Tubes & Airplane!

My daughter did fine. I gave her some juice and gimmy bears. The gummy bears work great. Young kids love them and it keeps them chewing and keeps pressure low if at all.

Two of my children had tubes at ten months. I don't remember having any problems flying. I was just so thankful that my kids no longer had the pain and pressure from fluid and infections. The air pressure problems in the ears usually have to do with pressure on the ear drum. With tubes, air can pass through the tiny hole that the tube creates, so there shouldn't be any airpressure problems. The only problems you should have will be keeping a young boy entertained during the flight.

thank you so much for this question!!! I am getting on a plane with my 3 yr old in 2 days! she is on her second set of tubes and I had never thought about that problem, just that I needed to get her some gum... the only time she has had problems is getting water in her ears, in the bathtub she cries and sticks her fingers in them to keep the water out when I rinse her hair.
so anyway, looks like it shouldn't be a problem for our kids with tubes to fly.

Ahhh...I hate flying. Let me tell you why. . . I had tubes as a child. I am now 28 years old and still take a bunch of Tylenol before getting on the plane. Let me just tell ya, nothing helps me. I usually take the plunge downwards with me eyes closed and chew my gum with big huge motions. I often wonder why no one around me looks to be in pain, but, if I were a child, I would probably cry :) However, we recently took my 4 year old on a trip, who also had tubes, and it didn't seem to phase him in the least - I did give him Tylenol and gum to chew on though. Good Luck :)

Hi, S. -
Based on my experience, I would tell you not to worry one little bit. My son had tubes put in his ears at 1 1/2 years of age and 2 weeks later we were on a 10 hour flight to Germany (the ENT doctor ASSURED me several times that it would be fine for him to fly that soon after the procedure). My son did not have one minute of trouble on that flight or the next several times we flew across the Atlantic. He did have his pacifier when we made the first flight (which may have helped) but he did not have it when we made our final return flight to the States when he was 3, and he still had no issues at all. Perhaps have a sippy cup of water on hand just in case... Good luck and enjoy your vacation!

My son has tubes in his ears and has had them since he was about 2. He is four now. We havent been on a plane but I knwo when the doctors were talking to us about why he needed tubes, they said that before he got tubes his hearing was muffled like when your on a plane and your ears are needing to pop. I would suggest ear plugs and the gum if your child can chew gum. He will be more sensitive to noise. I know my son was really sensitive about anything loud. Sometimes loud noises scare him. Good luck.

S. Thorne
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Because the tubes create a hole from the inner ear to the outside world, there is no air pressure to worry about! The air pressure in your son's ears will remain equalized. I've flown several times with my son and his tubes, and there has never been a problem. You should be just fine.