Does baby need their own seat British Airways?

[lalallola]

My baby will be 8 months old when we travel, do we need to book a seat for her? Obviously we will be taking her pushchair, car seat. We went away when she was 3 months and we had to book a seat for her with Ryanair so was just wondering if it would be the same for British Airways?

No, she should be fine

If short haul - sit on your lap
If long haul - book the bulkhead seats with the bassinet, BA will provide a baby bouncer / seat thing that sits in there

You don't need to book a seat with ba or ryanair. But you need to buy a ticket on both

@TrialofTrials

You don't need to book a seat with ba or ryanair. But you need to buy a ticket on both

As in buy her a ticket?

A lap infant ticket.

You book them a ticket as an Infant (zero or minimal cost IIRC). They do not get a seat for this though.

Alternatively, you can book and pay for an actual seat..

Always book the seat if you can afford it. Bulkheads aren't guaranteed, smaller babies take priority. PITA.

How long is the flight?

You could just book them as an infant as a freebie. But at 8 mths she will def be too big for the bassinet and will need to sit on your lap. If she’s a chubster buying her a seat may be better for your knees if you’re flying longhaul. However, if you fly Emirates, they will try and give you a seat for a 9-12 mth old if possible (it’s their policy) so if an option is available for your journey do consider them.

A bassinet is meant for babies while they can’t sit. In reality they’re probably too small for most babies over 3-4 mths if they are over the 50th centile in height and weight.

Under the age of two you don’t have to buy a separate seat. You can just book a ticket as a lap infant. That is unless you want to travel with the car seat in a seat (rather than in the hold) in which case you do need to book and pay for a separate seat. Beware though that BA doesn’t allow all car seats to be used on board so check their list of approved seats. All that said, although you don’t have to book a separate seat for under twos, we have always booked one anyway for long haul over the age of 1. It’s more expensive obviously but if you’re in economy I think the seats are just too small to be comfortable with a 1 year old on your lap for 8 hours. As previous posters mention, the bassinet at the bulkhead (which you might be able to book) is only really suitable for smaller babies. By 6 months my eldest was too big (though the extra leg room was still nice)

No buy an infant ticket and dc sits on your lap. You may be able to book a bassinet but 8 month baby is probably too large and they are few in number and for long haul flights

I booked a bassinet when my baby was 6 months, but it was tiny, smaller than him, and it had to be attached with straps that blocked the top, meaning you couldn’t put the baby in or take him out lying down, you would have to thread him through the straps. Long haul from the IS, we had seats that you couldn’t move the armrests but these were meant to be better for babies. BA wouldnt give us a bigger bassinet because the baby was under one year, even though his legs wouldn’t fit in. And the crew were just partying, fetching drinks bottles out of their lockers and not helpful or bothered. It was a bloody nightmare.
Book an extra seat if it is longhaul, and make sure the armrests can go down, because if you do end up holding baby the whole time, you need more space for your arms else it is very painful. I was sleepless and broken and crying at dawn because I hadnt slept the entire night. And then our next flight to a european country was delayed and i was just weeping at the airport, sick with tiredness.

I think it must have been bulkhead seats we had, with 10cm extra legroom, but the arm rests not moveable. I don’t remember whether the seats could be reclined, it was awful due to the bassinet being absolutely useless.