REALLY scared of flying, anyone else? or any advice?

[pucca]

I am sh*ing myself already, we go on hol to Ibiza on the 28th, and it is only a 2.5 hour flight, and when we booked it i thought "oh i will be fine" but the closer it gets the more panicky i am....

HELP, i really wanna enjoy the flight because dd (3.7yo) is soooo exciting (1st plane ride) i will have ds on my knee (13mth) so hopefully he will distract me, but i am getting in a right state already

Any advice? or words of wisdom?

TIA

Ooh pucca I have cracked my fear of flying. I was the worst flyer have previously been in hospital after flights just from sheer terror . Had tried CBT/hypnotherapy/books/tablets/rescue remedy/alcohol and nothing worked, i was still terrified.

Anyway last week I took my first fear-free flight and it was a marvellous experience, I have never enjoyed a flight EVER in my life.

Wanna know what cured me? Last nursing placement I had was in a cancer hospital and it totally changed me in so many ways you wouldnt believe. Before I couldnt imagine anything worse than falling out of the sky and knowing I was going to do for those few minutes before I hit the ground. I now know that this would probably be my prefered method of death after seeing people in such distress for months on end, having poison shoved into their veins for a couple more months of life, being in agony.

Really there is nothing to be scared of, and if your are unlucky enough to be in a plane crash, so what there are far worse ways to go.

HTH

Sympathies, I hate flying and used to take valium to set foot on a plane. Not really an option with kids unfortunately. Have flown once since starting a family, when dd was 12 months and TBH I was so caught up sorting her out etc that the flight wasn't too bad.

Thanks Mosschops, the thing is i know my fear is absolutely ridiculous, how many planes take off each day etc, but i just cannot shake it off, it does my head in..literally lol.

I keep thinking about the build up, in the airport, boarding the plane, sitting down, putting the belt on etc, driving me batty!!

Liath...That is what i am hoping for, for ds to be a PITA! so i am totally distracted, might give him a load of E numbers beforehand

no advice, i hate flying too, but have done it a few times now. You will be ok, because as a mum your children are more important, and you need to stay calm for them. Trust me it works
Lisa

I hate the run-up to a flight, I get recurring dreams about crashes etc.

Is it a morning flight? Easier then as you'll be so busy getting ready to go.

Hiya Pucca
Long time no speaketh

Dont know if you knew but I won one of the MN comps to go to Europa Park in Germany.
Never thought for a second I'd win but as soon as I saw the congrats email I babbed myself!

I was so so scared it was untrue but like you I had dd who was same age as your dd and ds was 11 months (we went back end of July).
I knew I had to keep it together for dd's sake otherwise I knew she'd pick up on it and I didnt want her to be scared. But she was so excited about going on a plane. She talked about it everyday.

Anyway I was really anxious at the airport but as soon as we got on the plane I was fine. Just seeing dd's face was enough to distract me.
We got to our seats, we took off, dh and I wrestled with ds, they offered us flannels, then a drink, then a sandwich, cleared up, throw in 2 trips to the toilet for dd and a vomiting incident from ds and we were landing

And I honestly wasnt bothered by it at all.
I actaully remeber saying I would go back and do it all again.

Our flight was 1hr and 45. I dare bet you'll have tvs on your plane too with it being a slightly longer flight.
But honestly you will be so consumed with dd and ds, you wont get chance to worry.

It a afternoon flight, 3pm or something like that, haven't checked properly yet. I am just hoping the kids will distract me, so i don't have time to think about it, but it this run up that is really messing my head up.

Thanks for all the advice.

NBG...Hey you!, how you doing? when is no 3 due? congrats on winning the competion, bet you had a fab time.

I am really looking forward to the hol, it is just the flight that is marring it.

10 weeks left It has flown by (scuse the pun)

Other thing is to keep busy at the airport. Look round the shops, spend some cash and treat yourself

OMG, only 10 weeks to go, did you find out the sex? i am a little broody, but ds is such an absolute nutter! he has put me off slightly lol (only kidding)

Have you found that with your ds? compared to dd?

Its another boy.
Eeeeeeeek!

Ds is a totally different human being compared to dd.
He is such a big clingy mummys boy its untrue

Aw! thats lovely, bet you are excited

Ds is a complete different species to dd too, climbs everything, he does things at 13mth that dd wouldn't even contemplate now at 3.7yo! boys very affectionate though eh

Errr not excited yet no cos he's blummin breech atm and I wanted a home birth lol!

Boys are definately more affectionate.
I do love it.
Get a certain smugness when he wont go to anyone else

hey!! sorry to crash thread but i have been looking for you on mumsnet nbg! my mobile was stolen yonks ago, and i have lost several phone numbers in there including yours! even your blinkin address was in there stored in the texts!! still in process of getting new phone at minute, and major probs with ex dh at the moment also.. i nearly fell off my chair when i read this!!!, baby number 3, thats brill news, congratulations! . we must try and have a good natter; i am still on the same home phone number, but my computer had major probs a while back also, and i cannot find your old e-mails. hope you see this !x

I hate flying. I've done tons of it inc. CAAC- known amongst backpackers as 'China Airways Always Crashes'... back in the 90's. The advice about how DCs distract you is very true; we flew ours aged 2 and 4 from Brisbane to London, and boy were we distracted!!

A great help for me was watching the new Airbus 380 at the Farnborough Airshow last summer which in case you didn't know will be the world's largest passenger aircraft. Now, tbf, it was obviously unladen and fuel economy was not an issue but if you could have SEEN how the pilots threw that plane around the sky! It took off at at least 45 degrees and immediately they threw it into a turn that allowed us, the spectators to see the top-side of it as it flew a tight circle around the airfield! It climbed and climbed upwards then practically fell sideways out of the climb and into what can just about be described as a dive before a beautiful, controlled pull out. If you'd seen that I so feel you'd be so much more encouraged about what modern airliners are capable of and would restore a bit of faith in the sheer engineering brilliance of them!

Oooh alibo, have seen it!

Was getting worried about you.
I shall call you at home.

Flying doesn't bother me, never has so feel free to ignore my comments. I did want to say that IMO it helps make the whole experience more pleasureable (I'm not scared but I do get bored) to make sure you have a couple of quid to spend in the Duty Free (even if it's just a bottle of something for a tipple whilst on holiday), I like to arrive nice and early and have time for a decent-ish coffee, stock up on a few magazines for the trip and the holiday and my last tip is get into holiday mode an order a drink on the plane.

Have a brilliant time!

Thanks for all the advice everybody, will just have to grit my teeth

Ok really crapping my pants now. as we go on Friday

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