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Travelling on planes with young children can be stressful, even for the most experienced of parents. The many check points, people and regulations make airline travel difficult for everyone, especially children.

These pressures also make it harder to give children what they need to be better passengers, especially on long flights. By being aware of what your child is likely to be most anxious about, you will be able to better prepare and, if necessary, distract your child so that you and your child can have a more relaxing flight.

Tactile children will want to use their seat as a sort of child playground, so you will have to watch they aren't kicking the chair of the person in front. When on the plane, try to take them for to the bathroom as often as possible whenever the seatbelt sign is off! One father I know walks his tactile son back to the galley on every flight, getting an extra drink and making friends with the flight attendants. Also, try to wear out your tactile child both before and in-between flights, by either lots of walking or by using one of the kids' playgrounds many airports have. Pack a large variety of toys in your onboard luggage. Toys such as Rubik's Cubes, small puzzles and Lego sets work well, especially when they are required to sit still in their seat.

Visual children will hate to stand in the many lines required at the airport. Try to distract them from this very boring process - by playing games, such as "eye spy" and by engaging them in the activity of the line - getting them to watch out for flight numbers or count the numbers to their seats. When in their seats, visual children are usually well behaved, as they tend to be ordered and prefer to do one activity at a time. They will love coloring books, paper dolls or airplanes and watching movies. Checkpoints can be alarming, with so much visual stimuli, show them the monitors and explain what is happening and they will take it in with their usual grace.

Auditory children will find the overall noise of an airport difficult. They will be sensitive to the harsh tone often used by the security teams, the constant calls for passengers over the speaker system and the general noise of lots of people in an echo-y space. Allow them to bring their iPod or another musical device and bring earplugs. For a baby, make sure you have a made-up bottle or are prepared to breastfeed your baby as the plane takes off and lands, and with older children bring a good selection of sucking/chewing candy's as the change in air pressure often scares these children and can be very painful.

Taste and smell children tend to be nervous, rather than excited by travel, as they find it hard to transition leaving one place to go to another. Airports can make this anxiety worse they are formal, large and contain a lot of worried, frustrated travelers, as well as check points such as security and customs. Try to make references to similarities in their usual life, whilst moving through the airport. For example, "This is like lining up for an ice cream at the beach," or "This reminds me of sitting on a bus," or "This is like lining up at school." Allow them to hold a comfort teddy or blankie, and plan for them to wear their favorite t-shirt or article of clothing, and try to be patient with their clinginess.

With all children, its best to make sure you have brought a variety of healthy snacks, a number of activities to do, and lots of patience. Be aware of what sensory stimuli is overwhelming for your child and try to bring things to help distract and sooth them.



Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2010/07/12/2077248/child-sense-helping-your-child.html#ixzz0tSv2PwCD