Flying is the fastest way to get from place to place, but when you’re traveling with a child, it can be very difficult. Many times, children are afraid of flying. The best way to handle this is to take their fear seriously and do your best to make them feel better. Here is how to treat your child’s fear of flying.
Ask questions
Sometimes, children experience considerable difficulties articulating what they find so unpleasant about flying. For them, they simply know that they are frightened to fly. By asking your child questions, you can enable them to make sense of what precisely makes them so afraid. Perhaps they don’t care for the enclosed space, or maybe they can’t understand how the huge plane can stay up in the air. Or on the other hand, perhaps they had a bad experience flying before. Whatever their reasons, by asking delicate and compassionate questions, you can identify the cause of their uneasiness. This will enable you to address the real issue.
Offer information about the flight
With children, there’s a fine line between being frightened of something and being interested in it. Think about a kid’s adoration for a huge machine, like a bulldozer or a fire engine. On the off chance that they had never seen a fire engine up close and it drove by with alarms blaring, it would almost certainly terrify them. The same is true for airplanes. By offering to explain the basics of how a plane works, either through examining a model plane or watching child-friendly programs about planes, you can transform that nervousness into excitement. This may be the most effective method to help an anxious kid on a plane.
See a plane in real life
If you live near the airport, consider taking your child to watch planes take off and land before your own flight. Big international airports can be difficult to get to, but smaller, local airports often offer the perfect vantage point to see airplanes up close.
Talk to the flight attendants
The flight attendants on board the airplane with you are often well trained to help parents with children. The people who work for the airline are available to talk to your child and help make the flight a more pleasant experience. Tell your child about the different people who work to make the flight run smoothly so that they can recognize them when they arrive on board. This is a great way to make your child feel more comfortable during the journey. In addition you will probably want to familiarize your child with each of the steps from arriving at the airport to boarding the plane. Tell them what will happen as they check in, go through security, find the gate, and board the aircraft.
Begin early
You shouldn’t begin this procedure the day before your flight. It will require some investment to make your child feel better about flying. Set a timetable for this process, and stick to it. Space out the experience, beginning by simply talking about the flight. Then, when the time comes to head off to the airport, you’ll be ready.
