u/Desperate_Refuse4139

Hello all, after some advice from those likely to know better than me.

Heading into the back end of summer and my work regularly requires me to be out of the country overnight for 2-5 nights at a time. Problem is, I can’t take a full on suitcase and we have to travel in our work clothes so no taking my normal nice warm coats I have at home either.

What’s some decent options for a lightweight coat I can fit into a carry on case that won’t take loads of room but will keep me warm enough if I head out for dinner/a walk in places from Scandinavia/Eastern Europe through the winter if I need it.

Budget is probably £100-150 but could be prepared to spend more for the right things

What’s the general vibe around Penang?

We’ve got a trip starting in Singapore and finishing in KL in a few months that’s about 18 days long in total. We’re starting with 5 nights in Singapore (first is purely a “We’ve just got here and need to go to bed” kind of night) and then we’re planning to go to Penang and Langkawi.

Langkawi is clearly going to be our beach relaxation leg of the holiday, but Penang is less clear. We’d originally planned a 5/5 split with the 2 but now after a bit of research it feels like Penang is almost more of a city break than a chilled pool holiday.

Based on that we’re thinking of maybe doing more of a 6/4 or 7/3 split favouring more time in Langkawi to relax before we finish off with a few days in KL.

So just wondering what other people’s experiences have been and what advice you’d give in terms of splitting time and things to do

Apologies for the long post but it’s as the title says really….

We’ve got a 6 1/2 month old. First 4 weeks were hell. Bed time meant anything from 2-8 hours of screaming, I had to go back to work after 2 weeks pat leave (work the opposite end of the country) and after 3 days my wife was on the phone at 1am on the brink of a breakdown with him.

Then after that things seemed to get easier, he’d have his bath and get ready for bed, followed by a bed time bottle and by about 6 weeks old he was sleeping through till 6/7am.

Fast forward to about 6 weeks ago, and it’s all a total gamble again. Bed time could be less than an hours routine or he could be fighting his sleep for 2-3 hours. And fighting it isn’t just trying to stay awake, it’s screaming because he’s tired. What time I get at home is ruined by the anticipation of will it be a good night tonight or not, and I feel so much sympathy for my wife having to do it the majority of times by herself with no one to take the strain and help out.

My mum has him 1 night a week normally and says he might have a little cry when she puts him down but then he settles almost immediately for her. But I don’t know what we’re doing wrong for us to have a total meltdown nearly every night, even though his routine has been pretty much the same every night for at least 3/4 of his life.

We’ve tried cuddling him, singing to him, leaving him alone, sometimes I end up going out driving with him, you name it we’ve probably tried it unless we don’t know about it. The only kind of pattern we’ve noticed is if he has less naps in the day he’s worse going to bed, but even then he fights his naps and it’s typically maybe an hour of a morning and 2 of an afternoon if we’re lucky.

Our current theory is that because he’s a nosey little sod and seems to be quite intelligent (based on what other people’s kids we know did or didn’t do at his age) he thinks in his little brain that if he goes asleep he’ll miss something and he does everything to stay awake and avoid doing so, but if anyone can say what worked for them or even just reassure us it’ll get easier sooner rather than later we need some kind of advice

Seen loads of people affected today by the disruption and reached out to a few people I know to see what’s happening from inside BA.

The short version is that storms that rolled through at 4/5am have totally messed the airport up for the whole day at least. They rolled through slowly so although they’d gone past the airport by time it opened, they stopped departures heading east regardless of airline, airport or destination.

Flights due to depart at 6/7am were being held until gone 12pm or later if they were lucky. People going elsewhere, be it domestically or to northern/southern Europe, got out but then got hit by stupidly long delays to come back due to ATC constraints.

Pilots have had emails saying due to the delays/ cancellations there’s some kind of emergency contact period been put in place meaning they can be called to work at any point over the next 7 days on short/late notice.

Realistically this is probably a 2/3 day recovery minimum, with more storms forecast to roll through later today. Good luck getting to werever it is you’re planning and with whoever is flying the route, especially if there’s connections involved.

Has anyone used the Hotel Hoppa bus service from the bath Road to T5 with a baby?

Convenient for us getting to and from the airport, but unsure on the ticketing options and if we’re expected to pay for a baby as well. Their group ticket option says for up to 2 adults and 2 children of any age, but that’s the only age related comment I can see. Reluctant to pay £13 for a 6 month old when we can just go on and off 2 normal TfL buses for similar on a round trip if needs be

Just managed to snag a pair of absolute bargains with Avios reward flights, LHR-SIN and KL-LHR both in business.

Going to be our first long haul since we had a baby so got bassinet seats each way, but can’t seem to find anything saying what kind of restrictions there are for them (including asking someone who works at BA). He’ll be just under 9 months when we travel so can’t see it being too much of an issue but just wondering if anyone knows anything for certain?

So we’ve got a 4 1/2 month old little boy and it’s safe to say parenting has been a roller coaster since I work away and we’re constantly up and down to each other on days off to spend time together as a parent.

The last couple of days have given us our latest challenge and it’s proving to be a tough one - how do we keep him cool enough to be comfortable?

If we go in the garden or for a walk, he’s in the shade and seems happy enough. But even with all the blinds and curtains closed in the house, windows open for some semblance of a breeze and just being in a nappy he’s clearly uncomfortable in the heat (as are we).

We’ve got a fan coming today off Amazon that is rechargeable to help him and we’re trying to keep a few flannels soaking in cold water that we change out but nothing seems to be helping for more than a few minutes at best.

Any tips or advice what else we can do to help him?