Suggestions for Taking My Sensitive 3 and a Half Year Old on a Plane

I have a very sensitive daughter and we have flown many times.I always used distraction. I wrapped up little presents for her to unwrap and always had gummies for the landing so her ears wouldn't pop. A portable dvd player was also a great help. Good luck.

Do as much prep as you can and explain as much as possible. Sometimes it's the fear of the unknown that can be scary. When my daughter was about that age, she was excited to go on the plane, but didn't want it to go up in the air. So, I told her we would stay on the ground and drive there - LOL We closed the window shades so she couldn't see out. It worked. Very funny though.

And, if you think she will have a serious problem, ask your ped for an anti-anxiety med. It won't hurt for her to take it. I know many people are going to criticize me for recommending drugs, but a pill going and a pill returning are a lot less damaging than traumatizing a terrified 3 year old.

Also, my kids all had sinus issues, so my doc had me give them Benadryl before flying. It helped with sinus pressure and made them sleepy.

Good luck.

I also think Benadryl might be a good way to go. Maybe give it a bit early so she is starting to get sleepy at the airport (that'll make check in easier on you too). And hopefully she will sleep right through take off. I also scheduled flights at nap time so my son would sleep through them. You could keep the window closed so once she wakes up she doesn't notice where she is and then even if she is a little scared of the landing, at least you are getting off the plane at that point. Good luck!

When we went on or first flight with our LO our ped gave us numbing ear drops so she would not have a problem with the fast altitude change. We stuck in headphones with a fun movie and she hardly noticed. Bring snacks and activities and she should be ok. Try to relax as much as possible. she will probably feed off of your nervousness over her. Have a safe trip.

You're posting this right before Christmas, so I'm assuming you are probably up against a deadline without a lot of room to experiment. But, we knew we were going to Canada on a vacation with our child (about the same age at the time). So we took him on a few short trips before that. My husband works in Northern California, so we had him take our son on the plane from here to San Jose. It was a short trip. Not long enough that Alex would get antsy, and short enough that if he did totally flip out, the other passengers wouldn't have to suffer for 5 hours. (Really, there is nothing worse than being trapped in a plane with an unhappy child.) If you had started working on this several months ago, your daughter might be good for this trip. If she doesn't like moving fast, keep her away from the window. Planes don't feel like they are moving that fast from inside. Also, don't sit right near the wings where she's going to be blasted with the noises that the jets and the wing flaps make. Take things to distract her, and don't make a huge deal of it. If you tell her this is something to be afraid of she will be. Good luck!

Distraction!!! and before you go explain the different sounds she'll hear and listen for them. My son listens for the wheels to come up or down. You can also have her look out the window to find land marks that she might recognize. Try to show her your neighbor hood or other places she goes with you. If she enjoys music or movies at all get her some noise reducing head phones and bring an ipod or dvd player. Kids usually think it's cool that the flight attendants bring snacks and drinks thru the isle so tell her ahead of time that she will get to pick her own juice. The usually gave a few different kinds. If she likes to color or draw take along a pad of construction paper with crayons and give her an 'assignment' to make drawings for individual family members. She'll stay busy and I'm sure your family would love it.

I would talk to her about it and make it a project, get books, even take her to the airport before the trip and show her all the check-in and security areas. The more she knows, the more comfortable she will be. Also, she will know if you are nervous...so try to be relaxed about it. Bring plenty of snacks and hand sanitizer. I travel with my 3 years From HI to NYC a few times and year and he asks to go on planes when we drive by the airport. It is an adventure to him.

Hi R.-

What we did was explain the "adventure" a lot, so when our kid's got on the plane they were so excited. Then as we were sitting on the plane I game them a brand new (cheap)back pack that had tons of pockets. In the pockets I had new,cheap, books & toys, & candy, (which is a treat because I limit it.) Anyway they were only allowed to open a pocket at a time, then a little later I would let them open another pocket, and so forth. For the trip coming back I would do the same thing but using the same backback. A friend of mine went to Hawaii and she bought Sees Suckers and gave them to all the people around them. I liked that idea so I did the same. Luckily my children never bothered the people around us, but our neighbors really liked us!!

Have a great trip!!

I saw one person recommended Benedryl... if you go that route I would recommend trying this on her before your trip. My sister in law was recommended this by her Ped and it had the oppisite effect on her almost 4 year old... she was tired but very restless and couldnt go to sleep, so the trip was a little unpleasant..

Good Luck and Enjoy your trip!

Hi R.,
Get your daughter noise reducing headphones to wear. I got them for my son for when I take him to rock concerts. They worked great for Aerosmith and Def Leppard - I'm sure they'll help on the plane!

Good luck!

Make it an adventure for her...talk about the upcoming plane ride everyday to prepare her for it. Bring small toys or games to keep her occupied and maybe a portable dvd player and some of her favorite movies to watch.

Best of luck.

I actually sucked it up and bought a portable dvd player with a few of my son's fav dvd movies. He was still a bit worried about the plane but he ended up being ok after his movie started. Good Luck. (Walmart and target)