we leave Monday...DS has airplane anxiety

[thatchicktrish]

We leave for WDW Monday morning, our first trip and also my son's first time on an airplane. My DS (7) started having some diarrhea this past week, we took him to the doctor and he said he thinks it's from anxiety and nerves for the upcoming trip and just to keep him hydrated, he will be fine. So we plan on still going but my DS is very nervous about going on the airplane. He has said he is afraid to be up so high although he's ridden huge ferris wheels and other high rides before. I've reassured him we will be safe, I told him his dad and I will be right there with him, I explained everything that will happen once we get to the airport and on the plane and he is still quite upset about having to get on a plane. I'm at my wits end, he is still feeling yucky on top of the nerves he is dealing with about the plane. I don't know what to do other than cancel the whole trip. Suggestions would be appreciated.

 

[disneyfor3]

Gosh, that's tough. My sister is going through her daughter having anxiety issues right now about her new school and I know she is having a tough time with it. She had the diarrhea issue for weeks and is on meds now.
My only suggestion is we always take our son shopping for toys to use while on the airplane. We let him pick out several small things he can play with on the plane. Maybe also involve him in packing a small bag full of snacks. Maybe he could start planning what to pack in his backpack for the plane.
Maybe if he sits down and does a list with good things on one side and bad on the other of things he is looking forward to on the trip and things he is worried about it will seem a little less worrisome if you go over all of them with him.
Good luck.

 

[Fastpassme]

Hope you aren't cancelling your trip. Disneyfor3 is right, if you can get your son to focus on toys and activities, he'll spend less time worrying. As someone who works in the mental health field, I know that if you don't deal with this now, the fear isn't likely to decrease next time. It may be a good idea to give him a little motion-sickness medication (for kids) on the way down, because if he's already anxious he may work himself into air-sickness. This will help to make sure his experience isn't too negative.

Enjoy your vacation! I'm jealous, we aren't going until Nov.

 

[all4fun]

Hi,
I found this article about fear of flying, specifically tips for helping kids with fear of flying. I thought you might find this helpful.

Hope you're able to help him overcome this and have a great trip!

Cheryl

 

[Tamickey]

Have a supply of Tums, these should be okay - you can always call the doc if you're not sure. Have plenty of surprize stuff to do on the plane. And don't keep talking to him about it. Kids can be sidetracked as long as the adults quit talking about it so much. My kid is older and really hates flying. But I give them the choice - flying to Disney or staying home. If they don't want to fly, so be it.

 

[whedrick]

You might want to call his Dr. and see if you can get something to give him on the day you travel. After 9/11 my doctor gave me something to take before gettting on a plane and it helped a lot.

 

[cindysteve]

Have your DS talk with other kids his age who have flown before. For some reason a 7 year old boy will believe another 7 year old boy and feel reassured, before he will believe an adult.
Talk to your doctor about perhaps taking some Benedryl the morning of your trip to help him feel more relaxed (tired).
Good Luck and have a nice trip.

 

[Sue & Co.]

I know it's not easy but if you don't help him to face this now it will only get worse. I agree with previous posters get him to help with choosing a few small things for on the plane, get him to talk to friends who have done similar trips and if he is technically minded talk to him about how planes fly and why they stay up. If yuor doctor is sympathetic you may also want to consider getting something for him to take if he is just too stressed on the day.

Sue

Hope all goes well.......

 

[weeyore33]

we took our vacation this past feb. and we did not know if we were going to make it or not. my son kept insisting he was NOT getting ton the airplane. we did not talk about it much, we tried to reassure him but it seemed the more we talked about it the more anxiety it created so we just waited. Did you try taking him to the airport so he could see the planes taking off and landing? or go to the library and get a bood on airplanes? i know thiese things sound silly but i know i would have done anything that i thought would help him.
my pediatrician suggested the benadryl the day we flew, to relax him. and we did get new games, and toys(which he never even took out) after we got on the airplane he was a little nervous, for the take off, then he just shut the window and never opened it again. The people sitting in front of us had a portable dvd player, they were watching finding nemo, this took his mind off of it, they actually took the headphones out and put it on speaker so he could watch and hear it with them- that was awesome, we are going to invest in one of trese for our next flight(july) i think it takes their mind off of the air more than anything! good luck , and remember the more you react to his nervousness the more nervous he will get... talk more about the Vacation aspect, dont concentrate on "the flight" that seemed to work best for us. I hope some of this helps!