U.K. and Ireland - LHR T1 Border Force planning

First post here!
Did some searching and couldn't see any answers to this already.
I'm a Brit, the wife and 2 1/2 yr old lad are both US citizens.
We arrive on UA 922 IAD to LHR arriving hopefullly at 9:30 ish pm on 4th July for a two-week trip.

How should we plan for T1 Border Force?
My thinking:
Bring the stroller/pram. The lad will be antsy. The wait could be long
Should we
1. all go through the Non-EU line and be patient
2. Try the UK line bc it could be shorter, and they are MY immediate relatives.

Links, ideas and advice all welcome.

Welcome to Flyertalk!

This question has been asked before (possibly on one of the Travel Security boards rather than here in "UK and Ireland"), and while there seemed to be a certain amount of dissent I recall that those who had actually travelled with non-EU spouses and/or children reported being allowed to go through the EU channel as a family.

There is no law in the UK that stipulates that non-EU passport holders MUST go through a separate channel. Having separate queues is just a system that Immigration authorities at most airports have decided to adopt (some - smaller - airports operate a single queue).

You can go through the UK/EU line so long as the foreigners amongst you have filled in the landing card. Done it zillions of times. As for the stroller, yes - on the basis that UA flights are usually on a stand that is as far away as possible as it is to get from passport control.

Welcome to FT, chrisvonsimson!

There's a thread in this forum which you may find useful.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/u-k-ireland/1189558-noncitizen-spouse-able-use-eu-line-husband-heathrow.html

I haven't used T1 that often, but sometimes (at least in T3) they will bring you to the front if they see you have a small kid.

You should use the line which is shorter. The non-EU queue has always been empty when I arrived in T1, BUT I was coming from the EU and probably the only non-EU passenger.. not the case when you are flying UA.

btw, if you were born in the UK, then you can get a British passport for your kid.

OP back to thank you all. Some excellent advice, links, and guidance. I'll post a follow-up once we are done with it.
We shall try the "everyone through the EU line" approach first...

Welcome to the FT boards, chrisvonsimson!

By all means try the EU/EEA queue, but ask the queue "moderator" first – apart from anything else, the length of both queues on some occasions recently could make it particularly irritating if you had to start again in the other line.

From experience, if the boy starts to cry or be difficult, let him – you are likely to get an official coming along to shunt you to the front or the queue quite quickly!

As a separate point, is the boy yours (if I may ask)? If so, and you're a British citizen otherwise than by descent (i.e. born in the UK or naturalised, basically), is he not a British citizen (and so eligible for a British passport) as well as a US citizen?