Flight tips for school age kids About This Page:

[disneydreamin]

I'm building off of the previous post regarding ears popping in flight. What are things that you have done for your school age kids to help with this? I will be flying with a 4 and 8 yr old. I remember when I flew to Disney World with my parents I had a terrible time trying to pop my ears, and couldn't hear for a few hours after flight

[twins4me]

My kids, now 7 1/2, just flew in Dec. as well as in Feb 2005 (when they were almost 5). Both have had lots of ear troubles (multiple sets of tubes, dd has a perforation in her ear even after repeated surgeries to close). They chewed gum, which seemed to do the trick. I also encouraged them to swallow a lot. We have not had issues either time they have flown. Best of luck to you.....things should go fine.

[MelissaL]

My daughter says that chewing on gummi bears (actually, gummy princesses from the Orlando airport gift shop) kept her ears from hurting on the trip home last time. I suspect that was a combination of frequent swallowing and the "Dumbo's feather" effect.

Melissa

[snoozin]

Melissa's suggestion is great; gum too, if your kids like. I always let our DD's choose a special gum pack for the trip out and the trip back. If they've got runny noses, you might want to check with your pediatrician and see if he thinks nose spray might work (that always does for me and my DD's when they were stuffy/runny).

[Colexis Mom]

We usually get gum for our kids, since they are older now

[RobDVC]

Chewing gum, and ear planes.

[HollyH]

Gum or any sort of chewy candy does the trick for DS 6. Just a friendly FYI -chewing gum also had the effect of pulling out his loose tooth! Quite an interesting time that was! Fortunately, he didn't swallow it. As a matter of fact, he handed it to me during take off (without telling me what he was handing me ).

[abbie]

My 3 children are all flying for the first time in july. I am concerned about my kids ears as well when flying. But my girls 3and 5 get car sick very easily and I am afraid it will translate to air sickness because of the ear pressure. My son 10 years old Is extremely frightened of heights. So much so we can't take him out on the top floor of the stadium in a professional ballpark. He has to lay on the floor or he hypervenulates. I think I will have to get him some valume to get him on the plane. The girls are going to get damamine. Does anyone have experience with either of these situations? Would love some advice.

[Tigger71]

There is a product called "Medi-pops" ?? or similar and it is a lollipop on a stick that has a mild seditive (and other stuff for rehydration) in it. We had them recommended at the pharmacy when one of our kids had gastro. I know what you're thinking...gastro/ear popping what is she on? But seriously we used one on a flight to make our DD7 sleepy so she would be able to skip jetlag. She thought it was a treat and since she didn't drink for a good spell we felt she would still be okay. It worked, no whingy child on long flight, no jetlag and no further ear problems as she was sucking during take off (still asleep for landing but had another in shuttle). Now the elder kids are big enough for gum we will use that but I still have the youngest who will be three on the trip. I will be revisiting the pharmacy -wish me luck!

[Lemap760]

I use tootsie rolls for DS.

[doccoc2002]

MY DD'S(3&1) HAVE CHEWWED GUM OR CHEWY CANDY(GUMMY BEARS & MENTOS). I ALSO ASKED THE FLIGHT ATTENDENT FOR A DRINK ONCE I BOARDED THE PLANE. OR BUY YOUR OWN DRINK AFTER YOU PASS THRU SECURITY. JUST BE SURE THE KIDS DON'T DRINK IT ALL BEFORE YOU TAKE OFF OR THEY WILL NEED TO GO TO THE BATHROOM. BE SURE TO HAVE THE DRINKS & GUM WHEN YOU LAND TOO.

[Jenny Pooh]

Two words, Ear Planes! They are the best and come in child and adult sizes and cost around $4. You can find them in any drug store, Walmart, Target,etc. They are usually by the eye drop section for some reason! I have no idea how they work but they do My son loves them and has used them for every flight since he was 2. They are kind of like ear plugs but these screw into your ear and are quite comfortable. Put them in before you take off and then one hour before you land.

[qesue]

Originally Posted by abbie

My 3 children are all flying for the first time in july. I am concerned about my kids ears as well when flying. But my girls 3and 5 get car sick very easily and I am afraid it will translate to air sickness because of the ear pressure. My son 10 years old Is extremely frightened of heights. .

My 3 children have flown many times since we used to live overseas. My youngest daughter gets VERY car sick. For some reason, motion sickness has never been an issue on planes. When I suspect motion sickness will be a problem we use Benadryl instead of Dramamine as we find it works better for her. This was recommended by her pediatrician.

As far as ears, chewing gum is great. Sucking on a hard candy helps too. Another idea is to pick up some water bottles with the pull up tops that you can suck the water out of. Of course you need to do this after getting through security.

Good luck!

[coffeechef]

We have always relied on chewing gum, ( be aware that orlando airport & disneyworld do not sell gum, so save some for the flight home) Gum works for everyone except my youngest nephew. His ears always hurt when flying. I bought him earlplanes and he said that they helped him. Now he counts on me to make sure I have earplanes for him when we fly. you have them wear them at take off & then agian when the plane is getting ready to land. They are good for one flight, (they say) so you will need to have a set for the flight home too. One they get dust or " ear debris" in them they don't work.

[MinnieMary]

We usually take jelly beans (they must be Jelly Belly ) it helps keep little ones occupied by guessing which flavor they are chewing. When DD was older we allowed her to chew gum.