New York with a 1 year old?

[newmum0604]

Friends of ours are getting married in New York in May, our baby will be 14 months old. DH is definitely going but I'm torn. I absolutely don't want to leave her behind even if we get childcare (especially not in covid times, potential risk of getting stuck there away from her longer than a few days)

So either all three of us go or me and baby stay behind. Would it be a terrible idea to take her? Will a 7 hour flight be a nightmare with a toddler? Will the jet lag ruin the few (thinking roughly 5) days we'll have there?

Neither of us have been before, I don't want to miss out but also would rather stay behind if it's not going to be worth it!

Aw we went to New York with 1year old DD and I was 3 months pregnant. It was busy lol! But we had a fab time ! And she loves looking back at the pics now!

I went to the Caribbean with a 1 year old- so same time difference (-5 hours) and similar flight time to NYC.

Never again- the time change meant he was up at 3am local time for the day 😭, could not get him back to sleep then he was overtired and miserable during the day.

The flight was fine, just the bloody time change was a disaster!

As for jet lag, that usually affects you more on the return journey at least when it comes to that particular flight (in my own experience at least).

We moved to New York when DS was 17 months. I was dreading the flight, but we took a mid-morning flight over. As FS had been up so early y over to the airport, he slept for the first stretch, then watched a bit of Peppa Pig etc. There were so many food services - snacks, lunch, another snack, that he was quite well occupied, and he had another snooze before we landed. He wasn't affected by jet lag on the way out - none of us were - you just need to make sure they nap early enough to keep them up until what is effectively a late bedtime.

Coming back is much harder on the jet lag. We always flew back over night, landing in the UK at around 7am (which feels like the middle of the night. The trick is to get the toddler to nap early enough that they don't think it's bedtime, but not too early, as you need to try to keep them awake until 6-7pm (which will be hard). DS was back on track in 2-2 days.

I loved New York with a toddler, and would definitely say go. Just be aware that the subway is not buggy friendly!