Thanks for sharing your experience MickV. It sounds fairly similar to our experience from 2014 (
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...ly-irrops.html ), without the overnight delay.
I'm glad to hear the experience was mostly great. My general approach when I'm told no (such as being served food in a staggered way) would be to offer a solution that still works within what they have such, such as, "well, can you just serve me first and my wife last, that should give us enough time to eat". Or with the knowledge that others have had this happen, I'd probably have suggested that it was possible on your previous flight, and wondering if policy had changed, and reminding them how difficult it is for you to eat at the same time as holding the baby. That said, on our first flight of the trip, our son was breastfeeding at the time I made the polite request, so I don't think they were interested in persuading us otherwise!
From my perspective, BA cabin crew are at their best when you're traveling in CW or F with kids and/or a baby. Our son is almost 2 now, and at this age, we're going to wait until he's at least 3 before doing another longhaul with him. When they are under 9 months, they're not very mobile, but after that they really want to move around more than you really can on a long flight.