Travelling with a very large 10month old - advice needed!!!!!!

[tigerlily]

We are going back to the uk for a holiday in June and have a confirmed bassinet seat with singapore airlines. I looked up the dimensions and it states that it is 76 cm long - my 7 month old is already 76cm so god only knows what height he will be by the time we fly! im now wondering if they will refuse to let us have the bassinet as he quite possibly wont fit in it lying down. it would be really handy to keep it even if he doesnt sleep in it as you get extra legroom and its a little contained space for him to play. Has anyone experienced this? Im beginning to really stress that we should book him his own seat as the thought of having a 12kg, super tall baby on our knees for 13 hours is horrific!!

 

Im also fairly certain that he will sleep well in it as he curls up into a little ball (even when he has lots of space to move around). So i suppose im asking has anyone had the bassinet refused because their baby is too tall and what was the flight like?

 

Thanks!

[snifter]

We didn't fly Singapore last time but Qantas and they have a bassinet set up also. Our son was 22 months old then and he fitted in it and slept fine on the Singapore to Adelaide leg. He had to bend his legs a bit, so was more cuddled up than legs straight out but other than that it was fine. He slept for 4 hours of the flight. And I can assure you, our son was never a small baby or toddler, in fact he is taller than average and was back then.

 

We did the London - Singapore leg he had his own seat (we didn't book or pay for that, but they bumped up the person sat squished in the kid filled row and so it was empty and we used it). The other flights to and from Aus he was on our lap or in a bassinet (but only when sleeping). It isn't pleasant with a larger baby or toddler on your lap but you get on with it. Its only a short time in the grand scheme of things. The BA legs of the flight they use rocker seats not bassinets and children over 1 don't fit those. So he had to go on our laps then.

 

TBH they tend to give priority to the youngest babies first and then go from there. So if there are lots of babies that are younger (and usually smaller therefore) flying on the same flight, chances are you won't get a bassinet seat anyways as they will give to the younger ones first. The older and bigger babies get, they get bumped down the pecking order then. You'd have to travel with little one on your laps. During take off and landing children under 2 are seated on an adults lap anyways and during turbulence etc the same.

 

I don't think you can do much apart from wait and see on the day. If there are only a couple of children under 2 and not booked their own seat, you'll get given the bassinet seat anyways and will have a bit of extra room. You'll be surprised how big they actually are. If there are more babies/under 2's booked than there are bassinets then as I said, the smaller younger ones get priority. You'll get put in another row elsewhere then.

[Guest css]

We have just returned from Oz and we flew with singapore airlines.We had 3 children 9,6 and 2 and were dreading th flight to the point I was loosing sleep over it.As it turned out the flight was fine,kid were amazing and the airhostesses were amazing and cant do enough for the children.They are definatley the priority on the flight,at least that how they make you feel.Obviously having the youngest at 2 I didn't need a bassinette but there were lot of babies in these and we didnt hear any baby upset.Hope this helps,good luck and have a safe flight,Clare and co :-)

[Sallyh]

We flew with an 18mth old from England in a bassinet. Just got him to sleep and put him in when he was asleep, in his grobag. Worked fine. I'd say you'll manage. You can't take off and land with them in the bassinet anyway, so you'll need the lap seatbelt extension for that. You can do a mix of the 2, but definitely keep the bassinet booking, and just use it as it suits you for his sleeps.

[mattyegg]

We'll be flying with 2yr old in July who'll be too big for a bassinet, anyone got any advice on travelling with one, should we think about taking our car seat on board? (providing it's compatible of course)

[Guest wayney34]

usually if the flight is quiet they will try there best to give you a spare seat. also try booking t he back row if they don't give you a bassinet, as if you recline your seat you don't have to worry about people behind and nobody ever wants to sit at the back due to toilets etc we ended up with 3 rows of seats between the five of us it was great. fingers crossed its a quiet flight. good luck

[Guest miraclebabycaw]

yikes I'm very surprised at people being allowed to put kids up to 22mos in bassinets. When we took my daughter to the US when she was 18 mos old we were strictly forbidden to use the bassinet. My daughter was born very prematurely and at 18mos only weighed about 15lbs if that. She was also short at around 72cm. In fact she was smaller than the 9 mos old baby that was in the seat next to us, but because of her age the airline refused to allow us to put her in a bassinet. They said that it was strict policy that only babies up to 9 mos could be in the bassinet..in fact on our return trip we were told 6 mos was max. They did move me further back in the plane where there was empty seats so she could lie down and sleep on the seats.

 

That being said we travelled from South Africa to the US in 2001...The flight ended up being 23 hours due to the flight being diverted to Atlanta. We had a very active 18mos old, but managed fine. She slept a lot, and then walked up and down the plane a lot which tired her out, and she played a lot as well. You will be fine.