Long Haul Singapore airlines with a 10 month old?

[beachavendrea]

Hi

Just wondering if anyone has flown long haul with Singapore Airlines. We are going from London to NZ in march and I have booked a bassinet for my ds but I'm not sure if it will be big enough. He is a big boy! Just wondering if anyone had any experience with this.

Thanks

I took DD on my own to NZ when she was 17 months old on Singapore Airlines. They were fantastic. A few suggestions:

Singapore Airport has a swimming pool. Pack swimming costumes in your carry on luggage. Towels, shampoo etc come as part of the entry price. It was fantastic to be able to stretch and tire out the small person in the 3 hour layover. (Or at least it was until she decided teddy needed a bath.)

Let them know as you are checking if you are a parent travelling alone with a small child. My FIL quietly pointed this out to the staff at Heathrow and they let me check in via the First Class check in counter. No standing in queues.

If you have a beloved teddy/soft toy, ask for a luggage tag for them. Write down the flight numbers and/or a contact address in NZ and attach it to the bear. It's the last thing you want to lose between flights.

DD's a big girl but, at 17 months she still (just) fit in the basinette. However, if your child uses a sleeping bag, take that as well as I found the basinette was far too interesting to get settled in. Bear in mind if there's turbulance you will have to take him out of the basinette and strap him to you for the duration.

Singapore Airlines are fantastic with children. I saw very little of DD on the filght as she seemed to spend most of the time in the galley chatting to the hostesses and being fed tidbits.

If you haven't already, invest in pull up nappies now. Airplane toilet changing tables are not the place to deal with a wiggling baby.

Thanks those are great tips. Glad she fitted in the bassinet I had images of him wriggling on my knee the whole time!

At 14 months my DS barely fit into the bassinet, but I think 10 months should be fine.

Next time consider going with BA - making sure it is a BA plane and not just a BA flight number (they code share!). BA have a sky cot (or whatever they call it now) which you can use if the bassinet is too small.

The other airlines which I have flown with that DON'T have it (and therefore you would be stuck with them on your lap the whole time) are Qantas, Singapore and Cathay. Worth thinking about!

It's a really good call re the skycot/ chair. we flew to oz with our dd1 when she was 8 months old and it was so much better than a bassinet. It seems to be unique to BA. We are going to Oz in April with the three DC's and I seriously considered the extra £1k flight costs for the skyseat thingamejig. However sense has prevailed and from the above I think my dd2 at 10 months will fit in the bassinet. Thanks for the sleeping bag tip

Nothing is worth flying BA for in my opinion unless you actually enjoy appalling service and rude staff. I broke my "never fly BA" rule which I have held for a long time a couple of years ago and ended up spending 56 hours getting from Sydney to Cork while my dad was on death's door. The fact that the cabin staff were quite clearly having a "who can be the rudest without starting a riot" competition didn't help. Don't do it!!! Singapore are fantastic, with or without children.

See, I'd fly BA first and all the rest if I was desperate!

I fly longhaul to Australia 3 times a year and once to the States. BA everytime. I dread the Qantas leg into Perth though.

BA are far superior IMO.

It is NOT worth flying with BA, even for the skycot. The downsides of flying with them far, far outweigh the benefits of the skycot.

Singapore Airlines and cabin crew are amazing with babies/children and like a previous poster said, will whisk them away to entertain them if they are getting fractious/you need a mini break, etc. They can not do enough to help make the flight as easy and stress free as possible for you.

BA on the other hand, appear to go out of their way to make life as difficult as possible and usually are less than helpful.

I always tell people to go with Singapore Airlines if they possibly can. The gap in service and care between them and BA is massive and will make the difference between kind of enjoying the flight and feeling like your head is going to explode with the stress.

We managed to squeeze 19mo Dd into a bassinet on one flight and 14mo Ds into one on another, they are fairly roomy.

(FWIW, Virgin codeshare with Singapore so it may be worth looking at their prices, the ticket will be with Virgin but the plane/crew will be SIA)