Have you flown without DCs?

[Nechums]

Please tell me it'll be okay! I'm so nervous that something bad will happen and our kids will end up orphans! This is inline with my general fear of flying. We've flown many times as a family, but never without the kids. Have you flown without your kids? Poll coming...

[weech]

Many, many times. Everything will be fine :)

[TwinFoxes]

I voted "yes but not scared", when really it was "yes, but no more nervous than usual". I'm a nervous flier, intellectually I know it's extremely safe. But I can't shake the fact we are hurtling to our deaths in a tin can. :bag But I wasn't more nervous because of the kids, I know it's a phobia. So I get on the plane.

[wellyes]

Just remember, it's safer than driving, and you've driven without them a lot I'm sure. You'll be fine.

[crl]

I am not afraid of flying (though I am a terrible traveler because I hate being stuck sitting on the plane). We have flown together once without ds (before dd was born). I was not nervous or afraid. Safer than driving and all that.

Catherine

[khalloc]

Yes. I've flown many times without my kids. I am always a little nervous but not nervous enough to make it stop me. DH and I have been to Aruba 3 times without the kids and to Barbados once. I love taking vacations alone with DH.

[mommylamb]

Many times.

[Neatfreak]

Just this past weekend, actually. It was amazing - I spent the flight reading instead of passing out sheets of stickers!

[SnuggleBuggles]

About a dozen. I only got nervous on our last couple's trip but that was also 8 days in a foreign country. I wrote the kids letters before I left on that trip. By the time the plane was actually going, I wasn't nervous anymore. More excited to be on the trip. :)

[ZeeBaby]

Yes, both with DH and without. You will get past the fear.

[ilfaith]

Yes...and it was wonderful. I got to do the crossword puzzle in the in-flight magazine. I ordered cranberry juice without worrying about it being spilled all over me. I got to go to the lavatory all by myself.

[AnnieW625]

Just once when DS1 was 2/1/2, but I would do it again if I needed to.

[egoldber]

I've flown a few times for work.

Seriously, it was like a mini-vacation. :rotflmao:

[arivecchi]

DH hates flying WITH our kids. I think it gives him a ton of anxiety to be with them locked in a plane in the event of an accident. He is a panicky flier to start with though - so it does not take much to put him on edge.

I've flown without them for work and pleasure. I worry a lot more about the state of the house and the kids when I get back home than about an accident! :)

[Nechums]

Thanks for all the reassuring words! I'm actually excited!

[Giantbear]

Friday will be my first trip without dd and the thoughts have crossed my mind.

[AJP]

Just once when my DD's were just over 3, and my DS 4 months. It was a MUCH needed trip for DH and I and we hadnt had a real vacation together (without kids)in over 6 years! I felt mostly guilt since my son was just 4 months.
I was nervous, but excited. I knew I never forgive myself if something happened, but the chances of that were low enough and my desire to go away with DH great enough, that I was right on that plane!!

[citymama]

Yes, but without DH - MANY times. Not nervous although I accidentally voted I was. If both of us were flying w/o DCs I might be. I sometimes am when we're driving (which is actually way more risky than flying). You'll be FINE!

[peanut520]

I've flown a few times for work.

Seriously, it was like a mini-vacation. :rotflmao:

Exactly how I felt!

Also flown with my best friend for a mini vacation and it was so nice to sit back and relax and have a glass of wine and chat with my friend.

[MissyAg94]

Seriously, it was like a mini-vacation. :rotflmao:
:yeahthat:

[kijip]

Like PP say, I don't get too nervous because I am taking a MUCH bigger risk of orphaning my children by driving on a date with my husband than I am by flying in a commercial jet.

I have flown with my husband a few times without the kids and by myself for work a number of times.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

i have not but DH does for work all.the.time. I am not nervous about it. as others say i know the chances of dying while riding in a car, are, much, much higher and i hve to do that everyday pretty much.

as one PP mentioned, it think we are more nervous flying WITH our kids...it is nerve wracking when flights are delayed, meals are skipped and you know you will end up landing waaay past your kids bedtime..the next flight i take will be WITHOUT kids.

[twowhat?]

Yes, for work, and how blissful it is to sit undisturbed for 3 hours and READ A BOOK!!!! The thing I hate most about flying is getting TO the plane (the crazy taxi drivers, the trek through unknown spaces in large airports, the stress of getting there on time so there will be enough room in the overhead compartments for your carry-on...and sometimes the stress of getting home in time to see my kids to bed). But other than that once I'm ON the plane, I'm good:)

I'm sorry you are anxious about flying - I know many people who are and wish there was a simple solution.

[theriviera]

I have traveled a few times for work and twice for fun. I won't lie, I'm a super anxious flier. It started a week or 2 after I found out I was pregnant with DD1. I had to travel for work and I was a wreck. I had traveled tons before that so I think it was related to all the hormonal changes. Ever since then i am a nervous wreck when i fly.

However, PP's are right. It's totally irrational and my intellectual self knows that. My emotional self does not and that is what the xanax is for :)

[BayGirl2]

Um, yeah, I've flown without them like a million times, for work mostly and a couple times for family/social things.

Never even occurred to me to be nervous about it. I do get nervous occasionally about my kids being orphaned by a car accident. That's a more likely scenario, but not something I stress about daily.

[maestramommy]

I've flown alone with one kid. So has Dh. We haven't flown together without them yet, but it's not because of fear.

[longtallsally05]

No opportunity...yet. I'd fly without my children for a good reason if I had the opportunity. DH used to fly without me or the kids all the time for work. I did send DS#1 on a trip with DH while I was pregnant with DS#2. DD stayed with me. I never worried, and it gave DH a tiny bit of perspective about travelling with a child as a solo parent. I've flown multiple times as the only parent with the children (internationally to boot), so at this point I'd relish the opportunity to travel alone!

[lalasmama]

Three flights without DD, and when I called to check on her each time, she sighed heavily, and told me she was fine, and could she please go back to playing now :)

Even more guilt-inducing for me is that I'm a MAJOR Disney person, and in all my worst-case scenarios, I saw DD sitting on the couch of a shrink, saying, "Yeah, if only my mom didn't love Disneyland so much, she wouldn't have been on that plane and wouldn't have died!" ... or... "Yeah, if my mom would have just taken me with her to Disneyland again, I wouldn't be an orphan now!"

Needless to say, she and I both survived unscathed, and no worse for the wear!

You'll be fine! They will be fine! Remember, flying is safer than driving in a car, and you wouldn't be thinking this if you were in a car, right?

[jerigirl]

Pre-kids, I used to work with a lady that would fly separately from her husband when they would vacation without the kids.

[karstmama]

yes, i have, and wasn't nervous. would it calm your nerves to update your will & other paperwork, or make an 'in case of alien abduction' folder? that might give the energy somewhere constructive to go, and you could rest easy on the plane with a trashy magazine and frosty adult beverage.

[newg]

I voted yes, scared/nervous.....but not of the flying part....only because it was my first time leaving DD1 overnight.