Flying with a baby to Australia - some more info!

Technically, I am not sure Alex is still a 'baby', as she is approaching the 'toddler' stage, but as she still counts as an infant for a plane fare, and fits into a bassinet, then baby she is for this purpose!

We flew Singapore Airlines for this last trip (to Adelaide, and returning from Melbourne), and while I have said it before, I will say it again... Singapore Airlines are brilliant with infants and children.

Alex sporting one of her Singapore Airlines freebies, and asleep, which was pretty good too!

We got on board first, and were greeted with a fantastic smile and a bag of goodies - practical goodies that is - nappies, wipes, a great bib (keeping those!), and we also got given (later) a little toy. We were treated like special guests, and asked if we needed anything all through the flight. The lead flight attendant on one of the flights even made a point of learning Alex's name as soon as we got on and kept calling her by name throughout the flight (I am sucker for things like that!). Andy and I were offered the option of having our meals at different times (we bravely said we would have Alex asleep by dinner and we did manage it - for that meal anyway!).

The bassinets on Singapore Airlines were plenty big enough for Alex (who is 14 months now - almost 15 months), and there were other bigger 'babies' on the flight who were happily in their bassinets sleeping. The weight maximum shown on the bassinets was 16kgs, which is a lot more than other airlines advertise (so if you are taking a toddler to Australia, Singapore airlines are your best bet).

To make the bassinet more comfy, Singapore Airlines have very cute fleecy blankets (with a teddy face on them - aw) that they put in. But I remember from when we flew Emirates they just put in a paper type bottom sheet. We make sure we have plenty of muslins, or a sarong, to put in there, and then a small blanket to cover Alex up with.

It can get quite cold in the cabin on the flights, so we had some layers for Alex to wear (including sleeping in a cardigan on one flight!).

Alex effortlessly demonstrates the comfort afforded by the Singapore Airlines bassinet

Now I have mentioned before, but when the fasten seat-belt sign comes on for turbulence, you are supposed to take babies out of their bassinets and have them on your lap with their special seat-belt on. To do this comfortably, it's handy to have a small pillow with you, or put a folded-up blanket over the armrest and have them rest on that (saves your arm going dead!). We bought a nifty little scrunch up travel pillow for this (from an 'outdoor'/camping shop).

Alex did eat some of the food we had on the plane (perfect little baby-sized servings of cheese with every dinner always a hit!), but we were offered jars of baby food as well. We had packed our own pots of food too - and be very up front at security at the airports that you have these. You are OK to carry enough food and drink for the journey, but you must declare it. That said, there was not a bad selection of baby food at the Boots in Terminal 3 at Heathrow (mostly organic), and cartons (Cow and Gate) and bottles (Hipp for toddlers) of formula to buy. We used these prepared formula servings, as it saved us messing about too much. We also took a few pre-sterilised throwaway bottles for the journey too, on top of our own bottles (Boots sell these - but get them before you go).

Do not forget that if you still have some baby food in your bag and formula with you, then you MUST tick the box on your immigration/customs form for Australia on arrival to say you have food items. This isn't a problem (no fresh fruit and veg though), and you may have to show the items to customs, but they are allowed - provided you declare them. If you don't declare the items, you are likely to be fined. Not a good start to your holiday! Our Organix pots and Plum baby tubs made it through just fine, and the rice cakes were good to come in too.

Alex at Singapore's Terminal 3, keeping an eye out in case our plane leaves without us...

You can of course buy lots of baby products in Australia and any supermarket or pharmacy will have a good selection of food, nappies etc. One thing we did do this time (and may be worth it if you have a fussy small person) is to bring your own formula. There aren't many of the same brands available here (although they are all fine am sure and Alex tested a few on our last trip) but if you prefer then bring your own. Alex is a Hipp organic milk baby and we brought her supplies with us! As long as you declare your formula you are fine.

And one last thing that I loved about Singapore Airlines... you get your buggy back for your transit in Singapore! Result! Other airlines tend to check your buggy all the way through to your destination, which means some serious arm-strain as you have to then carry your small person with you around the airport when you make a connection. Some airports do offer complimentary buggies (e.g. there are Emirates buggies in Dubai airport), but these are on a first come first served basis, which of course can mean no buggy. We picked our buggy up from just a few steps after we got off the airplane in Singapore. Literally halfway up the 'arm' to the terminal it was there waiting for us. Alex had a lovely push around the new posh Terminal 3 in that (and left mummy with free hands to do shopping with!).

And one last tip... if you can, try and take 'night flights' to travel on. Having the cabin lights out for the majority of the journey was ideal for small people sleeping their way to Australia... zzz...