My pediatrician's tips for flying with little ones

[Cozfamilyof6]

Many people fly to the World with infants and small children so here are a few tips my pediatrician gave me last week:

1. Bring a change of clothes for EVERYONE in your family in your carry-on (you never know when someone may spill something or vomit)

2. Give dramamine to children who are prone to motion sickness (it also relaxes them)

3. Don't give benedryl to children before the flight, it may act as a stimulant (try dramamine if you want to give them something to make them relaxed and sleepy)

4. Give infants and small children tylenol or ibuprofen an hour before the flight to help with ear pain on take off or landing.

[mickey&missy]

Thanks for the tips!!!

DS4 got sick when we were coming in for landing on the way home last trip. Ugh! It was awful! He was sitting between DH and FIL. DH doesn't handle vomit well! He still says something about throwing up on the plane everytime he wears his Donald Duck Mickey's PhilHarMagic shirt, it was what he was wearing at the time!

I had planned to ask the ped about dramine at his next checkup.

On our next trip in March our baby DS will be 9 months. I'm a little nervous to see how things will go! Ibuprofen is a great idea, I wouldn't have thought of that!

[SandmanGStefani24]

this is a great post! not just for parents, but for those of us single folks who get that sinking feeling when we see we have to fly next to a baby! :D

[Minniemouse27]

I would be hesitant to medicate "just in case."

My dd flew five round trips between 17mo and 3.5yo and never had any pain issues. I wouldn't have wanted to give her pain meds that weren't necessary.

[szyp]

DD started with the stomach flu ( I had it at WDW) as we were in line to board the second leg of our flight home. Know where the extra clothes are, though, because in all of the ensuing chaos I couldn't find ours! She ended up back in her PJs and I ended up with a brand new Baltimore t-shirt. Luckily, DS waited until we arrived home to start his bout!

[Cozfamilyof6]

I would be hesitant to medicate "just in case."

My dd flew five round trips between 17mo and 3.5yo and never had any pain issues. I wouldn't have wanted to give her pain meds that weren't necessary.

Everyone is different and we can't predict whether or not our children will have ear pain. A correct dose of tylenol, ibuprofen or dramamine will not have any harmful or lasting effects. (quoting from my dr.). However, you do what you want with your children.

[irish1967]

Just want to point out the flying with children or not - it is always a good idea to have a change of clothes in the carry on in case your checked luggage ends up in another part of the country!

(Has happened to me more than once!)

[Sean Riley Taylor's Mom]

Everyone is different and we can't predict whether or not our children will have ear pain. A correct dose of tylenol, ibuprofen or dramamine will not have any harmful or lasting effects. (quoting from my dr.). However, you do what you want with your children.


ITA. :thumbsup:

Two of my children always have a hard time with ear pain when flying. We give them Benadryl to help with fluid in the ears. (My DS was diagnosed with an ear infection the day before we left this trip :() It does not make either of them sleepy or hyper...we are lucky. We give them Tylenol one hour before we take off and land. Just to make sure we can make them a little comfortable.
Our flight down on the 13th they were great. No pain at all. Last nights flight was another story. So, I am glad we did not assume they were going to be fine based on the first flight. My two son's had a really hard time. :(
Whatever works to keep them pain free works for us.

[crazypoohbear]

My Pediatrician also recommended I give my boy's Tylenol, sudafed before flying when they were young. My DH use to have his ear drum rupture. (the boy's/men in the family are dead from the neck up!:blush: they don't feel pain, get fevers etc..)
So as a precaution I would always give them something one half an hour before flights. They were fine
I don't do it anymore because they don't have pain and just chew gum.

[spinnerf]

I have to agree with packing something for eveyone in cary on. We actually take ALL of 4 y/o daughters clothing as carry on since we once went away and her bag was lost!!

[wedway fan]

another tip i'd give is to nurse or bottle-feed infants during takeoff and landing. the constant sucking and swallowing helps to keep their ears clear.

for an adult, a great way to avoid sinus problems in flight is to use a fast-acting nasal spray like afrin the evening before your flight and again the morning of the trip. if you've got any allergy or sinus problems, even if they're not raging at the time, this is a good way to prevent potential sinus headaches in-flight. (don't forget to take the bottle with you and do the same thing before the trip home)

[peemagg]

I would recommend putting an outfits for everyone in every suitcase. If your luggage gets lost or delayed, as long as it is not all of your luggage, then everyone will have at least one outfit till the missing luggage is found. Some people recommend splitting up all your clothes between suitcases.

[darth daddy]

You can also have kids chew gum to help equalize the air pressure in their ears. If they're not old enough for gum, lolly pops work also with the constant sucking.

[teamblackwell]

We had our infant drink his bottle of formula while taking off. Worked like a charm.