Helping to Ease Your Child's Fear of Flying

The first thing to consider is that a child's fear of flying is completely rational. This is especially true after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center which involved airplanes. Events such as these are enough cause to make anyone afraid of flying. Following are some simple advice to make flying with children much easier for the parent.

Talking to the child to ease phobias of flying in an aircraft can also help tremendously. Be sure to be patient and attentive, listening to the child's description of their particular fears. Try to offer advice and don't judge. Be honest though, children are excellent at detecting sincerity in an adult's tone of voice.

Simply explaining how flying works and some of the basics of how airplanes operate can give the child a chance to comprehend what they don't understand, which is an important first step in no longer being afraid to fly.

Be sure to explain the concept of turbulence with the child, especially if it is the child's first flight. Turbulence can be scary to even a frequent airline passenger, just think how terrifying it must be to those who are already afraid of flying. Particularly the first time turbulence is experienced.

The day of the flight make sure to eat a nutritious meal, so that you and the child are relaxed and not jittery. Having a full stomach can make all the difference in the world when it comes to calming nerves.

Hypnosis audiotapes have been widely reported to be extremely effective in aiding or altogether curing the fear of flying. Children respond particularly well to this type of treatment. Hypnosis audiotapes serve two purposes as well: helping ease the anxieties about the flight in children who have a fear of flying, but also to provide the child with simple yet effective anti-stress exercises.

An mp3 player can cause the child to become lost in some of their favorite music. Children identify emotions strongly with music, and should be able to become calm easily while listening to music which they enjoy. On the same idea, a DVD player can be an effective tool because it preoccupies both the child's visual and auditory sections of attention.

While on the flight, a laptop computer is useful as the child can listen to music, watch movies, and play video games. This is more or less the same as a combination of the DVD player and mp3 player, with other options should the child become bored with listening to music and watching movies. The child could possible assist an adult in the creation of an article for their parents' favorite content publishing website, Associated Content.

Some things to avoid would include reprimanding the child or forcing them to fly without proper examination of the extent of the child's fears. Both are very ineffective methods, neither of which will earn you any respect from the child. Forcing a child which has a fear of flying on a plane are a recipe for a traumatic experience which could cause recurring issues throughout the life of the child.