Husband hates flying, What shall we do as............

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we have been given the opportunity of an all expenses paid trip to Florida by my parents!! APART from telling him to get a grip and that he will be fine once he is on the plane, has anyone any ideas? I really dont want to go without him as I know that he and ds will have a great time when we get there and it looks so ungrateful to my parents. It is almost all definite except that we are planning to have another baby which we hope, if all goes to plan, would be born early next year and we would have to take into consideration whether we fly to the US with a newborn!! That is a whole other thread though!!

Whaddya think???

Send him to the doc, who will probably presribe a mild sedative, or betablockers for him. Dh hates flying too, but as we have so many kids, he can't get drunk any more, so he has tried the prescription route. Your dh may also find that concentrating on your ds will help take his mind off it. Dh says that hepls too.

Hm, don't blame him, actually - not keen myself! We did a lot of flying 20-25 years ago (lived in the US for a bit so back-and-forthed quite a lot) but then nothing until last year and when we did finally fly (to Spain) I was v nervous and twitchy, especially at take-off and if the plane made any odd noises later, but once up it was pretty much OK.

We flew home and back from the US with dd1 aged 3 months and that trip was no trouble at all, if it helps!

Agree with Lou about sedatives. I think a mild fear of flying (not actual phobia) is quite common and GP should be sympathetic.

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I feel for your dh.

I have never enjoyed flying but don't have a phobia as such. I hate landing and taking off and have often sat in tears and felt really tense.

However, this week, myself and my 18 month old ds took a 1 hour flight to the other end of the country by ourselves and despite the fact that I was worried - that he would play up, that I would get upset etc etc - it was the best flight ever. i spent the whole time entertaining ds and trying to make it fun for him. I enjoyed the take off and landing as I had to make it into a game for DS. Because I was solely responsible for him, it distracted me from my fears. Next time we fly, even if Dh is with us, I want to have ds for the take off and landing as it really helped me to get things in perspective.

I suspect your dh has a bigger fear than I have but thought sharing my experience may be of help

I avoided flying for many years and then took a long haul flight in order to see my son and fulfill a lifelong dream. Since then, I seem to have spent a lot of time airborne (20 flights lasy year) but I've never truly got used to flying. To make that first long-haul trip I had valium from the doctor and she was very matter of fact about giving it to me, it's one of her routine problems. I don't need valium now (using it on dd2 might be an option, lol!) but I use Rescue Remedy and that really helps, inspite of my scepticism.

Hope you have a wonderful trip!

any insomniacs still aboutt?