How To Soothe A Kid’s Ears On A Plane, According To Doctors

Whether you’re a parent or not, you know that when a plane starts to descend, it means one thing: screaming kids.

Most of us have experienced the sensation of clogged or even painful ears during air travel, but no one seems to have it worse than little kids. Many of them often seem to be in full-blown, excruciating pain as the plane gets further from or closer to the ground.

If you’ve ever wondered if kids actually experience more ear pain on planes than adults (versus just being really dramatic), the answer is yes, according to Dr. Katie Lockwood, a primary care pediatrician at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

“Kids experience more ear pain than adults during plane rides, particularly takeoff and landing, due to their ear anatomy being different than adults,” she said. “The eustachian tubes, which connect the middle ear to the back of the throat, are smaller and do not equalize the pressure as well as adult ears.”

Dr. Charles Hannum, a general pediatrician at Tufts Medical Center and assistant professor of pediatrics at Tufts University School of Medicine, adds that kids have more horizontal eustachian tubes than adults do, making drainage more difficult.

“When kids are younger, more fluid can stay in the ear because it isn’t really traveling down to the throat,” he said. “Unfortunately, for some kids, because they either have an acute illness, uncontrolled allergies or really big adenoid tissue, there are lots of ways that tubes can get blocked, and it’s harder and harder for fluid to escape.”

Plus, Lockwood said, young kids are less able to comply with some of the maneuvers that help ears equalize pressure, such as yawning. Hannum pointed out that the old “hold your nose and blow” trick that adults often use to release pressure from their ears isn’t exactly easy to explain to kids.

Now you know why kids are so prone to ear pain on planes, but what can you do about it? Here’s what Lockwood and Hannum suggest:

An annoying suggestion? Yes — because we all know that it’s pretty hard to control when kids get sick, and they get sick a lot — but sickness or even a recent illness (especially an ear infection) can worsen ear pain.

“Try to avoid traveling while sick or with uncontrolled seasonal allergies, as these issues will impact how well ears can adapt…