Heathrow Terminal 5

If you are flying British Airways from London Heathrow, it is likely you will use Terminal 5.
This new-ish cavernous, light filled building provides a welcome change to some of its smaller, depressing neighbours.

ACCESS BY CAR
I was lucky enough to have a parental chauffeur and parking is plentiful.  There are designated parent & child spaces near the lifts.

CHECK IN
If you are travelling with an infant, you can't check in online.  Despite numerous check in desks, most of them are marked 'Bag Drop'.  You need to head to 'Assistance'.

SECURITY
If you look fraught/sad/needy enough they should usher you through to a Family Lane.  Make sure you remove any unnecessary liquids as they could bin your Aptamil/food pouches if you're unlucky

SHOPS & DINING
We had a relaxed and delicious dining experience at Giraffe open 0500 to 2130.  Friendly staff with a great Kids Menu.
If your kids are behaving, there are some great shops at T5, for list see here http://www.heathrowairport.com/shop,-eat,-relax-and-enjoy/shops-a_z

PLAY AREAS
I didn't get the chance to explore these (too busy buying vodka) but apparently there are softplay areas located in the departures concourse, after passport control.

Allow yourself plenty of time to get to your gate as some require a link via transit train

Product Review: Morrck Baby Hoodie

Wouldn't you love to have a travel blanket that your baby can't kick off and a hat that they can't remove?  Add into the equation the fact that it is washable and incredibly cosy and you have the Morrck baby hoodie.  The simple, clever design has holes that fit the straps of any buggy or car seat.  I have also used it with BA's bulkhead car seat.

www.morrck.co.uk

I want this! Nifty baggage scale

Don't you find packing for your kids an endless task?  And why do they get to bring more items than my husband and I put together?
All holidays seem to start and end with a guessing game of 'will my luggage be overweight?'
To avoid this stress, I spied a useful travel gadget in The Sunday Times.

This portable and accurate (apparently) weighing device holds luggage up to 32kg and can be tucked away for easy packing.

Priced at a reasonable £13, it is available from www.thebaggagescale.com

Pre-ordering formula at Heathrow T5

I fly tomorrow night from London to Hong Kong and have taken the executive decision not to pack any formula in my hand luggage before I go through security.  On my last trip security forced me to discard an Aptamil carton and empty a bottle with sterilised water.  What a waste.

So...  I have just been super organised and phoned Boots at Heathrow Terminal 5 Airside to preorder 4 cartons of Aptamil formula.  Now I just have to remember to pick it up!

Location: Terminal 5, After Security
Opening Hours: 05:30 – 22:00
Telephone: +44 (0)20 8384 1006     

Great resource for kid friendly travel in the US

I'm planning our annual US road trip and after some inspiring episodes of Man Vs. Food, we've decided to take the kids to Texas! 

Whilst the kids are young, it's easier to visit big cities rather than trekking around the beautiful US national parks.  I want stroller friendly towns, museums, fun attractions and most importantly, all american food.

I normally keep a spreadsheet for my road trips and plan most days in advance.  In addition to Tripadvisor, I have found a great website that hands me a kid friendly itinerary on a plate:

http://family.go.com/travel/

They have a comprehensive list of destinations, things to do filtered by kids age and even suggestions on hotels and restaurants. It's part of the Disney Online family but does not appear to constantly point you in the direction of all things Disney

Getting your kids over jetlag

If you are flying longhaul, don't forget to factor in the dreaded jetlag to your trip.

This might mean you choose to stay the night at an airport hotel before your set off on a long car journey, book a suite/2 rooms at your hotel so you're not all in the same room or even book an overnight flight instead of a day flight.

Flying West seems to be easier than flying East.  I usually take an overnight flight from Hong Kong that lands 5/6am in London.  I immediately try to get the kids onto a local schedule in terms of naps and feeds.

I often get asked for actual timings so here's what happened on this trip to the UK:

9.5 mth old baby (4 days to adjust)
Day 1 - landed 5am.  Slept 8-10am then 1-3pm.  Bedtime 7.30pm.
Day 2 - woke at 4am (heard her crying at 3 but held out) so I gave her a bottle.  She went back to sleep until 7.30am.  Nap times same as day before
Day 3 started crying at 4.30am so I gave her a bottle again.  Woke up 7.45am.  Napped 9-10am and 1-2:30pm
Day 4 Slept through night and woke up at 6:30am - result!

3.5 year old (3 days to adjust)
Day 1 - landed 5am, midday nap between 2-4pm and then bedtime at 9pm
Day 2 - slept through till 6.30am, midday nap 2-3pm, bedtime 9pm
Day 3 - woke up 7am, awake all day and bed at 8pm

I'm lucky in that as I'm at my parents, they are in separate rooms. I think if we were all in the same hotel room it would be a different story.  But if you let that stop you from travelling then you'd never get anywhere.

For futher tips, check out this article by the fantastic Deborah Taylor, sleep expert:
http://sassymamahk.com/sleep-tips-for-jetlagged-babies-and-young-children/

British Airways Carseat for 9 month old

I'll follow this post with a review of my flight but I wanted to share a picture of the car seat BA provided for my 9 month old baby who weighs 9.5kg.

I was travelling Hong Kong to London on BA's 747-400.  The 4 month old baby next to me slept soundly in a bassinet whilst my 9 month old Sky was given a car seat.  The car seat was clean and she did a good 6 hours in there.  You also get lots of extra storage on the table beneath it which is useful.

I did have to remove her when the fasten seatbelt sign came on (yes.. very annoying when they are fast asleep) but overall I was pleased with the seat

What I packed in Hand Luggage: 12 hour flight HK to London

Who:  Me and my 9.5 mth old baby Sky
Where:  BA 28 departs HK 23:45, arrives London Heathrow 5:00am
What I packed in hand luggage:

• Camera
• Wallet and phones
• Passports
• Housekeys
• Notebook & pen
• 3 Tommee Tippee baby bottles with 180ml water in each (2 were in a plastic bag and 1 was in a Tommee Tippee bottle warmer bag)
• 1 powder dispenser containing 3 formula servings plus 2 more individual containers each with one formula serving (5 servings in total)
• Spare sleepsuit
• Tissues (I had a snotty baby at the time)
• 1 milk bib and 1 food bib
• Baby's comforter
• Baby book and trashy novel for me (obviously I didn't get a chance to read it)
• Toddler cheese & herb puffs and pack of teething biscuits
• 1 half full pack of baby wipes
• Nappy pack containing 6 nappies and nappy bags
• 3 sachets of Calpol, medecine spoon, 1 bottle Piriton and syringe
• Small plastic bag with 3 dummies
• Spare plastic bag

Difficulties with travel - flight delays

You can be the ultimate travel planner but you cannot account for flight delays.  Last Sunday night I arrived at Hong Kong aiport with my 9.5 mth old baby to check in for our BA flight to London.  The departures board ominously showed a new date for my flight in red '30/7'.  However, as my scheduled flight was 23:45 I thought perhaps it was only a delay past midnight.  When I approached the BA check in desks I saw a big sign and my heart sank... the flight had been delayed to 10:30am the next day and airport hotels had been arranged for us.
Now in the grand scheme of things, it wouldn't have been the end of the world given I live in Hong Kong. BUT..when you're travelling with a baby, you just want to get to your destination with the minimimum of fuss. 
So after a bit of a cursing, I marched up to the BA counter and asked what i needed to do to get onto the slightly earlier BA flight.  The lady at the counter kept tapping away whilst I boiled over inside anticipating a fight.  I was absolutely delighted when she uttered the words, no problem you're on the 23:15, same seats.
I could see queues of people behind me forming, realising they were in for a night at the airport.  I was one of the lucky ones.
What lessons do I take away from this one?

• I had planned to be super organised and check in earlier that day in town to get rid of my luggage. If I had done that, I almost certainly would not have been able to transfer to the earlier flight
• I was flying Premium Economy, did that give me a better chance?  Also the fact that I was only occupying one seat?
• I didn't check my flight status before I left for the airport. If I had, I probably would have stayed at home and got to the airport the next day.
• Get to the airport with plenty of time.  I got to check in 2 hours in advance, enough time to make the 23:15