Hi All

Our family (me, wife, 5 y.o. boy and 4 month old baby) are taking some flights next week and I need some advice.

First, the flights (in case it is relevant to your answers):
Apr 23 AirFrance Moscow -> Paris -> Miami
May 2 Delta Orlando ->Atlanta-> Toronto
May 7 BA Toronto -> London
May 9 BA London -> Moscow
On all flights we have 3 seats booked and the baby will be in-lap.

We have an umbrella stroller and a Peg Perego system (a chassis onto which attaches either a car-seat or a bassinette that can also convert to stroller). We are not sure which one to take and/or check. The chassis for the Peg perego does fold down, but it is still much larger than a typical umbrella stroller. We also have "bjorn" style baby-carrier.

Now the questions:

- I understand there will be no bassinette for the Moscow-Paris portion as it is not considered "long-haul". Should we try to take the car seat on the airplane, in case there is an extra seat available so the baby can sleep comfortably? If there is extra no seat available, what do they do with the car seat? Will they put it in the hold?

- On this Moscow->Paris portion I am really afraid of having to check anything at the door of the aircraft and waiting for it in Paris as we have only 1.5 hours between flights and for CDG this is not too much. Does anybody know how quickly items checked at the door are returned after landing? (and is it possible they could tell us we will get it back only at baggage claim and not at the door?) If it does seem like it would take too much time, I am thinking we would baggage-check the whole Peg Perego chassis/stroller through to Miami and take just the car-seat (or, if in answer to the question above, we are advised not to bring the car seat, then maybe just use the umbrella stroller or the bjorn).

- AF have also told us that there is no way to get assigned seats in the bulkhead where there will be a bassinette for the Paris->Miami portion. They say it is not possible for economy tickets, but not to worry because I will be automatically assigned this row on check-in (whether they can do this in Moscow, or it should be done in Paris is not clear to me). Can anybody confirm if this is correct? (I am worried about arriving late in Paris and finding out that they gave away all bulkhead/bassinette rows).

- We are worried about making sure the baby is comfortable on the plane (and not crying or annoying other passengers). We already understand it is good to feed the baby during take-off and landing since the sucking will help him to equalize pressure. I have read a few other threads where parents suggested giving a small dose of a baby decongestant to help the baby sleep (and equalize pressure more easily). We are hesitant to unnecessarily medicate the baby, but also understand that a good long sleep on the airplane is probably better for everybody. What is the experience of other FTers? Is it reasonable to do this? Other than decongestant, is there something better to use? (My wife thinks that maybe Valerian tea would be a good, and I read in another thread a recommendation to use Dramamine).

Thanks everybody. I've flown many times, but this is my first flight where I'm taking a small baby, so I want to plan it carefully.

Ron