Suggestions for kids afraid of flying

Murph5472

Murph5472

Member
Original Poster
Hi Everyone! I don't post too often but have lurked around long enough to know this is the best places for suggestions!

A good friend of mine is going to WDW in 3 weeks. She has two 7 year old boys. One just recently has become a bit afraid of anyting "high up". To make things worse, her husband just this week explained 9/11 to them (probably not the best timing for that--but too late). Now the poor little guy is in, as she puts it, "not going flipping out mode".

I don't know what to tell her--my kids were 5 and 3 when we went the first time and they had no fears about it--and I can't for the life of me remember if we did much if anything to help that or they just weren't afraid and/or not old enough to be afraid.

Any suggestions???? Thanks much! :)
 
ErickainPA

ErickainPA

New Member
She has to find out what is actually making him so afraid of it. Sure telling him about 9/11 just weeks before a trip wasn't the best idea but what's doen is done already. My kids have been flying since 7 months so they don't even think about it. They just know that the airplane is going to take us someplace fun. We leave in 2 weeks 2 days ourselves for Disney.

Have him pick out a special thing or 2 to take on the plane with him, it's such a short flight, he won't really even realize it, keep him from the window seat until he is ready to look out.
 
zurgandfriend

zurgandfriend

Well-Known Member
DW did a similar thing before our first trip when DS was 7 years old. All the way to the airport he was worrying. When we were getting ready for takeoff DW had the air sickness bag ready and kept telling him not to be scared. As we started to lift off DS gave a very nervous laugh and looked at me as if to say ‘Oh No.” I pointed towards the window and told him “look at how small everything is.” His eyes got as big as saucers and he pressed his nose against the window while saying wow! He was fine after that. The takeoff is so quick they won’t have a lot to time to worry.
We fly Jet Blue so after take off the TV kept DS busy until we got to Orlando, then the anticipation of getting to WDW took over. At Orlando as we boarded the tram to the main terminal, DS wanted to know if this was the Monorail to take us to the Magic Kingdom.
I would tell the kids want to expect, maybe show them the vacation planning DVD, in the resort section they have a number of aerial shots, tell the “see this is what things will look like.” Then show them the parks and all the great things they will see and do when they get there.

Good Luck!
 
Dangeresque

Dangeresque

Active Member
There hasn't been a crash of a US major airline since 2001. So, if they are 7 years old that means there hasn't been one in their lifetime.
 
NYwdwfan

NYwdwfan

Well-Known Member
I think the key is distraction - I'm 37 and I still get freaked out if I let my mind fixate on the whole idea of flying. :lookaroun Luckily now I have my kids to distract me - and I put on a happy face for them! If the kids have a DS (or similar handheld), get a new cool game and break it out in the car to the airport. That will distract them for sure! Maybe spring for a limo to the airport - the kids would be totally psyched to go if a stretch pulled up in front! And definitely keep the kids eyes on the prize at the end of the flight!!
 
BigRedDad

BigRedDad

Well-Known Member
What I did for my daughter was told it her it was one of the first rides at Disney World. I kept telling her the rides go in this order: Bus (from parking to airport), plane from RDU to MCO, train (from terminal to main building of MCO), bus to resort and finally a bus to the park. She had so much fun trying to figure out how many more rides before we got to the park. She was only 2 at the time. She is 4 now and we play the same game.
 
ddrongowski

ddrongowski

Well-Known Member
Diphenhydramine (aka benadryl). It will cause "most" people to relax. This has been advise given to me my many doctors and nurses.
 
Mukta

Mukta

Well-Known Member
ErickainPA said:
She has to find out what is actually making him so afraid of it.
Click to expand...

I think this is key. Your friend needs to sit down with him and discuss what exactly he is afraid of and then address and allay his fears.
If it is the height, don't sit him near a window.
If it is a fear for a 9/11 type situation, this needs a much deeper discussion about how rare that is.
She could also talk to his doctor to see if it would be ok to give him a medication like bendryl to calm him down or help him sleep.
Keep the focus on how fun WDW is going to be and not make the flight there the focus.
 
the-reason14

the-reason14

Well-Known Member
I've flown more times than I ever thought I would. Not a huge amount, but probably 6 times. I'm not a big fan of flying, and reading certain things and watching certain movies don't help, and I remember being really worried about my flight out to Disneyland last years months before we left. Surprisingly the day of the flight I was calm. I was just thinking about the actual destination and not the flight. So if you can get him to think about Disney World instead of the flight, I think he will be good. Of course everyone's different, but thats my suggestion. :)
 
Chrononymous

Chrononymous

Well-Known Member
I would suggest turning the whole flight from a potentially scary thing to an exciting adventure!
When I was younger...the idea of flying was so cool and exotic!

Being up high was a small part of it...it was really all about how cool it was to do something new...like finding the seat and seatbelt on a plane, eating plane food, deciding what my free drink would be!

It helped that my parents were as excited as I was to fly...and they prepared special books and activities and snacks that I could only have when we were in the air.

It made the adventure of being on an airplane more about doing something new and fun, and less about worries and fears.

(that came later, when I was in my twenties!)
 
J

JohnLocke

Member
This is a little tough, I'm a little skittish of flying myself, just prefer to drive if I can, but will do it if I have to. If the fear is more 9/11 related, I think it would probably be best to try to explain to the children, that while there are some seriously bad and crazy people out there, flying is generally much safer today than it was when that happened, and explain that there will be plenty of people in the airport that will try make sure that nothing bad will happen on their flight.

If it's more of heights thing, or something along those lines, I agree with others to try to turn it into a more exciting adventure/ride, that while it's a little scary at first, once in the air, everything will be alright. Maybe they should watch some movies that have some good scenes of what they can see while flying. This could be a good or bad choice, but if they haven't seen the original Willy Wonka, the glass elevator scene at the end may be a good way to show how flying is. Sure the take off can seem pretty scary, but once your in the air, everything is alright and you can see some amazing things.
 
Raven66

Raven66

Well-Known Member
There is a book about Disney written for kids. And now that I'm typing this the name ran out of my head. Anyway, it has activities in it and super colorful pictures. I think it would be something to keep him occupied. Don't forget to give him gum to chew for his ears when they start to pop. That will make the trip miserable if his ears start hurting.

Now me, I'm terrified of flying. The older I get the worse it gets. Our last trip I had to be drugged with xanax. Apparently I was quite the source of amusement to my husband and daughter. :lol:

Good luck!!



EDIT: I went and looked for the book. It's called Birnbaum's Walt Disney World For Kids By Kids. I highly suggest it.
 
Testtrack321

Testtrack321

Well-Known Member
trr1 said:
they wont let you on the plane if you are intoxicated:lookaroun
Click to expand...

Never said black out drunk, just get the kids comfortable!

In seriousness though, if he's been told about 9/11 explain how air travel is one of the safest things to do and that the last death was in 2007 yet car crashes happen every day. Also tell him about that one crash a few years ago where everyone survived thanks to the great training and dedication of the pilots and stewards (the one that crashed in the Hudson and on land.)
 

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