flying to new zeland with 10mth ds, ON MY OWN!!!

[mimi03]

hi,
there is a possibility i may have to fly out to new zeland in the new year.to my dp has to go over for work, and i will meet up with him out there.
im terrified at the thought of going all that way with ds (10mths) on my own! i hear you can get sky cots....how does that work and will he be too big for one? will the hostessess and staff help with luging all the baby crap on and off? god im horrified at the thought of it all!!!!!! any advice much appriciated.

Have no experience of long-haul flights with a LO, but wanted to say you have bigger balls than me

Good luck with it!

Sky cot suitability depends on the airline - you need to check with them, BA let you use them until 24 months. However, don't assume you'l get one even if you reserve one. I had a bad experience flying with Virgin when DD was 12 weeks old. Best thing is to phone and ask to reserve bulkhead seat, so that you can check in on line 24 hours before flight. Also phone at least a week before and confirm you have the bulkhead seats and again just before you check in on-line.

Don't expect too much help from airline staff for carrying luggage - go as light as possible. I found other passengers the key to help - not airline or airport staff.

Good luck and enjoy your trip - it is doable.

It's not that bad, honestly. Have done long haul quite a few times on my own with 11-month old and a three year old (that's how old they were when I started flying on my own with them). Mine wouldn't sleep but do order a bassinet or whatever they're called and agree any help is likely to come via passengers. Take lots of milk if not b/feeding and try to think of it as just a day. It really isn't too awful. Good luck.

thanks everyone!

Singapore Airlines will help out as much as they can. Agree with packing easy on and off as much as you can.
Backpack/Ergo or something and a wheely case. Pushchairs can sometimes be more hassle during transit etc and we tend to check them all the way through.

Some kids will lie in a sky cot, others don't. It is worth trying to get anyway.

If you can get a really good rest before you go it would be worth it just in case you don't get much on the flight.
It is a hard age to fly as they don't stick to something for long but lots of walks around the plane gives great entertainment.

at KT12 - we're going next week with 8m ds and have had bassinet seats reserved since September - they confirmed this earlier this week - should I also try to reserve bulkhead seats? Is that how it works??

Also I was thinking of trying to do ds's "routine" - after a meal, giving him a bit of a wash/change/story then see if he'll go down (bet the other passengers can't wait to hear 19-verse lullaby it takes to get his eyes shut... )

phd... the bassinets can only be used on bulhead seats - I would definitely phone and check you have been allocated the seats and make sure you can check in on line - this is where we went wrong in the past and had bassinet declined after requesting it months in advance and confirming a week before. It all depends if there are more babies than bassinets on board. They claim bassinets are reserved for younger babies - ours was the youngest at 12 weeks when it was declined.