10-hr flight alone with baby - help!

[Brp7]

Hi all! I’ll be taking a 10-hr flight alone with my 10 month old next month, and I am so, sooooo nervous about it.

Predicament as follows (and bear with me, it’s a bit involved!):

We’re flying BA and have booked a bulkhead with the infant seat / bassinet in front of it, but I’m worried about that seat for several reasons: Baby’s too big for the bassinet, so it will be one of those bouncer-type seats he’ll be in. Not sure he’s going to sleep in it, although I’m hoping it’ll help that it’s a night flight and we’ve booked one away from the galley and toilets. Additionally, he’s quite tall, which could make sleeping on me / breastfeeding a challenge as the armrests are fixed in those seats, so there’s no room to spread out or stretch his legs. This might also be a problem when he's not in his seat / sleeping, as the trays come out of the armrests, which probably means there's no room to have him on my lap and have toys/ food on the table.

I was considering paying to book him his own seat, but I’d need to carry a car seat for him to sit in as he's too little to use one of their harnesses, and they have very specific guidelines for which car seats are allowed (front-facing, certain measurements, etc) so I'd have to buy a specific BA-approved one. I might’ve gone for this option anyway, except it means I’d have to lug the car seat, plus our stroller (its a fully collapsible one that’ll fit in the overhead) plus baby through the airport/security, which seems impossible given it’s just me!

(PS: If anyone’s taken a car seat onboard BA, it would be really useful to know which brand/make exactly was permitted as there’s no specific info on this)

Does anyone have any first-hand experience/ info I’m missing that might make any of the two options more workable for us?😭
TIA!!

If you buy him a seat but don't take a car seat, you will just have to have him on your lap when the seatbelt signs are on - that's what the EASA rule is for all airlines. But then you'll have the use of the second seat for extra space, comfort etc when the seatbelt signs are off.

Probably the best bet if you did want to take a car seat is Joie Tilt, Joie Steadi, Graco Extend or Britax Eclipse. These belt fit in and the Eclipse even has the specific plane approval, though you can only buy it second hand now.

The Joie/Graco ones apparently fit within plane seat dimensions and you can physically fit them with a lap belt, though this is not an approved fitting. The problem is that there are no seats which do have an approved fitting. The benefit of these is that they also rear face so you can use it in a car too.

If you do want to take a car seat, they can be quite confused by this as it is not commonly done and you might have people assuming you want to check it in and trying to helpfully take it off you at various times.

If you're flying to the US they have loads of car seats which are approved for air travel so it might be worth winging it on the way there and getting a seat to bring back for future use.

I'd keep the bulkhead seat and bassinet, as even if he can't sleep in it you can use it as a little playpen, and you have some floor space in front of you for him to cruise about in.

Make sure you pack light and have a sling or carrier. The bit I struggled most with when flying with babies was having too much stuff and not having it streamlined. I've done 7 or 8 solo trips to and from Australia (from the UK) with little babies and got it down to a fine art in the end. Things like having outfits packed into separate ziplock bags helps enormously, so you can grab a change of clothes and put the dirty one right back in the sealed bag.

I regularly flew with babies for 24 hour journeys and at that age I bought them a seat, anything older than six months. I took a car seat on and from memory it was a Britax, it was the cheapest one that actually fit the plane sest and had lap belt hooks. That was more than ten years ago though so not sure if that seat is still made but I wouldn't have been without the car seat on board even though it's a mission to cart it. I still did it when I had another one with an older toddler doing the 24 hours alone.

@BertieBotts thanks so much for your message! Good shout with the extra seat/without car seat option- if I can move from the bulkhead and buy him an extra one without having to pay a hefty fee for changing. I’ll look into it!

and yes, no Britax Eclipses in stock anywhere for some reason! And I assume they wouldn’t let me use the other ones anyway if they’re not approved. Still leaves the problem of how to cart it through the airport :/

@Disco123456 Yeah I believe the Britax Eclipse is airline-approved, but it’s out of stock everywhere. It’s sooo bulky though! How did you cart it through the airport with all your other stuff?

We had a great trolley that the car seat fitted to - it was called a go-go babyz - and we put the baby in it and pushed them through the airport like that - add a rucksack for your stuff and you still have your hands free and have the car seat to take on Board and check the pushchair in. Take lots of snacks, a change of clothes and as little else as possible! I've done it lots - it's hard in the moment but if you have somewhere to strap on baby while you go to the loo or eat your dinner it does really help!! Also definitely a sling cos you can go to the loo with them on you if you really have to. It's hard but it's only 10 hours then it's done! You don't have to be mum if the year - just do whatever you have to to get through it!

Done this a few times alone or with help with various combinations of baby and toddlers and kids. It’s not particularly fun, but one adult and one baby you will be ok.

when DS was about 15 months I took him with a car seat on the plane. I had a thing I bought on Amazon which was like a fold up caddy that you strapped the car seat too. You could then push it like a buggy with the child strapped into it. Then it folded into the overhead locker for the flight. It was a bit of a pain though to mange attaching and detaching it by myself with toddler too. I flew from the US so we got the smallest approved seat possible.

Pack as light as you possibly can. You will need at some point to carry it all plus your child. And as organised as you can, so you can find things. Lots of ziplock bags.

I found a baby carrier to be invaluable so you can be hands free. take spare clothes for yourself as well as extra spares for baby and extra nappies, food etc.

Baby will probably sleep on your lap. You probably won’t be able to eat the meal etc, but you just do what you need to do to get through.

And yes like someone mentioned above, pack for example for the plane a couple of little bags (like a ziplock) with a nappy, wipes, and a spare outfit in the one bag. I don’t know what planes do to babies, but they go through nappies like mental. Then you can just grab that one ziplock to take to the tiny plane toilet and not your whole bag. Plus the gross clothes are then contained in a waterproof bag!

Keep the bulkhead seat even if you don't use it as it is much more space. My kid hated the bulkhead but the space on the floor was great for her to be able to stand up, bounce etc. If you can afford to buy two seats do it as it was a life saver when i did it.

You don't need to use the equipment for the bulkhead so if you think your kid is too big for it, just say no thanks and then use the space! My kid has flown loads of time since she was a young baby and we never had any trouble. I always say other passengers are more trouble than babies - babies can't listen to devices without headphones!

I always requested special assistance from from the airlines. They deliver you from check in to aircraft door, or they used to anyway. We always got rides on those buggies. I think I may also have had a light bag type cover thing that had wheels. It wasn't easy but it's absolutely possible. I did probably 20 long hauls until my youngest didn't fit in it anymore.

Depending on where you're flying to, could you take someone with you for the flight? Eg offer a free return flight to a student in return for them helping with your baby in the airport and on the plane. One of my friends did this when flying from Australia to the UK and back. She said it was a Godsend.

You probably won’t be able to eat the meal etc, but you just do what you need to do to get through.

I did long haul on my own a couple of times when my eldest was a baby and then a toddler, and though it was not exactly pleasant, I found the air stewardesses and also other passengers so kind and helpful, and that really got me through it. Lots of people offered to hold DD so I could eat my meal or go to the loo. Plenty also offered to help with bags, or putting up the buggy etc. I was shattered afterwards, but it's do-able.

Great idea!