How to Help Your Child Overcome a Fear of Flying

Your child's fear of flying can come from unexpected sources that might be hard to understand at first.

For example, if your child has only flown on airplanes in the past to visit some dying relative, the fear of flying might have been triggered by this ominous association.

The worst thing you can do, then, is to dismiss your child's fear of flying with an attitude of indifference. Children who are afraid need parents who are willing to listen.

In fact, showing empathy is the first step in helping your child overcome a fear of flying.

It's Okay to Be Nervous

When you help your child overcome a fear of flying, you are really calming your own nerves at the same time. Regardless of how many safe trips you've taken, there is always the chance that something wrong might happen.

The empathy you show when your child expresses a fear of flying will be most genuine when you admit that a sense of nervousness isn't limited to childhood.

Emphasize Statistics

It is easy to ramble on about the statistical safety of airplane travel as you help your child overcome a fear of flying. More people die in car accidents than in airplanes, for example.

What you are really accomplishing, however, with this relentless stream of facts and percentages, is providing a distraction from the anxiety they feel. Even though a child might not understand the statistical terms of safety they are flying under, you are still actively filling the child's mind with ideas that push out intrusive and upsetting thoughts.

There is simply no more time to have a fear of flying because the child is too busy nodding in agreement.

Focus on the Destination

As suggested, your child's fear of flying can come from unexpected sources that might be difficult to determine at first.

Perhaps the child has come to associate flying with visiting divorced parents or the death of a family member.

In any case, reinforcing the positive aspects of traveling by airplane will hopefully undermine the conditioned response of the child's fears.

"Won't your grandmother be so proud that you flew here by airplane just to see her?"

As you focus on your eventual destination and the benefits of traveling, you'll help your child overcome a fear of flying because the child will see flying as a means to a productive end.

The focus shifts from the fear of flying to the enjoyment of having flown.

In sum, you can help your child overcome a fear of flying by being aware of your own feelings in an empathic way, providing comforting statistical distractions, and focusing on the benefits of flying in an airplane.