Is my baby too big for a skycot on BA?

[Notsochilledanymore]

She'll be 9 months old by the time we fly in 6 weeks and weighs 17.5lb now. What are my other options? Someone mentioned a bag-type thing that turns into a cot - anyone heard of these?

No experience of BA but DD had a bassinet on Air NZ when she was almost a year and it was plenty big enough. We came home on United and were given a bag to put on the floor. Hardly used it as it didn't look safe (I had a sleeping rugby player next to me with enormous legs)

when I was on BA with a 9 month old, they had a baby bouncer thing which worked...

Unfortunately, I think it depends on the day what's available.... but see if you can get something reserved....

Sounds OK to me. We flew Emirates when DD3 was 13 months and about the same weight (18-19 pounds?) and she just about fitted in it with her legs bent! I imagine the bassinets are similar sizes.

Make sure you prebook it or they will all be allocated on check in and you might not get one.

no she will not be too big as they have two options on BA. The smaller bassinet for little babies and the car seat type one for older babies. We flew BA summer 2007 when my DD was around 9 months old and she easily fitted in and in fact this summer when we flew BA they offered it again when she was 21 months but we decided she was too big (and an escape artist!) both seat options fit on the same bracket on the bulk head but you have to book it in advance and make sure you check in early or online to ensure you get it.

You should be able to log on to the ba website with your flight ref number and flight details (lead passenger ect) if you have an infant on the booking and select a seat that has a skycot if they are under 12 months at time of departure. The seats show the ones available with sjy cots. Get on the BA website and use 'manage my booking'.....your booking of course.

This is actually from BA's website:-

Infant seats and carrycots

We can supply specially designed carrycots so your infant can sleep on board. These are particularly useful for longhaul flights.

• If your infant is between 6 and 23 months you can book an individual seat for him/her by paying the child fare.
• The infant will need to be in an approved infant seat (brought onboard by the accompanying adults) which fits on the aircraft seat.
• We also have a limited number of onboard Britax seats which are attached to the bassinet positions. These seats are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis and can be requested from cabin crew onboard the aircraft.

If you prefer to use your own seat then it must meet the following standards:

• a seat designed to be secured by means of a normal aircraft single lap strap and face the same direction as the passenger seat on which it rests
• a purpose-designed children?s car seat with a 5-point restraining harness
• the seat must not exceed the dimensions of the aircraft seat

The CAA does not permit rearward facing car seats.

British Airways has a limited number of Britax infant seats which can be requested in advance.

• Ideal for ages from 6 months to 2 years, but can also be used from birth.
• Adjustable to a variety of positions from horizontal to vertical.
• Available for infants who weigh a maximum of 13kgs/29lbs.
• Available on all longhaul flights, except in First Class on Boeing 777/767 aircraft where only carrycots are available.

For aircraft take-off and landing and in times of turbulence, infants have to be seated on their parent?s lap using the infant seat belts we provide.

How to book

Our Britax seats are allocated on a first come first served basis at the airport or on board. You can request a carrycot by contacting your local British Airways office. If you put your request in early we'll do all we can to confirm it before you fly.

Meals
Infants

• We offer on board bottle warming and baby-food warming facilities (only un-opened food in a sealed jar) on our longhaul flights.
• We do not carry infant meals or baby milk on board so we recommend that you carry your own baby food and equipment (liquids and sufficient supplies of sterilised bottles) in your cabin baggage.
• We are not able to sterilise bottles or provide sterilised water.

A previous poster mentioned BA's online check in. You can only access this for your flight 24 hours before your flight's departure.

AttilaTheMeerkat you can checkin online if you have and infant on your booking BEFORE the 24 hour rule.

I pre-requested a skycot for a 'friend' who is flying in November on the seat plan of the aircraft, by pre-requesting seats for them in the bulk head. I selected the seat numbers on the little floor plane that comes up.

floor plan!

So you an do it online if you have an infant on the booking and you have paid in full and you have a vendor/reference number for your flight on BA. Tar dar!

I sincerely wish you could actually check in online for your departing flight more than 24 hours before departure but it is not possible. I've tried!.

Anyway this is from BA's website:-

Online Check-in is available to passengers 24 hours before departure.
However, there are some exceptions and the following passengers will need to check in at the airport.
· groups with 10 passengers or more in the same booking
· passengers under the age of 16 who are travelling alone (unaccompanied minors)
· passengers requiring medical or special assistance at the airport
· passengers with fully open or unconfirmed tickets
· passengers waitlisted or travelling on standby

I?m travelling with an infant or child. Can I use Online Check-in?

Yes, you can. However, please be aware of the following:
· infants do not have a seat of their own, as they are associated to a specific adult within the booking and must be checked in at the same time as that adult
· we pre-assign the most appropriate seats where possible for adults with infants. Therefore, seat changes are limited due to the requirement for an additional oxygen mask
· infants need their own boarding pass for security reasons. Please ensure that you print a separate boarding pass for your infant

Would also add that this has happened when booking online direct with BA rather than through a travel agency (they can preassign seats).

AttilaTheMeerkat

I sincerely inform you that you can request adults seats that have skycots allocated to them, and to prove it, please look at my profile pic with a screen grab of the booking, taken today from the BA site.

The pic is of a seat allocation plan with the requested skycot for a Feb 09 flight. I am not making this up - as you can see I have gone to extreme lengths here to prove my point. Something that I usually can't be bothered to do.

Tickets are paid for in full, vendor/ref number given by the airline.

I suppose you just need my magic touch and an infant under 12 months on the booking!

We are travelling with BA - 2 adults, 1 child and 1 infant and could select where we sat including choosing a bassinet position from the time we made the booking. In Manage my Booking there is the option to select your seat - the aircraft seating plan will appear and you can select the seats you want. You can only select what is classed as a 'COT' position for the adult and infant who are linked together, but can also choose non 'COT' seats for the rest of your party.

Checking in Online can only be completed at T-24, and is generally available to most passengers. By this time you should (if you choose to) have selected your seats (providing you have an infant booked. It is not available otherwise).

I think some of the confusion may be re: seat selection and OLCI are two completely different things!!!!

Weight-wise your baby is safe in the bassinet, but it all comes down to what's available on the day. We've flown lots with the dc but always check in early (as well as on line) as they tend to reserve the bulkhead rows for people who need them more. And once on the plane, ask ask ask as early as you can. We sat next to a couple with a baby, but the staff only had one bassinet - and we got it. Filthy looks all through the flight, but not my fault...

And even if baby is in bassinet, you'll be asked to take it out if there's turbulance, or the seatbelt sign is on (so take off/ landing) - particularly annoying as the turbulance sends mine to sleep.

Another thing, might be a good idea for you OR your dh to order a special meal as they tend to get served before or after the main meal service, and one can eat while one holds dc.

Good luck

we flew long haul with ba in June and dd3 was 16 months old. we were given the seats with the space for the basinet, and no, she was not too big for it even at that age, she slept well in it and it sat up to feed her in. They even kindly supplied an extra meal as she wasn't entitled to one not having a seat of her own.

The only downside was on the return flight, someone booked the other side of our row so the family got split up - still got our space with the basinet though.

Thanks guys - very helpful!

we managed to book bulkhead seats when we flew BA at easter. we had our seats all lined up a good few weeks before departure (we were subsequently moved for a ridiculous reason, but then moved back again).

It is possible to reserve your seats ahead of time, but until check in (24 hours before departure) those seats are not secure.

you could be bumped for any number of reasons - top of which seems to be if gold executive card holder wants your seat !

If you do manage to reserve the seats you want, I advise checking regularly (every few days/once a week at least) to see you still have them. It was nearly disastrous for us - they moved my 3 year old disabled dd downstairs in business class, whilst leaving the rest of us upstairs . We got our seats reinstated, but it took a lot of fuss...

i think the weight limit for a baby in a bassinet is 10kgs - any more than that and they can collapse

DS didn't like the bassinet very much, but it was very useful to have it to pop bottles, rusks, magazines, duty free purchases in...

(whilst he happily sat on my lap)

Our ds was in a bassinet on a Singapore Airlines flight to New Zealand at 11 months. He was a big boy (24lbs at time of flight) and was fine in the bassinet. Although we were unlucky with turbulence on the flights and had to take him out of the bassinet frequently. On one of those flights there was a spare row of seats behind us, so we actually laid him across the seats, belted in, and he was able to sleep, undisturbed.