New York with a 4 year old…ridiculous?

[Clare0783]

I would really love to take my 4 year old boy (only turned 4 in Jan) to New York next month (March) but my other half isn’t so keen. Am I being completely ridiculous?! We’ve both been before pre-kid and the trip involved lots of eating, drinking and about 20k steps a day, my 4 year old will obviously not want to partake in any of the above! Just wondered if anyone had any good experiences? TIA

I can’t see why not?

I live in Central London though so… my life with a child probably looks a bit like being in NYC with a child anyway.

So long as you plan activities they would enjoy, I don’t really see the problem.

I’d probably be doing less shopping / eating / drinking and more child-friendly museums / activities.

So it’s a different trip, but it’s nice to see the city in a different way too right.

Agree with @polinkhausive that Boston could be a good alternative. Good size, less hectic, interesting history and buildings etc.

At this age, absolutely no point. Go for a weekend in London instead. Go to the natural history museum or Shrek on the south bank. Wait until they're older and they can remember.

They have snow at the moment,so parks and walking everywhere won't be fun 🥶

Sounds stressful.

Could you afford to go again in a few years? Because it feels like a bit of a waste at 4. I’d personally wait until DC was older and could fully appreciate it and remember it.

@Mademetoxic no, but we will! And we have some fab photos to show her. We plan to travel with her to Japan this year and Korea the next and it was really nice to test the water with a 6 hour flight and smaller time difference. We personally aren't delaying doing these things just because we have young kids. She did love running around the parks in Central Park too. I don't know. I know some parents that get their kids into sports young or into drama or dancing or whatever. We're exposing her to the world of travel and hope she'll also have the travel bug - maybe she won't but at least she'll have experienced plenty of cultures!

Ours loved it! Boating in Central Park, riding the indoor Ferris wheel in Toys R Us, visiting the museum from Night At The Museum. Lego shop, M&M shop, Staten Island ferry, helping the waiter make guacamole at the table in a big stone bowl at Caliente Cabs… loads that was fun.

We watched a lot of children’s films set in New York before we went, and visited places from that (Stuart Little, Enchanted, there are loads and loads)

Mine would do a lot of very loud objecting to this. It’s a tricky age because they can’t really walk for long and won’t want to walk the way you want to but they don’t want to be in a pushchair. I wouldn’t.

First place my son ever flew to. He was 3.5. Fabulous

We went when DSs were 5 and 8 and had a great time, they both did really well with the jetlag etc. We arrived early afternoon and went straight to Central Park for a play and kept them awake until bedtime. We were up a bit early the next day but fine after that. This was late October and we had beautiful warm weather though.

We got the CityPass so that we could skip a lot of the attraction queues and so that if we needed to leave an attraction after a short time we didn't feel like it had been a waste! Plus that got one day on the hop-on hop-off bus, which we did on the first full day. We also got a subway pass so we could travel around more easily, though there was still a lot of walking.

We managed plenty of museums and sights, as well as skating at the Rockefeller Plaza, a show on broadway etc.

The indoor Ferris wheel is long gone unfortunately.

Do It! I think a 4 year old would really enjoy it. The underground there is easy to use and no where near as busy as London. I found getting around really easy. I would probably buy a preschool sling and keep it in a bag incase needed, you can get some for a pretty good price online. https://lovetobenatural.co.uk/baby-carriers/toddler-carriers.html May find cheaper second hand too.

It’s a wonderful place to be with kids in my opinion. Natural history museum, skyscrapers, etc. I don’t think you have to or should wait to do trips with kids until they’ll remember it - if your family will enjoy it now, why not?!

Why do you want to take him?

If it's because there are specific things you want to see and do and they are compatible with a 4 year old, fine.

If it's that there is something specific your 4 year old would love about NY (e.g. he's obsessed with yellow taxis) and will plan a trip that's aimed at your 4 year old, fine.

Otherwise, yes you could design a trip which works for a 4 year old but it won't be the kind of experience you've had before and it being NY will largely be wasted on a 4yr old, so you're just making it more difficult for yourself for no real gain.

There are other, cheaper, destinations which will be better for a 4 year old.

I took DD to London age 4 and it was pretty hard - yes we could use the underground to get around but the amount of walking just within the underground station tunnels themselves was a lot. She got very tired and needed a lot of regular food because of all the walking - mealtimes became kind of skewed because she was so hungry and tired by say 3.45pm that she needed her evening meal there and then and we had to duck into a lot of Italian restaurants to get her an emergency plate of spaghetti hahah. Then later in the evening we the adults would be ravenous again and would have to eat a cobbled together supper in the Premier Inn room in the dark because she was passed out on the bed and we were all in one room.

Thinking back, we did have a good time, and I see the funny side to it now, but at the time I remember just feeling beholden to her tiredness and hunger, and she had a few emotional meltdowns.

I think with enough planning, maybe a buggy, and a high budget for food / snacks and loads of thermal layers then you might well have a good time.

Its an expensive city though and a lot to spend on a trip that might feel quite stressful.

NY is much easier than London

I'd take mine. He loves city breaks, loves people watching in restaurants and things, and could probably walk twice as far as I can. We spent yesterday exploring a random cathedral he was interested in as we walked around a nearby town.

It's a long way and a lot of £££ to spend doing something you guys could do on a short flight to Europe or a drive to nearby city.

We took our twins when they were 5.

They loved it.

Completely doable.

(We also took them to China for which many people thought we were insane but they loved that as well).

I don’t think it’s the worst idea in the world but if it’s really for you and your dp I’d try to leave him behind with grandparents instead. Or wait until he’s 6/7.
at 4 he won’t remember. He might enjoy, or not.

Absolutely 😂

I did this with my almost 4 year old years ago , lots of walking we ended up buying a cheap stroller to get around, dc loved it at the time saw all the sights 2 glorious weeks and I loved it sadly dc doesn't remember any of it anymore but I do .

We left those kind of holidays until the kids were older. It’s a long way to fly and a lot of money when he just won’t appreciate it.

We took ours at 6 and 8 and they loved it. They'd probably have enjoyed it a couple of years younger but they were exceptionally good walkers (benefits of not driving!). Personally, I'm glad we left it until they were old enough to remember everything.

The ferris wheel in toys r us I have a great photo of me and dc on it but sadly it's gone now 😢 .

I guess the obvious question, if you've been before is, why? It's not the first destination I'd think of to take a 4-year-old. Of course, there are parks and playgrounds, a great zoo and a fabulous Natural History Museum, but you can find all of that in London or Paris, which would be much easier to visit.

Also, March in NYC can be bitterly cold. I used to live there and I don't go back in winter, if I can help it. As a visitor you tend to be outside a lot, which really can be very miserable when an Arctic wind is scouring the city, funnelled between the skyscrapers and cold enough to take your breath away.