A two year old in New York?

[ToddlerInNewYork]

We are discussing the possibility of going to New York next autumn our child will be two by then. We know it would be a different experience to what we had last time.
I'm just wondering if anyone has any advice? On the practicalities, where to stay that's ideal for a child etc? (Even what the heck are you thinking)
We will be coming from England so a medium haul flight and she will be on her own seat by then.

Sorry im in the ' what are you thinking' view.
Ive done NY twice and id never take my dcs under the age of about 8.

Honestly I’d leave New York for another couple of years. In my experience of my kids at 2, they:

• didn’t walk very far, but were heavy to carry in a back carrier, so we were reliant on a buggy to get out for a day - depends how you’re planning to get around, but the thought of dragging a buggy around the subway seems like hard work
• still needed a nap in the middle of the day, so that limits how much you do
• do not adjust well to a time difference, so expect to be woken up at 2am every day
• wont be particularly interested in museums or sight seeing so I don’t know how much they’d get out of it

Obviously all kids are different! But I do think if you wait until they’re 4 you’ll have so much more fun. My youngest is almost 4 and he can do a whole day of sightseeing, he loves the Natural History Museum, sleep is loads better and he can stay up a bit later so going out for dinner is possible, and he will then sleep in so adjusting to time differences is easier. It depends what you’re hoping to get out of the trip though - are you imagining it’ll be really fun for your your kid? Are you going for the culture or shopping or eating out?

NYC is my favourite place in the world but honestly I'd sooner not go than take a 2yo.

They'll be jetlagged, knackered, overstimulated and cranky.
Not worth the effort or expense.

We took ours at feb and they were 10, 8 and 6 and it was brilliant. But I wouldn’t Have done it with them any earlier.

Took mine at 2 - he had a great time. No jet lag. We stayed somewhere with a kitchenette but eating out wasn’t a problem. Visited Central Park, museums (firefighter museum was the big hit), the Trainline park, all the lights, up the empire state. This was a while ago though

Appreciate your opinions so far. Think it's easy as a first time parent to not really know and just get these ideas isn't it.

Its perfectly possible to do NY with a two year old but I think the question really is why would you want to?

The 2 year old would be happier with a bucket and spade holiday which would be cheaper and a lot less exhausting.

I’ve done it a lot because when BIL lived in NY when DS was 18 months to 3 ish. Can’t comment on jet lag because we lived in Chicago. I will say there’s not a lot in it for them- you mostly just drag them around with you trying to do what you want to do, hope for a pram nap so you can have an afternoon drink, playgrounds are amazing and everywhere so do that a lot, then spend evenings in a dark hotel room because NY hotel rooms are ridiculously expensive so can’t afford a suite and Air BnB is illegal. So a lot shame shit different place. We still talk about the smell from the rookiest of rookie errors- attempting to take an elevator on the subway; my nostrils will never ever recover. I still don’t think my blood pressure has recovered from holding her on my lap on a ferry when she didn’t want to sit. Dining is really not child friendly- so many places had no kids menus or would even attempt to do anything in a smaller portion, nowhere had highchairs. Whereas in Chicago we used to eat out as a family all the time and even in Michelin star places they’d always go above and beyond.

So my vote would be don’t do it, not worth the time/money.

If this is a ‘big’ holiday I would just leave it a few years

if you are frequent travellers to NY, can afford a suite or studio with room for a rented playpen and are happy to work around naps and forgo stuff because you’ve seen it before- whatever, go for it, up to you

Personally, I travel LOTS with my toddler and usually encourage people to just go, but to my mind this just all seems rather pointless

I wouldn’t, they really won’t enjoy it and not convinced you would either. If you really want to go, I’d try and leave baby with a family member. Otherwise wait until they’re older

At that age you can go to new York if it’s to suit you. Time your sightseeing around any naps etc and choose places to eat where a toddler will be welcome. In years to come they won’t remember any of it, so you don’t need to limit yourselves to toddler “experiences”.

It's not all about the kids tho is it? So if you think it's easy enough then why not if the parents would enjoy. As you say, the kid will be happy anywhere

I don’t see why not. Plenty of people have two year olds in NYC presumably and get on ok. I travelled a lot including to big North American cities when DD was that age, it was obviously different and harder than traveling just us but we still had a good time. Toddlers are happy pottering around anywhere and are easier to entertain than kids a couple of years older in my opinion. She slept happily in the buggy so we’d stop for lunch when she was napping then have dinner once she was asleep again in the buggy, and transfer her into bed when we got back to the hotel.

I guess it depends on the 2yo but both of mine had really good times on city breaks as toddlers. Yes you have to look outside the usual places but most cities these days have a lot for kids and kid friendly museums.