Tips for Traveling with a baby/toddler in New York City

Tips for traveling with a baby/toddler in New York City

This past weekend, we spent a full 60 hours in New York City for my birthday. When we originally booked our getaway, we booked it with intentions of NOT bringing any of the kids. But as our trip got closer and closer, we realized Laila would not survive a full weekend without me-she’s still breastfed. So we ordered her a snowsuit and some winter clothes, and added her to our itinerary.

We went into this entire New York Trip pretty naive, and not sure what to expect bringing her along. The last time I went to New York was when I was 16 or 17 years old, and Renaldo’s last time was when he was a kid. So we don’t remember too much! But all we could do is be over prepared. Prior to the trip, I got so many messages from people encouraging and discouraging us from bringing her, and “how cold it’ll be” or “there isn’t much to do for her” and plenty more.

But after conquering the city flawlessly with a 16 month old in tow, I have some tips to help you out as well.

Top Five Tips for Traveling with a Toddler/Baby in New York City

1. Book a hotel that’s child friendly: When I say child friendly, I mean a hotel that offers cribs, and things to do there for a child (pool). We booked our stay at the Four Seasons New York Downtown. Personally we are just a Four Seasons family, like literally base our vacations around their locations- and if FS is an option for our destination, we’ll stay there. But with Four Seasons Resorts, aside from their amazing 5 star service, they cater to children as well. Upon arrival to our room, they had a (good) crib, stuffed animal, and bath kit awaiting Laila.

2. Purchase a compact stroller for navigating the city and subway: We use the Ergo Baby City Metro stroller, it folds super small and can fit in the over head storage on planes. But it came in clutch when riding through cramped spaces, elevators and the subway. The only downfall of bringing a stroller are the stairs at the subway stations, there are elevators but not conveniently located. **Little tip: when scanning your metro card at the subway- have your spouse scan, go trough the turny thing, and then walk around to the door and open it for you, because your stroller won’t fit! 

3. Consider bringing a baby carrier when using the subway: I wish we would’ve did this. Wore Laila through the subway, and kept our stroller folded (it folds like a briefcase). This would’ve made life 10x easier!! Here are my favorite carriers-wrap, sling and traditional.

4. Get a plastic weather shield for the stroller: The one we got was crap, but it got the job done. because it was so cold (well cold for us Floridians) we were able to put the stroller cover and Laila was nice and warm. They are also great for rainy days and snow days. I recommend looking at your stroller brand, and checking out the accessories they sell for that specific stroller and ordering the weather shield from their site directly before buying one off amazon. Only reason I say that is because you never know if it’ll actually fit your stroller properly-that was our issue. 

5. Utilize UBER car seat: Before leaving for our trip, we looked into so many different car seat situations because we knew we’d need a ride from the airport to our hotel- and since a toddler was in tow we debated on the car seat and what we’d do. If your baby is under a year old, I 100% recommend the Doona stroller/car seat. It’s seriously perfect for travel. But since Laila is too big for that, we had to look at other options. UBER offers UBER car seat, so certain drivers and cars come  equipped with a car seat (not rear facing-but it gets the job done from point A to point B). So this would be ideal for babies over a year old, if your child is under one-bring your own seat, or rent one from a car rental spot at the airport (typically $10 a day).

Not really a tip, but this was really helpful for us: We went with another couple, who don’t have kids yet and they were over the moon to hold Laila whenever we needed, so that really made the trip even more smooth. 

Thank you so much for reading, and make sure you check out my post about cruising with kids!