We leave for vacation tomorrow. This will be the first flight with our three year old and the only flight our six year old will rememeber. What can I do to help the three year old with her ears??? We thought about gum, but she's never had it. I don't want to deal with a gum disaster while on a plane. I know drinking is a good idea, but she will be excited and refuse to drink, because she won't be able to watch easily while drinking. Will sucking on a lollipop help? Any and all ideas for dealing with ear popping are appreciated! TIA!
You probably wont have a single problem, just be prepared with the candy or whatever.
My son and 3yr old granddaughter flew to CA from GA last month and there were no ear problems. Granddaughter loved the flight and was very well behaved according to mom and daddy.
Lollipops are the best idea I think, but I have never had a problem with my kids ears either, but best to be prepared!
Lollipops and/or a sippy cup of water.
The biggest thing that has helped us when flying with our toddler was to bring the car seat and let them sit in it, then it is just like being in the car. I always have my husband preboard and put the car seat in and get settled. Then I wait with my daughter to be the very last person to board the plane that way she is not just locked in her seat while we wait for everyone to get on the plane, let her run around etc.. to get it out of her system. So we only have to preoccupy her for a short amount of time. Then when the plane takes off I give her a sippy cup and tell her to drink it. It always works for us and we have never had any issues with flying. Just be sure to buy plenty of snacks and to bring lots of toys. I would also suggest getting new toys that she has never seen before, those always last a lot longer. Really it is not as scary as it seems :)
Does she suck her thumb. If so, that will help. Also, eating gummy snacks, drinking a juice box (or something she normally doesn't get) or eating a lollypop will help. My daughter never has much trouble with her ears on ascent, but they hurt her a lot on descent. Also, afterwards, you may want to consider giving her a benadryl after you're on the ground to clear our any fluid that didn't drain. Their o-tubes in their ears don't adjust straight up and down as well as adults do, and the pressure can cause them to build fluid in their ear that may not drain afterwards and can cause an ear infection. (That happened to my daughter.) Otherwise, she'll probalby think it's a whole lot of fun:-)
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Does she suck her thumb. If so, that will help. Also, eating gummy snacks, drinking a juice box (or something she normally doesn't get) or eating a lollypop will help. My daughter never has much trouble with her ears on ascent, but they hurt her a lot on descent. Also, afterwards, you may want to consider giving her a benadryl after you're on the ground to clear our any fluid that didn't drain. Their o-tubes in their ears don't adjust straight up and down as well as adults do, and the pressure can cause them to build fluid in their ear that may not drain afterwards and can cause an ear infection. (That happened to my daughter.) Otherwise, she'll probalby think it's a whole lot of fun:-)
We fly often with our daughter (almost 3) and have never had issues with her ears.
You should be concerned about entertainment. If she is anything like our little one, she will not want to sit still, starring at the back of the seat in front of her for long. Bring a coloring book or something without noise to entertain her. You will keep her happy that way without disturbing the rest of the passengers with loud toys or a crying toddler.
If she does complain about her ears, have her try to blow her nose (give her saline drops if she is dry) and that should do it.
Good luck and enjoy your family vacation!
a lollipop should help. When our daughter was younger we used Earplanes. They are earplugs you get in the pharmacy specifically for flying. You put them in before the flight and take them out after.
My daughter always had bad ear popping and these seemed to help a lot. Last time I bought them, they were aout $6 a pack and worth it.
Make sure you make the flight an adventure so the children will be excited and no pick up on any fears you may have.
Don't worry, it's not that bad.
We've done a lot of flying with three kids. All we've ever needed to do was either yawn a few times, or hold our breath, mouth closed and nosed pinched shut (it's looks really goofy when the whole family does this, the little ones love it!)
Of course they will always appreciate and be distracted by candy and/or gum.
Have a great trip!!!
I taught my daughter to fake yawn. I told her that we were going high up and it might make her ear feel funny maybe hurt a little and if they did I needed her to yawn big and wide, I showed her and told her we wanted to make the insides of our ears to go "pop". It was a game. Yawns are also contagious, heh, you yawn big and wide for her to see she'll do it too and if her ears pop, Yay!
We used dum dum lollies at that age. Check it first to make sure it's on there securely, though. One mom on here had a problem w/ that once, if I recall. Do you have a portable DVD player? Those are a lifesaver. If you had one for each child w/ a set of headphones, your trip will be golden. Good luck, you'll be fine. We went to Costa Rica when our daughter was 2; a total of 4 regular flights and 5 in-country hoppers. She was a champ. Have fun!
Be sure to have enough of her favorite, irresistable snack for take-off and the descent. You may have to resort to candy! Keeping her little jaws moving helps with the ear popping.
My daughter never had a problem with her ears and flying.
How do you know she will be excited and refuse to drink?
Practice chewing a gum with her today.
Sugar free gum.
Or ask your Pediatrician.
How about gummy fruit snacks? I'm not a huge fan of them purely for the sugar/teeth factor, but they take a while to chew and might help with ears. Honestly, any snack will be good if she's chewing. Pack lots of them!
P.s. I've flown a handful of times with my kids and have never had an issue with ears either.
Take two Styrofoam cups-put a damp paper towel in each-have the stewardess heat them in a microwave until pretty warm-not so wet that they drip hot water-place them over your daughters ears on take off-this should help with the pressure.
lollipops should work its the sucking that is supposed to help.
We used lollipops.
Give her something to eat or drink on takeoff. My DD didn't have much problem with the flights/takeoffs/landings. If you have a sippy cup, ask the flight attendant for some water before takeoff and have DD drink from that (so she can look out, too).
