[Cath18]

I've just booked tickets with Singapore Airlines to take my baby home to see his UK family next April. He'll be 6.5 months when we fly and I'm taking him by myself so want to make the journey as stress-free as possible. Going through the online booking process with SA, on the flights I've booked there's currently a choice of bassinet seats I can take so I was wondering if people that have done the journey before could advise where the best place to be is? The choices seem to be either one of the aisle seats in the central section bulkhead - is there a risk of having a disgruntled single person in the seat next to me wanting to get in and out? - or in the bulkhead window seats - therefore making it more difficult for me to get in and out if they put two people in the centre and aisle... The seatguru.com's of the world judge these seats from the point of view of someone travelling without an infant so I can't find any advice on what the best option is in this situation.

I'm thinking I need be able to get up and down to the toilets for changing etc. with as much as ease as possible but if bubs is sleeping don't want to be disturbing him for other passengers to get by etc.
Any advice/thoughts from those with experience would be welcome :)

[PeteS]

I've just booked tickets with Singapore Airlines to take my baby home to see his UK family next April. He'll be 6.5 months when we fly and I'm taking him by myself so want to make the journey as stress-free as possible. Going through the online booking process with SA, on the flights I've booked there's currently a choice of bassinet seats I can take so I was wondering if people that have done the journey before could advise where the best place to be is? The choices seem to be either one of the aisle seats in the central section bulkhead - is there a risk of having a disgruntled single person in the seat next to me wanting to get in and out? - or in the bulkhead window seats - therefore making it more difficult for me to get in and out if they put two people in the centre and aisle... The seatguru.com's of the world judge these seats from the point of view of someone travelling without an infant so I can't find any advice on what the best option is in this situation.

I'm thinking I need be able to get up and down to the toilets for changing etc. with as much as ease as possible but if bubs is sleeping don't want to be disturbing him for other passengers to get by etc.
Any advice/thoughts from those with experience would be welcome :)

My experience is as someone who has spent many hours on long haul listening to other peoples babies crying, could I suggest a wing seat?

I guess the reality is that if you have to fly, you have to fly, but if you occupy the end seat of a row, you WILL be disturbed.

[jubjub]

They will prob have you in the aisle seat as thats where the bassinet positions are nearest to. If there are any spare seats on the plane, you probably wont get a lone traveller next to you.... its actually quite hard to squeeze past the bassinet from the inner seat, and only really possible from the aisle seat.

Make sure you check, confirm and double check again that you have that seat you need with the bassinet, in case some dork reassigns it by mistake....

Good luck...

[StevieD]

IF you can get it (aircraft dependant of course) get the one nearest the emergency exit,it is by far the easiest one to sort the child out and get in/out yourself, wish you luck, not the easiest thing in the world travelling on a plane with infants!!

[nippa&pippa]

I found it easier to use middle part of plane (aisle?) seats, because other passengers in your row can get out other end of aisle seat away from you as you may likely (or ask for it) to have end of row seat for easy to get out with baby, especially to take a baby for walk around the plane etc :nice1

[JandL]

If you are travelling alone with a child, they wont let you sit next to an emergency exit as you have to be able to open the door, I've not seen any bassinet next to any either, only at the bulkheads.
While travelling to NY, even though we had booked a bassinet we did not get one as only 2 were available on our plane type, in the middle, none on the sides. On the way back we did get one and there was space (for a plane that is) even with the bassinet installed to move around, but if you are sitting in the middle you will have to ask to get out.
If you sit on the end then people have to ask you to move and you get the ability to get things out of your bags overhead (nappies, bibs, toys etc) without having to ask every 5 mins for your neighbour to move out. It means more hassle for you, but as you have a baby anyway it wont add anything to your hassles :). Chances are you will be sitting next to a group of 3 in the centre of the plane and they will all know each other and also have a baby in a bassinet.

[melly]

I would choose the one of the aisle seats in the central section - same reasons as Sophia. Also unless the plane in packed they will most likely block off the seat next to you (ie. it will be free for you to use), as the usually you will find the other bassinet will be being used by a couple travelling together and the airlines don't seem to stick a single person in the spare seat (stuck between the bassinets) in that situation.

[rubyray]

Hi

Choose an aisle seat in the bulkhead so you are right in front of the bassinet for your child and you can get in and out, the people next to you may have a baby also or if they don't they can easily walk around to get to their seats without disturbing you - what I would say is to keep essentials for baby in a smallish bag that you can stow under your seat - not sure what time you are flying or how well your baby sleeps but we found that our son slept very well in the bassinet once he was fed - which I did on take off (not sure if you are nursing him but whichever it will help his ears with the pressure to do this) - basically you have as much right as everyone else to fly so just ignore any disgruntled murmurings - we travelled all around the world with our son before he was 2yrs old and we are emigrating to NZ next week and he'll be 3 soon - so good luck - be prepared and enjoy your adventure - Rx

[melly]

what I would say is to keep essentials for baby in a smallish bag that you can stow under your seat

You're not actually allowed to stow anything under you seat in bulkhead row (there actually isn't any room as this is where your life jacked is stored I think),so you only can keep things in the little magazine holder for takeoff and landing. But I have found the air hostesses very helpful with frequently offering to get stuff down out of overhead locker for me, so I didn't have to get up all the time.

[Cath18]

Thanks everybody for your comments - have now changed my seats so they're all centre aisle seats with the bassinet :) I'm sure it's going to be a tough test of my parental abilities but there's plenty of good advice and tips on here about travelling with littl'uns so I'm sure I'll be reading and re-reading those until I can quote them backwards!! TBH bubs is pretty good at the moment for sleeping and is quite a placid baby when he's awake so hopefully I can keep him happy so as not to upset my fellow passengers - I've certainly done the longhaul with other people's screaming children but that's one of the joys/pitfalls of this emigrating business. I don't think his UK grandparents would be happy if they didn't see him until he was ten and could rationalize dealing with a 30 hour journey ;)

[StevieD]

Duh, my error, I meant the seats by the bulkhead near the side of the aircraft, went in to auto mode coz thinking of emergency doors at side!!

Lady travelled from Auck- Singapore next to me, I stuck on aisle seat as I had to have the legroom after my operation, but it was easy for her to get past as there was plenty of room.... sorry for the gaffe!

[JandL]

Another wonderful and weird fact about flying with babies, on some flights you can not have 2 or more babies (those on laps) in the same row as they can not sort out enough oxygen mask for them. I have no idea what you do if you try to fly with twins on your own.
I had to sit at the other end of the plane with my son, with my wife at the other with my daughter. Strange thing was we were booked in next to each other and then moved while on board and were moaned at by other passengers for making them move!

[nippa&pippa]

Another wonderful and weird fact about flying with babies, on some flights you can not have 2 or more babies (those on laps) in the same row as they can not sort out enough oxygen mask for them. I have no idea what you do if you try to fly with twins on your own.
I had to sit at the other end of the plane with my son, with my wife at the other with my daughter. Strange thing was we were booked in next to each other and then moved while on board and were moaned at by other passengers for making them move!

That is odd because I have been on few flights where they have two bassinet per bulkhead, even I sat next to a mother with a baby while I got a baby myself on same row (that with Emirates) So if anyone travelling with two babies per row, check with airlines' policy before book.

[spudulike]

I flew with SA with a 18 month old and an 8 week old.We had a seat at the side of the plane with bassinet. I think they only go in bulkhead seats as that's where there is enough room. They tend to sit people with children together due to the noise levels (which can be a bit of a pain when your little ones are sleeping!) so you shouldn't get a single, childless person near you.

To be honest, the legroom is great but you miss out on the movies etc as the tv won't lift into place with the bassinet in the way and I found I was forever having to take my baby out due to turbulance etc. You'll just need to take a good book :)

L :)

[JandL]

I think at the front/bulkhead maybe it is OK, we had 3 seats on the side and were moved, asked about 4 seats in the middle and told not allowed either. *shrug*

[dharder]

Another wonderful and weird fact about flying with babies, on some flights you can not have 2 or more babies (those on laps) in the same row as they can not sort out enough oxygen mask for them. I have no idea what you do if you try to fly with twins on your own.

You don't really want to fly on your own with two under 2s :)

This only applies for normal seat rows, which only have one spare oxygen masks per row, the bulk with bassinets is of course different.

Daniela

[talisker]

The main thing is not to worry about it too much, because Singapore Airlines are absolutely amazing when travelling with kids. There's a lot of things that cango wrong when flying with kids - e.g. not being allowed to take buggies to the gate, not getting the bassinet that you thought you'd booked etc, but in my experience Singapore Airlines are the only one where all of this stuff just works flawlessly. More importantly, the cabin crew are incredibly helpful - it actually got embarassing on our trip with our kids, we almost had to make up things for them to help us with, as they kept coming to ask so often!

[JandM]

Our son and daughter-in-law brought our grandson on a visit to the UK when he was about to be one, flying Air NZ, and said they had brilliant and kindly service throughout.

[Pip]

only just seen this, but having flown alone to the UK and back with a baby on singapore airlines a couple of months ago (six weeks out and three months old when we flew back) - I would def say aisle bassinet seats (in the middle bit of the plane with four seats), so am pleased to see you've changed your seats already!

the bassinets next to the windows at each side of the plane, are literally next to the window and you can't get out past the bassinet as there is not enough room and then you have two additional passengers to climb over.

When you sit in the seats in the middle of the plane, the bassinets are on each end of the centre row. Basically in terms of available bassinet seats there are two bassinets on the centre row block and one in each of the window rows.

(this happens at the front of each section, so there are normally 2-3 lots per plane - I think 4 lots on the A380!)

be warned, bassinets are not all they are cracked up to be as you have to remove baby whenever the seatlight belt comes on, so most people I know found it easier to have their baby sleep on them for a lot of the time, but it gives you loads of extra space for keeping bottles/nappies/toys etc close to hand - or even to use as a temporary change table.

Hope that helps.. either way I'm sure you'll be fine! Good luck

[sunnyb]

Hi, we just flew Air NZ with a 6 month old and the bassinet had material that secured over part of the top so we didn't have to move him when the fasten seatbelt signs came on. Hopefully SA will have something similar. We had some crying and the passengers around tried to entertain him - didn't find anyone grumbling about a baby so really don't worry. Our son slept loads because of the motion and when we wanted to entertain him, we went to the cabin crews area and found other babies there to.

I'm sure you'll find everyone really helpful, but check in early to make sure you get the seats you reserved.

Hope you have a good flight
B

[doowrehsij]

Yeah, we just all got back from new york... as far as I can see, they reserve the bulkhead seats and assign to customers with babies when they check in.

All passengers and crew were really pleasant... I think when a baby cries, it's a case for been there done that for many people!