Chalky White

My wife and I are taking our 18 month old with us to Paris (infant in arms). We're both in BE on Delta, on a 763 (both ways).

I know that we are on thin ice, taking a baby in BE with us TATL. That's why I'm here asking advice:

What seats should we get to minimally disrupt our fellow passengers?
Can the baby sleep with us in one of our lie-flats?
Is there a bassinet option? If so, 1) would he fit in it, 2) how do I go about requesting it? 3) where is the bassinet located in BE (I assume the bulkhead).

He's a pretty laid back kid, doesn't cry or fuss on planes, but this is his first transoceanic flight and we are just wanting to make it as easy on him, ourselves, and our fellow passengers, as possible. Thanks.

arkangel

I don't know about the baby sleeping in one of your lie-flats, but I believe a bassinet option is available in the bulkhead middle section. I think you have to request it in advance.

kop84

18 months could be too large for the bassinet seats. I think its a max 20lbs and 26 inches long. I think they are more designed for infants as opposed to toddlers.

InVinoVeritas2012

The use / location of bassonettes varies by plane. A good agent can look it up. We took our first child across the Atlantic several times between age 6 months and 4 years whilst I was working often in Europe. We always made sure he was gassed (as in exhausted, not in the anesthetic sense) prior to boarding, thus ensuring much sleep. I agree with someone who stated that an 18 month old may be pushing it size-wise for a bassonette. We typically just had him sleep next to or on top of us, believe it or not...

DavidAL

Yeah, bassinet I don't think will fly w/ an 18-month old. I typically get row 9 when traveling w/ my family just to minimize disruptions, and usually on the 763 ER there's a galley/bathroom right behind row 9 so easy to get up and down w/out disturbing people. As for sleeping w/ you, they most certainly can, as long as the seat belt is over both of you, but it's a tight fit in the 763 seats, but doable.

Don't worry about treading on thin ice. This is a rule that you can utilize (flying w/ an infant in arms in BE), and you should not apologize for following the rules.

Chalky White

Thanks for all the responses.

Can anyone point me to anything on Delta.com as to size/weight limits on the bassinet?

dd1612

https://www.delta.com/content/www/en...children.html#

If you do not find anything about bassinets, please call DL Customer Service to ask the questions and get the answers.

IIRC: There are weight and length restrictions for an infant in a bassinet.
Whether an infant can sleep with the adult in a lie flat seat, you will have to ask the Customer Service line.

roknroll

We flew SFO-JFK-LHR then DUB-JFK-SFO last summer with our son who was 20 months and it went well. The BE seats on the 757 were actually nice, because there is sooo much room between the seats for him to stand or sit down on.

For the 767, it also worked well but the seats are a little narrow. When fully flat, it's nice because he was trapped in and fairly secure. I could just barely sleep next to him and it was a very tight fit, but he's very big for his age (95% weight/height). We had the 2 seats together down the middle (wife and I), not the ones by the window.

One thing that I found worked well when he was sleeping and I couldn't sleep, was for me to lay the bed completely flat and he slept up towards the head. I could straddle the seat with one foot in the aisle and other foot next to my wife's seat. That let me just sit and watch a movie, have a snack, glass of wine, etc.

Meals were tricky, we couldn't just have the tray set in front of him because he'd grab it all. So we had the FA put both my wife and my meal on a single tray which we put on one person's tray table. One person would hold the baby and eat with one hand. The other would have the food and cut pieces for the first parent so they could eat one handed. Seemed to work quite well actually.

The bassinet will likely be way too small for your child. We went to BCN on Air France the year before when our son was 11 months old and he was right at the weight limit (I think 22 lbs), and he barely fit in it. He didn't really sleep there because anytime he'd move he would bump his head or the walls and wake up.

Make sure to bring multiple changes of clothes and a few gallon zip lock bags to store soiled clothes. We also got a nice pair of childrens over ear soft headphones so that he could watch the IFE when awake. make sure to spend a few weeks beforehand practicing so they get used to the feelign of headphones.

Andrito

First and foremost, I don't think you need to be worried AT ALL about being on thin ice by taking a baby in BE. Frankly, if I do have one pet-peeve about business travelers is that I have seen some "oh, great. there's a baby in my mecca" looks when I flew with my son when he was much younger. I especially found it comical, considering that it is typically the corporate guys that are the most annoyed while having paid $0.00 for their "privilege" to sit up front. If such people want total privacy and guaranteed no baby policy - let them fly private.

With that said, my wife and I took the precautions which have already been listed in this thread to minimize disturbing people - sitting in the last row, maybe skip the daytime nap to have him more tired and be proactive(walk in the galley, my son was actually super interested in the lavatories, stuff like that) if you see that he is about to get fussy. Just don't be on pins and needles if he cries a bit because thats what kids do sometimes when they are in a new surrounding. Despite the grunts and the groans, everyone will survive that trip if a baby cries a few times.

Enjoy your trip.

Dovster

I generally find that babies cry before take off (I have no idea of why) and -- if they have ear problems -- during landings.

They tend to be quiet during most of the flight.

Bicostal

Do it like you would in the car. Oh, wait, that would put him in a car seat.

Never mind.

dd1612

The air pressurization (on take off in particular and also on landing) causes pain in the area around the ears.
Solution we found was to have the child suck on a lolipop/ candy or drink milk or juice from a bottle or eat some snack so that there is jaw movement and this reduces the ear pain issue.
The other potential challenge is if the infant has an upper respiratory system problem with blocked sinuses etc this can be very painful. Get the medications from the pediatrician before one travels.

Respectfully Disagree with your statement. Corporate guys/ ladies have to work on arrival at their destination, that is why the company pays big bucks for their BE seats.

Having been a corporate guy, with extensive global travel, every time we had a meeting in Europe that started in the afternoon or early evening, we were booked on the 3 pm departure to Europe. We were booked on the late night departure to Europe only if our meetings were the day after arrival. So basically one arrived at one's destination in Europe sometime in the evening, with enough time to have dinner, catch up on work, and get to bed.

It is different when traveling on vacation, and have traveled in Business Class with my boys when they were young, between 5-14 years of age, without challenges.

OP: Enjoy your trip!

Andrito

I think everyone deserves their rest on a flight and parents should be considerate in that regard. However, I feel like a disproportionate amount of people up front, compared to travelers in Y, give judgmental/disapproving looks to travelers with small kids. I am not just basing this on my experience, of traveling with my son, but since my son was born, I have been more attentive to such things.

That always irks me the wrong way, as I feel like there is a sense of over-entitlement with such people, given the irony that the child's ticket is probably paid for the family and the corporate individual has a zero cost experience. It kind of goes to the people that love the phrase "wfbf" when they don't actually "b" anything, it is "b" for them.

To your point though, business travelers aren't just up front. Everyone has something to do and somewhere to go and everyone gets inconvenienced by a crying child. The reality of it though is that the child does as well and that is why he/she is on that flight. So if his/her parents are able to afford that child a more comfortable flight, I expect people to deal with such inconveniences with a little more class. No need for eyerolls and the huffing and the puffing.

I obviously don't want to generalize too much as these people are a minority. However, they do exist and I was just telling the OP to ignore them, if he has that experience, as traveling with an 18-month-old is quite difficult as it is, especially on longer flights.

Chalky White

Everyone, thanks so much for the advice.

Spiff

Did you already let Delta know you've got an infant traveling with you? They will likely assess a fare of 10% of your flown cabin. It may be cheaper to pay in advance.