Flying with Singapore Airlines and an 11 month old? Help please!

[Qally]

We're thinking about taking advantage of the 2 for 1 Singapore offer and visiting my family in Australia. Only problem is, ds will only be a year, and that flight is an absolute killer even for adults. I'm thinking in terms of booking an airport hotel in Singapore to break the journey a bit and taking plenty of snacks/activities, but do Singapore have those sort of carseat type chairs on bulkheads, or is that just BA? If need be he can curl up and nap on our laps, but given how uncomfortable cattle class is at the best of times I was hoping he might be able to have his own seat as well.

Try this page

Oh, thank you! I'd not been able to find that. Laps it is, then. Oh well.

They don't go on laps on singapore. They have a bed like affair which they absoloutly love. Pillow, fleecy blanckets and lots of tlc from the Singapore airlines staff. The BA car seat things are pretty crap. The singapore beds are much softer.

You need to ring the office a few days in advance and check that you have a bulk head, as it is not compulsory to give you one.

Bulkhead seat with a bassinet is great if your child fits into it! We're heading to Perth late July and will be booking a seat for DS. He was almost out of the bassinet 2 months ago on our last trip so I can't see it fitting any longer.

lulalullabye, what Singapore airlines flight were you on? We came Amsterdam to Singapore to Brisbane last year with 17m ds and he was on our laps - far too big for the bulkhead bassinet (we did the same trip when he was 9m and he barely wedged into it then) - no pillows or fleecy blankets for us!

In fact, while the first lot of flight attendants were pretty good, the second leg lot assumed that ds was playing with my call-buzzer and kept switching it off without coming to see that we were trying to get some milk. Ended up having to use buzzer of person in seat next to me!

Ah, now I do agree that my 19th mth old at the time might have been a bit wee !!! But the staff were fab ! And the basinet did look really comfy and she slept well. It was the Manchester to Sg fligt. Sg to Melbourne not great !!

Ooooh, now that sounds fabulous - I was thinking it would be carrycot sized, like BA, and he'd never fit. Might spare us a hotel stopover if he can sleep properly. He'll be 11 months, so should fit if even a small 19 month old could.

My friend just did this trip with two little ones (with her hubby as well). She said the first bit of the journey (London-Singapore), both of them didn't sleep a wink and just as they were getting tired and about to fall asleep, they had to get off in Singapore! They had a couple of hours there and struggled to keep the DC awake but she said the good thing was they were knackered by the time they got on the next leg that they were completely knocked out for the Singapore-Brisbane journey! If I were to do that journey, I would just do the stopover for a few hours and go for it. You can rest at the other end. If you stopped and rested in Singapore, there's still another leg to go and you will all still be jetlagged at the end of it! Have fun! We are doing a long-haul with (then) 18-month-old DS in August for a holiday and NOT looking forward to it.

Angel - I've flown that route a lot (8 times - this will be 9th), as I studied out there as well as have family, and I find it far easier if you break the journey. JAL put you up as part of the ticket on the Aus -> Japan -> London route, and it's comparative bliss, but they're not offering a 2 for 1 on fares.

I hate not being able to lie down or even sit comfortably for a full 24 hours, and my dh is really tall, which makes it hell for him. I'd not usually be willing to fork out my own money, but with a baby, we probably will. It's 2 longhauls in rapid succession - the horror is immense.

Qally - I feel for you. I really do! I have family in Singapore and it gets so much harder with kids doesn't it? If you are going to break the journey up, the Singapore airport hotel is apparently really swish. It opened while I was there last... Because Orchard Road (the shopping heart of Singapore!) is only 30 minutes away in a cheap cab ride, they needed to do something different if they were going to open an airport hotel so they made it really luxurious.

Singapore Airport Hotel.

If you can, book the A380, their bassinet is definitely bigger (and newer!) than the 'normal' ones. I have many friends in Sydney (studied there) and would love to visit them but have difficulty thinking of the journey, I have to admit.

Or you can do a 'mini-break' in Singapore? If you do, try staying on Sentosa Island, it's great fun. Enjoy! Just think of the nice holiday you will have at the end of the journey...

Oh bless you for that; will try to grab an A380. A nice little bed for him will make all the difference to how he copes, I'm certain (plus Teletubbies on the laptop...) and that hotel looks wonderful.(can't believe the price is so low for that class, either).

Oh, and where did you study? I was at U-Syd d
for a year, as Professor Parkinson was supervising my master's.

Qally - Impressive! I was in Macquarie for my Bachelor and then did my Masters at UTS. A good friend of mine is contemplating coming from Sydney to London next April with her DD. Her DD will be almost 2, bless her! I hope she decides... It's so difficult as the thought of ANY longhaul with baby/toddler(s) is a complete nightmare (no two way about it, it's not as it can EVER be enjoyable...). But on the other hand, you can't decide to be stuck in one place just because of that. I think of celebrities who travel all over the world with their brood all the time and can't imagine having that lifestyle though I imagine money isn't an object does make all the difference (i.e nanny, flying first class etc). Enjoy! When are you think of going?

Please can you tell me more about this 2 for 1 offer?

Probably October - we can rent a unit in Noosa for 2 weeks then without overpowering heat, and it's not yet peak season. I want our own base as all family, all the time gets a bit much, even before we had a baby.

1Dilemma, Singapore are offering 2 flights for just under £800 to Brisbane - we last went a couple of years ago with JAL and it was almost that each! It's even less to Melbourne/NZ, and the same to Sydney & Perth, I think. STA are matching it, but with an unnamed carrier. Singapore is a fantastic airline, which is why I want to grab this while it's on offer - the airport is very well equipped and pleasant as well.

Both offers end on the 30th of this month though, so only a couple more days if you want to book.

By the way - kids don't get another big teething bout at 11 months, do they? I am dead with the 6-8 month ones. That on a plane might finish me off altogether.

That is a bargain on a very good airline!
Thanks for that

LOL Qally (at the teething comment!). DS has always teeth badly but I do find that the older he gets, the 'better' he is at it (as in he will run a temp, wake on and off through the first part of the night and then usually sleeps through the latter half as opposed to just screaming as and when!). Every time I do long haul, I try to think of the times in blocks of 30 minutes and count down that way. Sometimes it's the only way to survive...