Behavior on a 12-hour flight?

Question

My son is 6 years old and has high-functioning autism.....he is very talkative and very, very active....we are moving overseas and have to take a 12-hour flight to Germany. Any suggestions on keeping him quiet and sitting still for this flight? I have had a few people suggest a sedative, but I am not sure about whether that would be a good idea. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

portable dvd player with lots of movies

puzzle books and coloring

gameboy psp whatever

Answer 2

maybe you could set up a certain time when he CAN be talkative (like, to you or to another passenger for an hour or so) and also go for walks as an activity...

I also like someone else's idea of taking a night-time flight so he can sleep through most of it.

Answer 3

Bring extra batteries for the DS.  You can buy them at any game store.  

Bring lots of little toys all wrapped up in wrapping paper, to add mystery, excitement & more time value to each one.  Myu kids love pipe cleaners - you can use them to make crafts, make 'little people' to have adventures with, make fishing poles & fish to catch - the possibilities are endless.  Wrap up snacks, too.  

Be prepared to be one-on-one with him the whole time, talking to him, entertaining him, keeping him occupied.  Trade off with your spouse, from time to time, to keep yourselves patient & calm.  

Will he sit still while you take turns reading an exciting chapter book to him?  There are all kinds of books out there based on popular TV shows & video games.  Or, grab a classic that you think will hold his attention.

Answer 4

sedative together with the games just get more batteries ,,,, my lil nephew is the same way so we mannage to get him to sleep if we feed him a lot of food it may sound crazy but yes we let him eat like a whole pizza belive me he eats nonstop we usually stop him and keep him on a diet but when my sister comes home 2 visit (hawai) is a long long flight so we have a mix off lots off psp games , lots of food.. and his blanky...... before u go to the airport go to the playground and have him run arround a lot.....................  it should be fine and if he is hyper try to find empty chairs were he won't bother anyone..............................

Answer 5

You may think sedatives is wrong and I can completely  understand but I think in the end It  will not only be good for you but it will be better for him it will be like torture for him to sit that long ...... it will not hurt him it is not like your doing it go on vacation this is something you have to do so don't be to hard on yourself.

Answer 6

Ask his Dr if you can give him Benedryl or something similar. I am not sure if it would work for him as it would for others so do get an MD to prescribe

Answer 7

a sidative is the best way but offcourse parenting helps or get 2 or 3 cans of whiped creame and let the contents settel and let him inhale the gas inside the can

not a good idea

Answer 8

give him coloring books hand held games snacks and maybe you wanna talk to his pediatrician about that, or maybe even getting seats in the front of the plane where their isnt a whole lot of people,,,,just a suggestion

Answer 9

Get a night time flight so he can sleep through it.

Answer 10

Honestly a sedative is probably the best bet in this situation. Benadryl will make a child sleepy but not really drugged and is good for their ears etc while flying.

My step brother is a high functioning autistic as well and I could see a situation like this going from bad to worse quickly when he was young. Honestly the least stress you can place on him the better for him. And him sleeping a lot of it is the best way to not stress him out. With my step brother very stressful situations like this had effects on him for longer than that day, it would last a week or more. And he is going to have enough to adjust to with the move.

Good luck and go with your gut instinct, do not worry about the people who bad mouth the sedative. Until they have dealt long term with a child like this they have no idea.

Answer 11

if you do think sedation (which may be the only option) then try it before you go. Some kids hype up on sedatives instead of it sedating. You need to make sure what it will do to him before you go