ELT, we flew a lot when our eldest was that age:
1) She was not a huge baby, but easily fit into the bassinet at 8 months, at 10 months it was a bit of a squeeze. With or second (a bigger baby), the bassinet was useless by 10 months and he ended up taking my seat while I either squeezed in beside him or slept on the floor. From that point on, I bought an extra seat for him. So basically, the bassinet should be OK for a small baby.
2) Yes, unless you buy a separate seat and your child can sit in a car seat.
3) I cannot comment, I'm afraid
4) Definitely. The only problem with CX Business Class is that the so called 'flat' beds slope downwards, so virtually useless for children as they keep sliding towards the floor (so do I). They are about to upgrade them, but am guessing that they will start will their most competitive routes (suspect London and New York will be first), so will take a while to roll out across the whole network.
5) Some flight attendants are fantastic, others run a mile. It's pure luck, I'm afraid. They will all heat bottles or food for you, many will keep an eye on the baby while you run to the loo. Some will help you store your bags while you settle the baby. If you're really lucky, they'll store the stroller on board for you (if it's a light one) to save you the trek to the carousel.
6) People vary on this. I err on the side of making the journey as easy as possible and maximising sleep, so I stick as closely as possible to the home routine but never wake a sleeping baby. I save the jetlag adjustments for the ground. If possible I start adjusting a day or 2 before the flight, eg. postponing naps by a few hours to facilitate a late flight and therefore a later bedtime.
7) I always try to feed during take off and descent and it has always worked when they child is awake. In the early days, I underestimated taxi time and she would nod off before the plane took off. I was terrified about earache, but somehow got away with it. If your child has a pacifier/dummy, it may be worth bringing a few along as sucking on anything helps if he/she refuses milk.
8) Sorry, I have no idea.
9) The hand luggage and managing the baby while the older child needs to be taken to the toilet. I also struggle with the luggage trollies and stroller (my eldest is too young to help) . You can overcome this at check-in by hiring a porter, but few airports have porters at the arrivals carousel.
Hope this helps and that someone can answer your other questions. Promise, it's not as awful as you imagine. Usually they are not mobile at that age, so it's really not bad. Good luck!
