Emirates, Toddler, Carseat and tons of questions...

I'm full of the questions today...

Travelling from Toronto and stopping over in Dubai on a lonnnng flight home with my 21 month old because my dad's ill. And don't have a lot of time to research all this so hoping some of you will have the answers.

1. Do you all take your toddler car seats with you on your trips? Found a light-ish one to buy here and am happy to because it takes the guess work out of things but do they let you take it on the flight with you? I have bumped myself up to biz class on a 380 (booked a bassinet seat because my little girl is fairly small, still within the weight limit technically, whether she'll stay in it is a whole other Q), no point getting a second seat on there anyway - its like a diff city! My next leg though is on economy, still one seat so wondering if I can take it in as hand luggage (have a bag and can pack some other stuff in it and skip hand luggage, barring my purse).
2. The last long flight we took she freaked out and screamed for 8 out of 14 hours so i'm quite concerned. I think it was her ears. They bother her even normally and wax builds up easy. Any tips for how to prevent a scream fest and soothe any ear troubles, as well as keep her entertained? She doesnt take a soother, cant be made to drink things unless she wants to. Entertainment wise i'm taking an iPad and a few toys but she bores easy and is hyper energetic like most toddlers!
3. Booked 21J with bassinet... is that a good one? Where does the bassinet fit? My last round on a 380 we had an extra seat vacant which they offered us so didnt use one (too bad she was too busy freaking out to use it and stayed awake the entire 14 hours :D)!
4. And the big question, how do you get your LOs to sleep? Mine needs total darkness and white noise and no distraction AND takes an hour to wind down to sleep and as I said can keep going if things don't add up for her *shudder*
5. How do I calm down :D... can you tell I'm freaked out? Really... what gave me away ;)

Thanks ahead!