To take one year old to New York

[CleverQuacks]

For a minute imagine Covid isn’t an issue. I have always loved travelling and have a list of destinations I want to see as long as my arm. Covid has made me realise that life is short so i have decided I want to see one new place every year.

New York is top of the list so I am considering booking for next year. The problem is, I have a baby who will be 15 months old. I am a single mum with no dad involved so I don’t have anyone who would look after him. I think I would be fine taking him with me. It would be an adventure. But my mum and sister say I am crazy.

The reality is I don’t want to wait til he is 18 and independent before I see the world so we are going to have to get used to travelling together.

I don’t drink alcohol and not into partying. I mainly want to see the shops and various museums and landmarks. Also eat American food!

Am I crazy?

I'm a single parent and have travelled a lot with my two since the youngest was about 15 months.
For New York I personally would wait until your little one is a bit older say 5/6+ so they can enjoy it more and you can experience everything with them. New York has so much for older children.

But if your determined to go it's definitely doable.
I take my two to London (which is know is very different to New York) for weekends every so often and initially went when youngest was around that age and they love it.
Tube was a bit of a night mare but was manageable.
People tell me all the time they don't understand why I take the kids on city breaks etc that their kids wouldn't enjoy it but my two love it. As long as you go at a pace your little one will manage I'm sure you will have a lovely time.

As for the flight take a little backpack pack it full of cheap new toys, snacks, books etc and space them out throughout the flight. I still do that now and the oldest is 11.
If that fails and iPad, headphones and YouTube usually never fails for me

Just to correct myself obviously no YouTube on a flight, downloads their favourite programmes on Netflix/sky and download some new games/apps pre flight.

I've visited New York, Philadelphia, Tokyo, Istanbul, Singapore, and multiple other cities with my son who is now 3 years old. It was easier when he could be strapped in a stroller or in a sling, but it's still a pleasure.
The trick is taking things a little slower, letting him set the pace, rather than rushing to see everything. We spent a morning playing in the leaves in the courtyard of the Sensō-ji temple in Tokyo, for example. For my toddler, the leaves were the highlight of the trip!
On long flights, I let him watch children's films. He doesn't watch anything on screens at home, so was super excited for this and they kept his attention for much of the flight apart from when he slept. Go for it!

I used to fly to NY for work (and DD has been to the Caribbean/Asia/Mauritius/Oz from the age of about 15 months).

The flight to NYC is about 7 hours, a little less if you are going from Manchester etc. There is currently a 2 hour time difference (it will be 3 in a couple of weeks' time) so an "early night" will be like staying up late for your body clock. If I was only there for a few days, I usually didn't bother to deviate too much from UK time.

I've not travelled solo with a baby, but there are usually other families on a plane all sat together who have "been there/done that" and will hold DC whilst you nip to the loo.

Try to get a bassinet, even if your DC refuses to sleep in the thing. It is useful for holding all your stuff.

At DC age, it is probably best to get a studio/self catering apartment. Hotel rooms can be absolutely tiny.

We did Australia when DS was 15 months old and then we did Bali when DD was 15 months old a few years later (and DS was obvs older). Absolutely doable but I wouldn't even consider the flight unless you get your child her own seat. Otherwise I think it would be awful. I guess I did those holidays with a partner and we all had a great time; not sure I'd do them alone. Having been to NYC a number of times in my youth I think it would have been a very different (and les enjoyable) holiday with a toddler in tow!

There is currently a 2 hour time difference (it will be 3 in a couple of weeks' time)

Between NYC and the UK? It’s typically 5 hours behind except for a couple of weeks between when the US changes clocks before the UK. That catches me out every time!

@Biffbaff

We took an 11 month old to Toronto and Montreal and had an amazing time.

Haters gonna hate. You do you! Xx

I'm.guessing there was 2 parents in this scenario? Completely different to travelling with a child.on your own

We took DS1 to NYC for a week when he was 19 months.

One of the best holidays ever, we were staying at a friends apartment in the west village and had a convertible stroller/car seat. Allowed us to pull out the wheels to walk and put them away to get cabs.

We were blessed with amazing weather so we would walk from the apartment all the way up 5th/6th/7th Ave whilst DS napped, then when he woke we'd stop at one of the many playgrounds for him to run around.

The only downside to NyC is very little to do when it's pissing down with rain, but we found the children's museum in Greenwich Village and kept the history museum for a particularly wet morning.

Otherwise we walked, spent time around The Battery or in Central Park.

We took the boys back (now 9&7) a couple summers back and had a good time but the kids did not appreciate all the walking!

And I live in the Caribbean with family in UK and have done trans-Atlantic flights since they were tiny. Just make sure you've got everything handy.

Night flights are easy because they generally tend to sleep to their usual routine. Days are slightly harder to keep them occupied but stickers, iPad full of their tv shows, chocolate buttons etc go a long way to keeping them entertained.

London to NYC is 8 hours at the most on the way and just shy of 7 hours on way back so not a horrendous journey by any means.

Are you used to longer flights? When I went to New York the longest flight I’d been on was 3 hours and it felt loooooooong. I can’t imagine doing that with a little one who may end up being unhappy (think ears popping, turbulence, the noise of the plane). I definitely think you could do a city break with a little one though if you just want to do sightseeing/museums. You could always do a weekend in London with your DC to test the waters before you splash out on NYC.

@blue25 wowzers, so a business person has more right to travel than a mother and child so the Mum should not bother?? What a delight you are 🤣🤣

We went to New York when DC2 was 10m. It was great. He enjoyed watching the screen, eating snacks and he breastfed and slept quite a lot. 15m is probably a bit trickier but I think it would be OK. Once you are there, there is loads a baby/toddler can enjoy. We did take a buggy but pretty much only used the sling. Going up tall buildings, pottering around different neighbourhoods, boat trips are all good fun. Lots of good food for them to enjoy, pizza by the slice, waffles and pancakes from diners, pretzels from street stalls... And there are little playgrounds everywhere in the residential areas in Manhattan - we had 4 within 5 minutes walk of where we were staying in Chelsea. And of course there is Central Park, which is so massive that you can go to a different bit every day depending on what else you are doing that day. There are especially good playgrounds at the North end of the park. There is a little zoo in the park or the Bronx Zoo is amazing, but it takes a long time to get there. As long as you aren't too wedded to doing lots of grown up things and are happy to just soak up the atmosphere I think you'll have a great time.

@Kimye4eva

There is currently a 2 hour time difference (it will be 3 in a couple of weeks' time)

Between NYC and the UK? It’s typically 5 hours behind except for a couple of weeks between when the US changes clocks before the UK. That catches me out every time!

This! If you have a little one who rises at 7am at home, you'll be lucky not to be trying to keep them amused in a hotel room by 3am for the first couple of mornings.

Pick the right time to go so that it's quieter and you'll be fine I'm sure, my only worry would be the flight but I'm sure you'll be fine if you're already managing on your own. We've been in early March and early October and both were nice weather but not too busy at all with tourists. We are TTC at the moment and suspect our first holiday with (hopeful!) baby will be NYC as we absolutely love it there!

Would also advise baby carrier as the subway is great for getting around and not sure how buggy friendly it is!!

Travelling as the only adult with a toddler is perfectly possible and not a massive deal - I've flown on my own with baby and toddler, with two toddlers, with two preschoolers plus a baby etc etc. really without huge fuss but by toddler age you have to be "on" all the time and constantly anticipating their needs and moods so as not to disturb other people. That's on the flight but not only on the flight - also in the hotel, in restaurants, in shops and museums.

A city break with a toddler will only work if you are flexible and realistic - a shop or a museum maybe, not both in one day. Mainly parks and zoos and child friendly stuff.

A shopping and museums based holiday is an utterly unrealistic plan with a 15 month old - not New York itself.

I've done NY before kids and with a very mobile and active 13 month old. It was fine. It was just a very different itinerary the time we went with Dd. But NY zoo is good, we walk everywhere anyway so didn't have to navigate the sub way. But we're used to the tube anyway with the kids so I'm sure we would have been fine.

One thing I would say, is avoid the really cold months. Try and go in the milder weather. We did a few days in Canada before travelling down to NY. The weather in Canada was bitter. Dd was so bundled up in the pushchair, it made it impossible to get her in and out to stretch her legs. It was just too cold. This made her quite stroppy and restless sometimes. Luckily we were only there for a couple of days. The weather in NY was unseasonably warm, 14-15 degrees in February. Meaning Dd could move a lot easier with less layers on! She was happy wandering along with us, we saw a lot more of Central Park than we had before, the sky line, we did Statue of Liberty for the first time, Dd loved the boat. We even did one of those tourist buses because Dd loved buses!

It obviously depends on your dc but we were up and out early for breakfast, an hour in the park. Then an 'activity' of some kind. Back for another play in the park before dinner. We even managed a museum while Dd had her nap in the pushchair! She woke up half way round but was happy enough so we carried on.

We didn't obviously manage to do any shows or 'evening entertainment' but we got a couple of drinks to take back to our room and watched films. But I'll be honest, we were so knackered from everything we'd done during the day, we were all asleep early!

Sounds utter hell to me!

One warning about the flight - it isn't always 7 hours. One time we hit headwinds and after 10 hours of slugging away across the Atlantic we had to stop in Connecticut to refuel because we didn't have enough fuel to stack over JFK. It then took over an hour to refuel because they had to bring fire engines out, because they were refuelling with passengers on board. I think the whole journey took 13 hours. I had a 3 month old. It wasn't fun.

I've also had one flight with a 4 year old who had nosebleeds the entire way. People were gasping in horror as they passed us, as she kept sneezing blood all over her T-shirt, and although I'd brought spares, we went through them in the first half hour.

And pack way more nappies for the flight than you think you'll need. Something about flights made my children poop like crazy.

I had forgotten about the time difference. Having a 15 month old awake and ready to go at 3am would be a killer!

@Enidblyton1

I had forgotten about the time difference. Having a 15 month old awake and ready to go at 3am would be a killer!

Not just for op...

We took our 19 month old daughter and had a fantastic time. We've got some lovely family photos. I took her on my own on the flight (including a transfer via Heathrow)) as husband was working out there. If you base yourself centrally, it's incredibly walkable. We took a park and sling. She was still napping so managed some lovely quiet time too. There's so many great child friendly places to go - Central Park Zoo, the Natural History Museum, Top of the Rockerfeller Centre. The Central Library has a wonderful children's area. There are so many fantastic public playgrounds too dotted all over the city. The restaurants in the US are great with children too.

If you can fly into Newark the train service is so much better than JFK. Also be prepared for horrendous queues at immigration.

Honestly, I never understand the angst about crying children on flights, even pre-children it really never bothered us. It's public transport so it's to be expected. And to be completely frank, I've been sat with worse behaved adults.

I don't think you'll enjoy it much on your own with a toddler. Wait until he's 4 and can actually enjoy it with you.

I've flown on my own many times with babies/toddlers but always had someone to help with them once the jetlag kicks in. That's the bit I find really tough.

You can take a baby anywhere. Our son was about 13 months when we went to Charlotte NC vía New York. No problem at all.