, the whole idea of being 30,000 feet above the earth without a net scares me!!! BUT DISNEY"S WORTH IT!!!! Good luck.

 

[ShortMinnieGrl16]

Thank you all for the advice. I will be making a call to the doctor for Zanax tomorrow. I think we come from a line of chicken flyers in our family. We drove over 1300 miles on a trip last spring and it was the worst trip we have ever been on. Not to mention driving in the rain on a one lane road with semi's racing by us. It was really hard on us and when I asked how long it would have taken us on a plane someone said like and 1.5 hours. Ever since then, we've decided we needed to get over the flying fear and bite the bullet. We've done it before and can do it again.

But then within this last week her fear has emerged. I'd take meds too but feel like I have to be the conscious and alert one. On one flight my mother took the meds and was completely out of it and far too calm. The boarding attendant asked for her ticket, my mother could not find it right away and then handed the attendant her purse, laughed and said "it's in there somewhere" My expression= We had to leave the line to find her ticket. We have not flown with my mom since...

Again, thanks for the tips. I'll let you know how she does when we get back.