Help! Flying Out Tomorrow and Need Advice with Decompressing Her Ears...

My homeopath recommends drinking water out of a cup with a straw while ascending or descending. It seemed to work with my daughter and she didn't have a problem last time we flew.

I always bring a big bag of Dum-Dum lollipops. That way my son has a choice of flavors, and he'll suck on the flavor of his choice for the entire decent without me having to nag him.

My 6 year old had this year last spring flying home from Florida. I actually brought saline nasal spray and a bulb syringe....I tried everything...snacks, drinking, fake yawning, I finally sprayed the saline spray in and used the bulb syringe( I am sure other passengers were not impressed:)) I really did not care at that point...it worked...he quit screaming that his ears hurt....It is horrible because you feel so helpless....even the flight attendant said it will probably hurt until we land. IF I were you.....I would try to get into the doctor before you leave and at least get her ears checked.....then you will feel better. Let's say she does have an infection going on...you can start the antibiotics now......Strep is also going around too....my son had a runny nose and low fever....no sore throat.....took him in and he tested positive for strep. It is better to be safe than sorry.

Just nurse her! Works for my son!

When I was young (about the same age as your daughter), my parents used to give me some Benadryl (not to knock me out, the antihistamine helped) and let me chew gum. It was a special treat AND the chewing helped :)

Ask your pediatrician if you can give her Afrin, or something similar. My doc prescribed it to me for flying and it is the most amazing nose spray ever. Yes, I know it's addictive and may not be safe for kids, but one spray works for 12 hours. Wouldn't hurt to check & see! I took that with a little Sudafed and I had no problems flying cross-country.

Hi Little Mama,

Don't listen to the horror stories. Your little girl will be just fine. Mine also had huge problems with descending. I also gave her some decongestant and had her wear the earplane ear plugs (they have kid sizes). I gave her little snacks to eat. The gummy bears and M&Ms are a great idea. My only other advice is to be sure not to have her a full meal. My little girl was too full to eat or sip anything on the way down, so I made sure she just snacked before her next flight.

Good luck, and enjoy Kauai. I hear it is beautiful! Enjoy your trip.

L.

our ped gave us ear numbing drops use them about 1/2 hour or even 15 mins before and they work great.

I was once saved by a flight attendant who taught me the boiling water on a napkin in a coffee cup up against the ear trick. The steam from the water on the paper creates some sort of reverse pressure that feels like a miracle. I have taught that trick to many grateful travelers. That along with a jolly rancher, they make a lot of "juice" so the passenger needs to swallow which is the goal. I have also heard great things about Earplanes that you can get at most health food stores, haven't used them, but know several people who say they are wonderful. Good Luck! Travel Safely!

My pediatrician prescribed Nasonex for this. My daughter is also 4 and has this very problem. Without it, she gets an ear infection every single time we fly! Its a miracle worker!

Talk to your pediatrician about giving her an antihistamine. Give your daughter a lollipop to suck on or a fruit snack or juice as someone else suggested. :)

I wouldn't do dum dums as another one suggested only because recently a good friend of mine was at her pediatricians office & as she was checking out her little one (3 yr old) was given a dum dum & he began sucking on it & it came off of the stick & he began to choke luckily they were in the pediatrician's office still & she wasn't driving down the road. :)

I personally have had this issue since I was a child, as does one of my kids. The thing that has always worked the best is if we take a decongestant 1/2 hour BEFORE the flight. If I remember to do that, I have no issues at all. You can always chew gum too. Your daughter is too young for gum, but what about getting her some grapes, gummies, or something really chewy that she can munch on. Drinking is okay, but you need to have the swallowing action over a 20 minute period while they descend, which is why chewing on something is better. The ear drums rupturing is extremely rare, so I wouldn't worry about that. Just have a bagful of remedies and you'll be fine.

My daughter had trouble with her ears while flying. We bought "Earplanes" from the pharmacy (about $5) and they worked great.

They are ear plugs that kindof screw (looks like a screw) and the way they are made, eases the pressure. They worked great for us.

Good luck!

I never love giving my kids medicine, but we might have used a decongestant on the day of the flights, if necessary. If her nose is just running (loosely) then it should not be a problem. I is mostly if it is packed, that she can not move anything. We always bring goodies to eat (that they will not turn down) and feed that with water during the descent. I have even woken them up when descending because I remember sleeping during a decent when I was a kid and woke up with intense pain.
Good luck

Haribo gummie bears are super chewie if you don't want to use gum. I taught my daughter to fux-yawn, telling her the goal was to make her ears "pop". It was a game and she had to try a few times, but once t hey "popped" and she felt the relief it worked great. Her first flight she was younger then yours. Also yawns are contagious, if you start she'll catch on. :)

Lollies are a good idea, my daughter loves to "crunch" them so no go for us. She also like to try to pull the stick out of them on purpose so she can crunch them.

give her something to clear up her stuffy nose and sinuses. Then use gum for the desent. You can use anything she will have to chew to ease the desent, gum, M&M's, peanuts, gummy bears, etc.

Good luck to you and yours.

I always carry emergency decongestants (pseudoephedrin hcl) in case someone gets sick while travelling, and if I KNOW ahead of time there's congestion I get ear drops from the doctor and hit them both ways. I forget the name of them -the kind flight attendants use- that instantly declog ears.

I'll never forget the time one of my buddies had the sniffles on a duty station change (commercial jet) and both of his eardrums ruptured on descent. Dude. All of us have meds on us. SAY something next time! He'd forgotten his, and didn't want to look bad, so he hadn't hit any of us up. It only took about 10 seconds from 'just fine' to screaming and blood pouring out both ears. Shudder.

Just make sure she has a drink as you're descending and all should be fine.

Dum-Dum lollipops on take-off and landing :)

Added: Been a fan of dum dums for 40 plus years now and have never had one come off the stick. As with anything, you just need to be careful and use common sense. I suppose one could choke on gum, too.