FLYING WITH CHILDREN

As I write this, I am currently sitting in my economy seat on a Boeing A380. I am making the 13-hour flight from Los Angeles back to Sydney after a wonderful time with friends exploring a country I’ve never ventured to before.

Here’s a solemn truth though, flying has always been hard for me. The anticipation and anxiety of the flight itself, the dreaded thought of hours of boredom, the stiffness, claustrophobia and the plane food i cannot eat… It’s a lot to overcome.

The experience of flying long or short haul is different for everyone though. Some dislike it and avoid flying all-together and for others, flying is an exciting, enjoyable experience, no matter the distance.

Personally, I tend to become overwhelmed and anxious when flying. Full disclosure, I may be a little claustrophobic, so sitting in seats next to people with no way of being to get out when I would like to and feeling restricted makes or breaks a flight for me. It’s important that I am able to get up regularly and move around as the change in air pressure has different impacts on my body. I never really spoke to anyone about what I was feeling whilst flying, I thought I was the only one who felt changes that made me uncomfortable. But the more I’ve began to open up about how i feel, the more I realized I wasn’t alone in this.

So let’s talk about the physical changes that flying brings to your body. For me, I experience earaches from the fluid moving in my inner ear and vestibular system, to increased bloatedness and pain in my stomach whilst remaining in an upright seated position for an extended period of time. Despite being somewhat uncomfortable as a result, I still make the choice to do long haul flights, reminding myself that the journey is worth it to get to the destination of choice.

Along with the physical changes, I also experience a range of emotional and social challenges whilst flying. I am quite observant and that can be somewhat detrimental as it’s hard to switch off during a flight. With concern about those around me, young children perhaps crying and even having to sit with my own thoughts – it can create an unhealthy environment mentally. As an adult, I have learnt to employee strategies to manage my own emotions and mental health on a flight. Watching a film, journaling, having a conversation here and there with those seated next to me to feel more comfortable, having playlists at the ready and trying to get sleep in to pass the time.

But what about how our children cope with the anxiety of flights? With the holidays fast approaching, it’s important to think about strategies to keep them happy whilst contained in a seat for a long period of time.

Keeping children physically and mentally entertained on a flight can be challenging. All the physical changes that I mentioned above can also occur in young people, so it’s important to prepare for physical and emotional discomfort.

So what is the best way to cope with this? And how can we prepare them for flights? How do we inform them and describe what is going to happen and why it happens in order to help them cope? And how do we help them through the physical and emotional changes in the moment?

Let’s begin with the discomfort that you may feel as a parent or caregiver. Let’s face it, we have all been on planes where children have cried, whinged or acted out. As parents, you try and soothe your child or tell them to stop as the engrained societal pressures, worries and expectations of what others think begins to cause undue stress. We begin to take on social anxiety whilst dealing with the physical or emotional discomfort of a child. In this moment of great discomfort, try to remember that these feelings aren’t permanent and that your child comes first. Your child is only expressing that they need help. We need to allow them to express themselves to help them work through their feelings in a positive manner to recover and be present for the rest of the flight.

Now let’s talk about some strategies to help you through the experience together. You may want to try;

Preparation; Explaining what will happen, how long the flight may be but what the reward will be at the end.
Layout the expectations, for example we need to sit for 3 hours in our chair, how do you think we could do this? What games, books or toys should we take?
Physical discomfort; our ears may feel funny or blocked at take off and landing; the feeling is different for everyone. There are a few things to help our kids in this instance:
Drink water before and during take off to help with swallowing and keeping the Eustachian tubes clear,
Eating a fruit snack, chewing gum or foods and/or sucking on a candy to increase swallowing and keeping the Eustachian tubes in our ears open,
Practice our yawning and pretend sleeping games; it helps equalize the pressure in our inner ears,
If you have or are prone to ear infections, see a doctor beforehand to ensure safety when flying as it can be very painful for our kids and their ears,
Staying awake at prime times; staying awake during take off and landing will help with swallowing, if your child is sleeping, they may not swallow as much and could wake up in pain,
Let them cry; believe it or not letting our children cry for a few moments actually relieves the pain for their ears and helps equalize the pressure. Soothing them and comforting them too will help them in moving past this uncomfortable feeling faster, and
Most importantly, be kind to yourself – you’re doing the best you can. And so is your child! This experience may be very new and unfamiliar to your children, so comfort them and where possible make them feel at home in the space.

The end of the year is nearing. We are all planning our Christmas / New Year holiday adventures. Don’t be afraid to fly and travel if you can. Don’t let what other people think or say stop you from living the life you want to live and going somewhere you have always wanted to go.

I cannot wait to hear about all the holiday adventures being planned for the Christmas and New Year holidays and I hope that the above strategies are helpful in keeping your children calm and enjoying a wonderful holiday period!

Jess.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED NOVEMBER 6, 2019

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PLAY

This week we are going to chat about the importance of play and how it plays a roll not only in paediatric OT but in our lives as adults too!

I have to admit, playing is one of my favourite things to do. I enjoy being silly or cheeky, laughing, rolling on the floor or making a fool of myself. The joy I get from interacting with children is immeasurable. Whether it’s their bright eyes looking in wonder or their mischievous smile as they’re about to do something, it is incredibly rewarding to see a child enjoying themselves.

Despite how well some of you may know me, I can also be quite serious or passionate on occasion. But play itself is what keeps me grounded, and serves as a reminder to not take life too seriously, to enjoy the ride that it is.

This is how I fell in love with paediatric OT. I loved that I got to play, move my body and support little humans achieve their own goals. I got to encourage them to reach their highest potential by teaching them skills through play that put their new found abilities to use and ultimately promote growth. What I loved even more was that I could do this in families homes and schools and not be tied to a desk all day, everyday as well!

The role of play itself for our children is so important. Play and development forms the natural basis and foundations for the rest of their lives and continues to be a vital part of our development even into adulthood. Continuing to be playful positivity impacts upon our own mental well being, as well as our cognitive and emotional development over time.

Did you know that play even helps us prevent Alziehmers?! Now that is pretty amazing if you ask me!

Playing can be fun, exciting, exhilarating, challenging, frustrating and full of experiments. Through play we are constantly learning and changing over time. Play itself can come very naturally for some and continue to be hard work for others. The key to effective play for kids or even adults is find varied activities that spark joy.

Some children (or big children aka adults) enjoy being inside, playing with figurines, coloring and drawing. Whilst others are always on the go; climbing, running and getting into a little bit of mischief through physical activity. Some kids can also enjoy both! any of these activities in play are normal and each are a part of our own unique personalities – it’s important to identify what play develops self expression, learning and cognitive behaviour that matters.

So how exactly does play help children?

It’s simple really. When kids play, they are constantly learning. Learning through play is deemed fun.. So when they are enjoying learning something through play, they will be inclined to repeat the experience over and over again, therefore putting into practice their new found skills or behaviours. This can come to the adults detriments… As may seem to bore you with the amount of repetition they are consolidating these skills, learning and integrating them into their everyday life. In turn it becomes a part of their skill repertoire, advancing them into adulthood slowly but surely and allowing them to then learn a new skill.

It’s important to remember that the only way children will consolidate and learn these skills is through repetition. Repetition is so important! So as much as you would like to pack away that noisy toy and for it to never be seen again… (oops! We’ve all been there), just think about what your kids are learning beforehand.

Don’t you just love it when your kids are laughing and enjoying themselves? Did you know that laughter literally is the best medicine! When your child is laughing whilst playing, learning is happening at it’s fastest! So for all those families who have experienced my big over the top laugh with your kids, there is a method to my madness! Laughter = Fun = Learning = Fast!! For those who haven’t, that’s probably a good thing, it ain’t pretty! So keep looking for ways to make your kids laugh… I promise that it is helping and that you are doing amazing at it!

As we are hitting the back end of the year, fatigue and tiredness may be setting in and motivation is the last thing that you may be feeling, I get it. But when was the last time you all had a good laugh from playing games as a family? How often is it happening and can we make it happen more? And no I am not insinuating that this should be happening every waking minute of everyday… but inside your busy schedule I ask you this, how can you turn your everyday activities like dressing or bathing into a fun game? Remember by turning normal everyday activities into fun, your child is learning that this is an important skill to master.

So let’s get playing, laughing and being silly to foster learning together. We all need some more fun, joy and playfulness in our lives. Play more, be serious less.

Next time I’ll share with you exactly how I continue to envelop play in my adult life.

Until then, happy playing!

Jess.

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED AUGUST 7, 2019