bulkhead or not with a 18 mo

[potas]

Hi. Travelling to nz with my 18 mo. He hasn't got his own seat but have requested a bulkhead seat and bassinet. However I have weighed him and he is too heavy to use a bassinet and have read that the arms of the bulkhead seats can't be raised so we can't snuggle him in between us or across us as planned. Would it be better to be in a normal seat row with moveable arms or stick to bulkhead where he can at least get on floor in front of us to play?

What route are you flying to NZ?. Hopefully it is not via LA. Are you going on your own with your child?.

If finances allow I would buy him his own seat. He may well not now fit into the bassinet (they are mainly for newborn and younger babies) so I would double check that is actually worth having at all. Bulkhead row seats generally do not have arms that raise nor much floor area.

On a wider note do not rely on the airline to fully provide re foodstuffs for your child. Take what he/she likes and plenty of it.

Are you going to be travelling at a time when the flight's likely to be full eg a peak period? If not, might be worth checking with the airline if the flight is likely to be full. If it's not you could try and get a row to yourself in which case you can raise the arms and your ds can stretch out. Would give your airline a call and get a sense of how full the flight will be and whether you might be able to get a spare seat. I lived in Asia and used to be able to check that with my travel agent.

I flew from Oz and back with dd having her own seat. She was around 14mo at the time. We were given a bulk head too, it would have been a nightmare otherwise.

I'd book dc own seat without a doubt. Bassinets only used for small babies and own seat will give you much more scope....
Have a good trip

For babies who are too big for the bassinet but not old enough for their own seat they usually provide a car seat style seat which also clips onto the bulkhead tray table and means they have somewhere to sleep other than on you. I just flew long haul on my own with DD (almost two), and really needed this for the overnight stretch. Also, when she was awake, being at the front meant there was room for her to sit on the floor and do some drawing etc. Not being able to raise the armrests was a pain though, as on the outward journey there was no-one next to us so creating oe big seat would have been good.

I don't know how tight your finances are or which airline you are flying with but AirNZ have some really good seats that convert to a bed, they are called SkyCouch IIRC. However you would need 3 seats for this. Last time I flew AirNZ the planes were 3:3:3 formation. As a note and having flown long haul extensively with my DC from an early age I wouldn't contemplate flying to NZ with an 18mo without a seat.

If you can't get your child a seat of their own, I would definitely recommend the bulkhead, the extra space for them to stand up and play a bit is really valuable. Otherwise if the person in front of you reclines their seat you won't even be able to easily read a book together

I think doing a NZ trip with a toddler and without a seat for him would be hell on earth for all of you as well as those around you.

I am just back from Oz and the youngest is 15 months but a big one! We booked his own seat and I had him on my lap for takeoff and landing. Not bulkhead but normal seats and I could lift the arm a little to give him more room to stretch out.

If you can afford it, get him/her their own seat. It's such a long journey - it would have been a total nightmare to only have your knee and a tiny bit floor - they will never sit nicely for hours but try and escape as often as possible!

Our flights were grim but they would have been 100x worse if we hadn't bought him a seat. That was advice from here and I was so glad I took it. Good luck!

DD was 12 months and still tiny when we went to NZ. She was fine in a bassinet (thank God as I was pregnant with DS at the time!), but it would be no good for a bigger child. Definitely try to get him a seat, it's such a long way to go with him on your knee.

When the PIL emigrated to NZ, they had 3 aged 5 and under. Apparently DH disappeared and they found him asleep under the seats right at the back! This was 30 odd years ago though!