Toddler seats on long haul flight

[Donimo]

My husband and I are travelling to South Africa with BA with 20 month old twins and a 5 year (yes maybe we are mad). The flight is a night flight and I'm just praying they all sleep.

I have 2 bulkhead bassinet position seats reserved for my husband and I for the outward and return flights. Then a seat for our 5 year old. So the twins will be on our laps. BA do toddler seats that attach onto the tray that is folded down from the bulk head. My question is has anyone had these seats/used them? And if so we're they easily available or has there been an occassion when there wasn't enough of these seats available? Or have you always been able to get one if needed? (Aware we will be wanting 2 of these for our twins to sleep in 🙏)

Any other tips for long haul travel with a toddler and young child greatly appreciated

This is what I was thinking. It sounds a nightmare situation to me!

On the parents' laps! Up until two years old, they're expected to sit on laps 🤷‍♀️

They're only expected to be on parents' laps if you don't pay for a seat.

"lap infants" are usually free. They get a ticket but not a seat.

We paid for our 18 month to have a seat because we thought having her on a lap for the entire long haul journey would be a nightmare. It made the flight a lot more expensive but it was worth it.

Correction. Google tells me that lap infants aren't always free on international flights but are heavily discounted eg might be 10% of normal ticket price, so still much less than normal.
It was 20 years ago when we flew like that so I'd forgotten the details.

Have you tried making an almost 2 year old stay on a lap for hours?

Yes we did the same, there’s no way my dd was staying on one of our laps during the flight. It was bad enough keeping her in her seat but at least she had space to play and eat.

I agree, but OP has said they can't afford that.

At least by having bulkheads seats and the five year old too, they've got a bit of floor space between them.

Further, which ever passenger ends up in the fourth seat in the row probably won't love the fact they have a child on the bassinet shelf. (Nothing against the OP on this, it's how it works). So if the flight isn't full, that person could possibly be moved leaving OP with the extra seat for free, which would be the best outcome!

It sounds like a lot if you won't but them seats

The flight is their bedtime... takes off 6.30pm. They go to bed at 7pm. So I'm hoping they will sleep or at least rest. Otherwise at home they happily sit on our laps to read books or watch tv when they tired. I'm not planning to encourage any playing tbh. As it is a night flight and they need to rest as much as possible. We have done short haul flights (4 hours) and timed this with nap times and they slept really well.. they settle well with movement and white noise. We had to actually wake them to get off the plane

Thats a plus it’s their bedtime so hopefully they’ll sleep. You need a plan for where they’ll sleep if one of both don’t get the toddler seats. There isn’t usually enough bassinets and seats available for everyone that wants one and they’ll go to those most in need first, which may not be you even with twins. There may only be one seat on board.

From 18 months would have been fine for us in term of sitting. 6 to 18 months would have been the worst time. But then he was 10kg at 18 months so the weight would have become more uncomfortable. The OP has tiny toddlers though so they may be okay.

I used the bassinet for my 20 month old on a flight to Australia via Singapore. Our three year old had his own seat. I don't recall a 'seat' being available, just the bassinet she slept in (she barely fit by the way). You also have to have them in your lap if there's any turbulence - I remember had the do this twice and she woke up both times.
My three year old only slept for four hours of the 13 hour first leg and not at all for second six hour flight - my husband and I barely slept at all.

I'm going to offer an alternative viewpoint here but I would really advise against night flights. Not only is it incredibly unfair on your children but you're risking the lives of others on the flight.

We recently flew home from Mexico with a child screaming (to distressed choking point) all night so no one in the cabin got any sleep. We then had to go to our car and attempt to drive home from the airport long-stay car park jet-lagged with zero sleep and I'm sure we're not the only ones.

I appreciate you hope the night flight makes your life easier but if your child screams throughout you affect the whole cabin and it's extremely dangerous to drive while sleep deprived. Please rethink and change to a day flight for everyone concerned, including yourself and your children.

No one should drive if they are not safe to drive, they are risking their own lives. If you aren't safe then you make alternative arrangements. Stay overnight, 20 minute naps in the car, whatever you have to do.

We then had to go to our car and attempt to drive home from the airport long-stay car park jet-lagged with zero sleep and I'm sure we're not the only ones

That was your decision. I would not have risked my life like that. You have choices. You chose to drive when you were not capable of doing so and this is solely on you, not on someone else's baby.

What a ridiculous post!

Put them in reins!

Also risking other people's lives on the road, it's comparable to drink driving.

You were in the wrong @2pence there. Not the parents of a baby that cried on an aeroplane.

If you had killed somebody then would your defence in court have been a baby was crying?

We did have to make alternative arrangements in the end. I sincerely believe that airlines should ban babies and toddlers from night flights. It's not responsible parenting to put your children through the experience and extremely disruptive for those who have their sleep stolen by the torture of a howling child for hours on end. Lots of people do use the long stay car parks so this cannot be uncommon and you put their lives at risk as well as your own if you're driving home or to the hotel to start your holiday.

@2pence Thank you for your experience and insight. They only do night flights to South Africa- so no choice but to fly at night. We are also only staying 15 mins drive from the airport so driving shouldn't be a problem or worse case we get a taxi. We can also check in immediately. So can go straight to bed if needed. As I said previously I'm more than confident my girls will sleep.. they always have done on a flight. We may not but then used to sleep deprivation tbh.

@Overthebow That was exactly why I posted this. To see what the likelihood of getting a seat was or not. If we get just one I think we would manage. As my husband and I will take it in shifts to have 1 sleep on us. I know people say this is uncomfortable but it's not actually too bad... do it occasionally for a couple of hours napping or sometimes overnight when they are unwell and only sleep on us. So with shifts it should be ok. We are used to having baby/toddler whom will only settle with having us due to having twins who have had a lot of additional needs and illness in their first year.

@2pence I thought this was your baby. But obviously not now. Maybe take noise canceling headphones next time. Or you could ask the parents if they needed any help at all. A little compassion and thoughtfulness makes everyone's lives better.

What a ridiculous post. First of all there may not be choice with the flight times, it could be night fight or nothing. There are many things that can be noisy on planes, children are one of them but many others too, you don’t go on to a flight expecting quiet and These things sometimes can’t be helped. What if there was a disabled adult making involuntary noise, would you complain about that too and expect them not to be on the flight? Take noise cancelling headphones. If you’re too tired to drive you get a hotel for the night instead of making the choice to drive dangerously. OP isn’t wrong to take children on a night flight.

I sincerely believe that airlines should ban babies and toddlers from night flights.

How would this work with more than one flight, such as LHR to SYD? Families would only be able to travel with an overnight stopover. Many babies and toddlers are not disruptive, some children and adults are.

It's almost as if there isn't a huge amount of noise cancelling headphones on the market that anyone on a night flight could purchase. Oh wait...