Hi Cate,

Babies crying is not a problem when the safety drill is being done, don't worry about that.

The dummy issue is another thing altogether - my daughter is nearly 4 now, and she did have a dummy from about 3 months til she was 2 and a half. She didn't get it all the time, only at night in bed, and when she was having naps during the day. I had very little trouble getting her to give up her dummy - we put it in a little box one Christmas Eve, and left it for Santa!
My niece found her thumb before she had a dummy, and has never used a dummy. However, she is nearly 5, and is showing no intention of stopping sucking her thumb (both my sisters sucked their thumb well into their primary school years too).

I totally agree with you about older children still using dummies, but its not always a struggle getting a toddler to stop using one.

Elaine

Snap Elaine!

My little fella had his dummy only at night from about 18 months, he's 3 in July but last Christmas we put it under the tree for Santa and he's never asked for it since!

Cate, I too was of the anti dummy brigade, then I had a child! At that one who cried 15 hours a day! Never say never!

C xxx

Same as above regarding Dummies, didn'y give one to our eldest and she is still sucking her thumb at the age of 12. Youngest gave her dummy to the baby down the road when she was nearly three.

Dave

Glynis I didn't realize that it was better for the child to be sitting up while drinking the bottle. When I took my son away at the age of 1 I was really worried about this.
But he didn't seem to be bothered at all even though my ears were killing me.

Think I will take the lollipops this year (bit old for a bottle now) Just hope I can hide them well or there will be none left for the landing

Hi

Just a tip for anyone out there reading this with slightly older children.

Try and take chewy sweets like starbursts.

As we all know they're 'made to make your mouth water' (remember those days when they were called opal fruits!)which means you are constantly swallowing saliva.
Chewits are good too.

I have children of 10,7 & 3 and as of yet haven't had any ear problems from any of them on flights.

Don't forget to pack a packet for the return flight also though!

Hope it helps!

Happy flying!

we travelled xmas time with our daughter, she had a few tears after we took off and when we were coming down to land but she was fine within a few minutes

Below are a couple of articles on ears and flying, they make quite interesting reading, I quite like the idea of taking a baloon for a slightly older child to blow up, as mentioned in the secong article, also interested in the fact that the body finds it more difficult to equalise the ear pressure when asleep.

http://www.tinnitus.org.uk/information/info%20sheets/front%20page/flying.htm

http://www.family-travel.co.uk/practicalities/practicalities2.php3?section=Health+Issues&report=Getting+There+-+Flying

Dave

My 15 year old daughter was in so much pain for the first 2 days in Tenerife last september that she was frightened to death of the return journey. Nothing worked on her.

This year,we are going to Turkey[11 days to go] and we have not told her yet. We are worried she may not want to go. I am taking her to the doctors on Friday to see if he can prescribe something.

Personally, i found that the nurofen tablets worked fine for me 1 hour before take off and lasted the whole trip there. Same on the return. The only downside was, i could still here the missus when we landed ! Funny how my ears started after that.

I've only experienced ear pain when flying to the Canaries, don't know if the descent is quicker/steaper than Menorca, but I didn't have any pain last year flying there.

My worst flight was one in particular to Lanzarote, I cried like a baby as the pain was so terrible

I now use the earplanes every time I fly after reading about them on here. Along with sucking a sweet/swallowing constantly I now have only a little discomfort.

We also use earplanes after reading about them on HT.My wife used to suffer with really bad ear pain and could'nt hear for about 2 hours after
landing.After using earplanes she only gets mild discomfort and can hear what I'm saying.Mind you, I don't know if this is a good thing.

Hi all,

All my family now use Boots own broad "earplanes". I had never suffered with ear pain on desent until we went to Alcudia. I have never experienced pain like it...and like previous members I blubbed like a baby. Luckily for me just when I thought I would pass out or my head would explode my ears popped and everyhting was back to normal. I have never felt relief like it.

Ever since I make sure all my family are prepared and .....touch wood ..... it has yet to happen again. We are travelling to Florida in July with a connecting flight so I have to admit that I am a little anxious that it may happen again, but hopefully we are prepared.

My sympathies go out to all who have suffered. I can relate!

my friend last year had really bad pain in her ears when we came back from italy! on the way there she was fine (on a boeing 767) but we came back on an airbus a320 so maybe if you fly on a larger aircraft its not so bad?

Hi Jessop,I think you could be right about different planes.We flown many times and not every flight has had the same effect.Must be something to do with the cabin pressure.I know a pilot who works for what was jmc.I'll ask him about it.He should know what causes the ear problem.
I'll post when I get an answer.

The problem has nothing to do with the size of aircraft and everything to do with the cabin pressure and in particular whether the airline is willing to pay the increased costs that go with maintaining cabin pressure at ground level levels. I've very rarely had trouble on scheduled flights, ocassional problems on charters and real difficulties on EasyJet who do seem to operate with a lower cabin pressure than anyone else I've flown with.

This doesn't compromise aircraft or passenger safety but next time you fly try a couple of little experiments. Take a bottle of still water on with you, drink most or all of it, as soon as the pilot announces that you're beginning your descent into your destination airport close the cap as tight as possible and then do not open it until you land. The bottle will have collapsed in on itself as the air pressure inside the bottle will be less than the air pressure in the cabin on landing. Likewise take a bottle of any fizzy drink with you but only drink half of it and the bottle won't collapse on itself but your drink will probably be very flat as the reduced pressure inside the bottle compared to the cabin pressure on landing will literally suck the gas out of the drink!

SM

Just had a letter today from Airtours saying that our flight times have changed by half an hour and in the letter they enclosed some ear plugs

Just wonder if that is warning me about their flights

My husband used to suffer with his ears, and he went to the doctors. They looked in his ears and he really needed his ears syringing, badly! They got loads of wax out and his hearing was better than it had been in years! He hasn't suffered with his ears popping since.
They don't like to syringe your ears nowadays unless it's really necessary, but it might be worth getting your GP to check your ears next time you go.

hey sm the airline we went with was ba so im not sure if it makes any diiference which airline you go with and im still wondering if a larger aircraft would possibly hold a better smoother cabin pressure. BUt not sure.
Cheers fenderman would be interesting to find out!

I`m so pleased to read about these 'earplanes'. I`m going to rush out and get some.
I suffer from horrific pain on descent,it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it.
I`m then usually deaf for the first couple of days of the holiday,and drive my husband mad by saying pardon everytime he says something!!