Australia with a 13 month old

[Tanso]

Im flying alone with my 13 month old daughter to Australia from London. Ive chosen BA because they have bassinets which can be made to sit up as well as recline.

Does anyone have any advice? She is going to want to be on the move the whole time im sure. Toys do not interest her for long at all.

HAs anyone else done a crazy journey like this with a similar age and what was it like for you???

If you haven't already booked I would not fly BA alone with a child, they make being unhelpful an art form. Singapore Airlines are fantastic with children and can't do enough for you if you are on your own.

If it is too late and you have booked, phone up to reconfirm the bassinet nearer the time and make sure you check in early as I know people who thought they had booked one and ended up without as they were allocated "first come first served" at check in - the long flight doesn't necessarily put people off, some flights to Oz have an awful lot of babies on board! If possible I would try and do a night flight out of Heathrow, transit through Singapore in as short a time as possible, and go straight through.

In my experience most people are totally sympathetic to parents flying solo with kids as long as you don't do the whole "oh isn't she cute" thing as your child runs screaming up and down the plane. Parents who make some attempt to consider the comfort of others are more likely to be offered help by random strangers!

Yes must agree Singapore airlines are the very best for children.
I've done this journey a lot with children and I always request special assistance which helps as you have an airport escort on arrival. Trying to manage buggy, baby, toddler, luggage etc on your own pretty tricky.

I too spat out my tea at flying BA. I have never heard anyone say a good word about them. We flew BA to New York when our dd was 15 months and we were supposed to have a bassinet and then they just said that they didn't have one. They sent us to ask around and we were eventually given......a cardboard box. We had to put it on the floor of the bulk head. Her fat little legs were sticking out.

I have done the flight to Australia alone with my two dds when they were 2 and 5. I found it quite hard physically. I took my own DVD player with cbeebies DVDs as I thought that if there were just movies for her to watch she wouldn't be that interested. The last time we came over on Emirates there were the TVs where you can choose what to watch. They were great.

There are always a fair few babies on board and that does make things easier as you donn't feel as if everybody is cursing you.

I am reading this, sitting in Australia, having flown a week ago with my 4 year old daughter and 20 month old son on my own (I have done this journey about 4 times on my own now).

I flew with BA and I thought they were good. I had my boy in the 'infant seat' but have to say, it is small and I am considering not bothering with it on the return journey and booking a seat for him. Having said that, your baby might not be too big for it?

I have flown with BA/QF most times. I have found the staff helpful on every flight. A lot of them will not fall about helping you, but you just press the buzzer and they will come and help you. They simply cannot ignore you.

You need to consider the personality of your child. My kids don't tantrum or get upset when they are tired and it is for this reason that I felt able to do the flight/s on my own.

13 months can be a tricky age - is she walking? My advice would be to definitely book a flight midweek when it will be quieter and you might get more space and definitely book a night flight out of London so that she will be ready to sleep - my son actually slept a lot on this leg of the journey even though he was too big for the infant seat because it was his normal sleeping time.

I haven't flown with Singapore with children but it sounds like they are good too. I was pretty anxious before this journey but looked at it like childbirth ie it will end! Also, you need to be prepared the the jetlag can be hideous too!

Email me if you have any other queries or need some support.

x

I don't find the actual flight as bad as the airport stuff. Obviously the flight is no barrel of laughs but like Cheeks says, it ends and you know you have got to get through it. I took a buggy the first time I did it and it was a nightmare as I had to push it and pull my carry on luggage at the same time through Heathrow for what seemed like miles. It probably was miles. Mine have always been fine on the flight

We have only not dome the night time flight once now and we had jet lag for two weeks that time. Which is mind boggling looking back at it. I have never had it all all until that time.

We did it with very active 15 month old on BA - he was quite small and slept in the bassinet a lot more than I thought he would. Also agree night flights much the best. he also liked looking at the people and plently did smile/place peekaboo etc
Lots of snacks would help
when I travel I do rucksack and buggy to the gate but on the other side you don't get the buggy until baggage claim and its quite a long walk through customs with carry on baggage and child -so think about how to plan for that - if at all possible agree special assitance
and also agree be prepared for jet lag - which mention in effect loads of distirbed nights when you get there - sorry

Thanks everyone for the great advice. It is already booked with BA, so im scared now with some of the comments above.Oh well, i will cope.

She would have been walking but im not sure now because she broke her leg two weeks ago and has plaster for another two weeks so she has regressed to crawling/scrambling around with a big thumping plaster leg. She has also just realised that if she doesnt want to do something she can arch her back and escape and/or cry.

Im just picturing her not wanting to be in the seat, or held, or sit still, and just want to rampage throughout the whole plane. Exciting times!

Last time I did the flight I took a sling because she was tiny after the check in point. I bought an small umbrella buggy I am hoping to be able to take through. Does anyone know if that is allowed??

Yes you can take a bugy to the gate but you won't get it back at the other end till baggage pick up - although of course not so long

i am doing this exact flight - with BA too - next week. It is the first time i am taking DD to Oz to meet her grandparents etc.

When people say that you wont get the buggy back until baggage pick up, what about when you have a stop over? We have a 5 hour break in Singapore. Will i be kissing my buggy good bye at Heathrow and not see it again till i hit Brisbane?

Thats what i was wondering SugarPlum, Last time i took a big one and checked it in, but the sling with a tiny baby on the stop over was a killer.

So i bought a tiny £15 ridiculous stroller hoping they will let that through into cabin luggage. I dont feel very confident about them letting me. Stopover with a very heavy almost walking girl is scary without something to use.

i just spent 45 min on the phone to BA. According to customer service, once they take the pram into the hold, you are unlikley to get it back until you reach your final destination unless they are offloading a bunch of people and their baggage. Even then it is apparently at the baggage handlers discretion.

sigh. Off to buy a sling.

We did London to Perth when DDs were 8, 3.5, and 13 months.

We flew Emirates via Dubai and they were great. We had a bulkhead seat with bassinet which DD3 just about fitted in, not that she slept much as she was awake for most of the first leg to Dubai (8 hours) and enjoyed doing circuits of the plane!

Second leg Dubai to Perth DH and I were separated by 40 rows as I needed the bassinet at the bulkhead and he was back with the other two girls, so I was on my own pretty much with DD3 for 11 hours; she slept a fair bit (night time by this point) but every time they put the seat belt light on for turbulence the crew woke me up to take her out of the bassinet and put our belt on.

Take as much food as you can - she didn't get a meal as she didn't have a seat, they did have jarred food which was pure puree for 4 month olds and awful. She shared my bread roll, cheese, rice etc. They filled her bottle of milk up for her. I took crackers, fruit and similar.

Our 2 pushchairs were transited all the way through to Perth but there were plenty of buggies available at Dubai airport, and also in Perth airport to use until ours came back from baggage. DD2 is disabled and despite asking at check in for her buggy back at the gate on arrival we couldn't get it, but they did find us 2 pushchairs and brought them to us to see us through to baggage.

Hope your flight goes well, just remember it's one day out of your life and so worth it when you get there!

We are doing this exact flight next week with our eleven month old...also feeling the fear! She is very mobile, pulling to stand and has taken to shrieking in a high pitched voice when restrained and wanting to move, so flying London to Brisbane sounds like just the ticket! I am wondering just how many daggers are likely to be sticking out of our backs when we arrive. Flying with SIngapore airlines with night flights leaving London and Brisbane on return, and also planning to take a little quinnie zap pram for using at airport - had assumed that it would be available at Singapore stopover but perhaps not from your coments?! Last time I flew home she was 10 weeks old so just used the sling and she slept almost the whole way - although I was nervous at the time as everything felt so new - seemed like a breeze in retrospect! Has anyone been able to use a pram in SIngapore airport? Helpful to know that they don't give you food for older babies without a 'seat'...hope to load up on rice cakes. Any other suggestions for helping get babies to snooze or calm down (particularly those also teething!) on board would be gratefully received.

i checked the singapore airport website after Sidges post and thank god, buggies are available to borrow from the customer service desks throughout all the terminals.

I am planning to take a load of food for DD (13 months). I was going to make it all here and pack it in resealable containers but i have been reminded that airport security is going to be on super maximum alert and i may run into trouble trying to get it though so am going to ring Boots air side at Heathrow and order in a bunch of baby food to pick up once i am through security. Also am planning to take about 3 times the amount of milk she would normally have.

Just remember that once you hit oz all food, baby or otherwise has to be handed in and cannot be taken through customs. They likely will search your bags and it is a whopping great fine if you haven't declared/discarded your food.

Our flight is leaving Heathrow at 8.30pm. DD should be completely knackered by then so hopefully she will naturally sleep her normal 12 hours and wake up just as we are arriving in Singapore. Plan to take her to the children's play area and run her ragged for several hours with the hope she will crash again for the next leg to Oz. I have also bought an emergency bottle of children's antihistamine just in case.

I have flown to Oz a few times with my DD the first time when she was a crawling 8 month old.I used a ring sling and this It folds up into backpack and I carried it on as hand luggage.I used it for air travel until she was three.
Also I declared baby food milk and food when I arrived and they let me take it in.

Have done it a few times and my best advice is to keep her in her seat as long as you can before allowing her to go for a tour of the isles. Once they know they can traipse up and down the plane that is all they want to do.
Also, take a big muslin and a few pegs - sometimes you can make a sort of tent over them while they sleep to keep out light and distractions.
Load up on calpol and nurofen (suppositories if they won't let you take the liquid).
Buy a prtable DVD player and take loads of DVDs (and child sized comfy headphones).
Don't tell the BA hosties to F off until you are getting off in Sydney.