Travel with a 1 year old. What would you do re seats?

[WAC1]

Hello!
We are travelling to the US (9 hour flight) with our 18 month old

We have three options for flight

1. 2 seats in premium economy
2. 2 seats in economy
3. 3 seats in economy so we have a seat each

Option 3 most expensive, then option 1 (about £200 less than option 1) then option 2 (about £500 less than option 1)

Any thoughts or wisdom from anyone who has travelled with an 18 month old?! Thanks

We’d take turns having two seats for a nap ;)

Not sure a nap is worth 700 quid. I b think of many things I'd rather spend that money on. But as my mum says, "Some people have more money than sense!".

The child is 18 months. Not a baby, a toddler. For 18 hours in the air (plus say an extra 40 mins for unloading/loading) and having the joy of a row of three between you rather than bothering anyone else, I'd say £700 is completely worth it.

A nap isn’t, but room to nap plus a safer baby/toddler is definitely worth 700 quid. It’s not plane crashes that you have to worry about, it’s any severe turbulence or runway skids/incidents which are more common and usually the fatalities are lap babies under age 2. Everyone else in a seat and properly restrained at most has a minor injury.

Children on laps do have a waist seat belt just like an adult (certainly the ones I've been on) so I'm not sure how they are ending up as fatalities unless parents aren't using them or they are extremely newborn/ fragile.

Wow, didn't realise this thread would become so catty 😂
Thanks for your advice everyone!

I recently flew London to Auckland return with a 22/23 month old. He sat on our knee. On one flight we had a spare seat beside us. He sat in it as a novelty for about 3 mins. I wouldn't pay for it.

Also check out the bassinets, despite being too long he was under the weight limit and he actually slept in it for 8 hours. He asked to get in before anyone thinks I forced him. The rest of the time we used it as storage

First of all, forget premium economy as the arm rest is fixed.
however as you are flying BA they have “bouncer” style seats which attach to the bulkhead if toddlers are too big for the sky cots. So I’d go in the bulkhead and ask for the child seat.

even if you buy 3 seats, under 2’s still need to sit on your lap for take off / landing / turbulence if you haven’t got a car seat onboard and actually there are very few car seats that are suitable for an aircraft

3 seats

Physics is how. Momentum and mass.
Those belt attachments just keep them from flying off, they don’t stop heads from bashing seats and the belts themselves can cause internal bleeding.

So rear facing car seat and five point harness in their own seat is the safest way to transport an under 2 during turbulence and take off/landing.

But if saving £700 is worth the risk, that’s your choice.

I just recently traveled with my 18months old baby. She was just on my lap and my husband is sitting beside me. It was tough because a baby of this age is very hyper. They like standing, kicking the front seat, going down to get something, and sometimes they cry. I suggest you get just 1 economy seat, carry her on your lap (for a budget flight), and make sure your husband and someone you know sits beside you and one in front of you so when the baby is kicking the front seat you'll not feel embarrassed for the disturbance.

That's actually a useful post

"I suggest you get just 1 economy seat, carry her on your lap (for a budget flight), and make sure your husband and someone you know sits beside you and one in front of you so when the baby is kicking the front seat you'll not feel embarrassed for the disturbance."

You want them to take a random "someone they know" just to sit on the plane? 🤣

Two facts which will help

Will your dc fit in a bassenete?

The pp about the toddler seats needs to be expolored.

Arm rest in PE so it's not option to lay dc across a you. This is a deal breaker for me.

The daytime flight will be long and difficult. It's only 9 hours though. If you pick seats at the back that is often where any empty seats are. Lots of BA planes narrow from 3-4-3 to more roomy 2-4-2 at the back .

Some good posts here, option 2 is not a goer. You hardly have enough room for yourself, and are sharing a row unless the flight has a "two together" thing. Option 3 is fine, Option 1 may also be fine as long as you are in a two seat config. The bassinette thing may help, I have flown PE with Virgin to the US a fair bit, and the babies are normally at the front of the PE cabin with a 2,3,2 config. Seatguru https://www.seatguru.com/ is quite helpful as it shows the exact layout of your aircraft. We only went on shortish flights with our four (so had two flyers under 2 at times) and yes, quite stressful, but I have seen others do it many a time on long haul flights with very little bother.

Lol, I meant, their companion during their travel.

@MerryMarigold

Children on laps do have a waist seat belt just like an adult (certainly the ones I've been on) so I'm not sure how they are ending up as fatalities unless parents aren't using them or they are extremely newborn/ fragile.

I struggling to find the underlying data but for example ICAO state:

"The safest way to secure an infant or child on board an aircraft is in a State-approved child restraint system (CRS), in a dedicated seat, and appropriate for that infant or child."

That said I'm also not sure about the fatalities comment made upthread, and a bit of care has to be taken in drawing too many conclusions from worldwide figures because some states do (or at least did) all infants to travel completely unrestrained.

FWIW the comment that allowing unrestrained infants to travel on laps short flights was sensible because it was safer than the equivalent car journey is the US FA/NTSB argument of old, not one I've seen used elsewhere in the world where infants have to be restrained somehow.

Finally had coffee and got google foo working.

If any here are still interested in the physics and data (derived from trials and, be warned, actual accident analysis) on hand held vs. loop belts vs, separate approved child restraint system - European study here..

https://www.icao.int/safety/airnavigation/OPS/CabinSafety/Cabin%20Safety%20Library/Guidance%20on%20Infant%20and%20Child%20Safety/EASA%20Study%20on%20CRS.pdf

But it isn't your house ...you are impacting on others. Your little darling is a massive pain in the arse for other travellers. Your Job as a parent in a public situation is to minimise the impact on fellow travellers you sound horribly entitled

"Lol, I meant, their companion during their travel."

But if she has one companion how will he sit in front of and beside her?

Don't complicate things. If she only has 1 companion then either she lets the person sit beside or in front of her. Whichever she chooses, she can pay for 2 economy seats either. But we'll wait for her to respond.