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Original poster

Flying to NYC with 12 week old

29 replies

ALittleChilli · 03/09/2023 06:49

I've recently had my first baby and I'm trying to work out if it's feasible to fly to a close friend's wedding in New York when he'll be 12 weeks old - has anyone done a similar journey and can advise? I know it should be an easyish time to travel (before he's walking, while he's mainly sleeping and eating still etc) but I'm struggling to get my head around the practicalities.

My husband is the best man so he will be going regardless. We've got business class tickets and can just add the baby on (hopefully in a bassinet seat), but the tickets are refundable if I decide not to go. We'd be staying for three nights and the hotel can arrange for a travel cot so we don't need to take one.

We would have a generous luggage allowance, plus extra for baby things, but we would either need to hire a car with a car seat (our seat is isofix only and not approved in the US) or use public transport (slightly tricky as the wedding is not in the city) or book specialist taxis that come with baby seats. We'd probably also need to get a more compact buggy as our travel system is not very compact, and I'm struggling to find a good option for under 6 month olds. We'd also need to work out how to deal with feeding on the plane - we currently combi feed as my milk supply isn't sufficient yet, so we'd need to plan for some formula feeds, and we unfortunately can't use ready made formula as baby needs a special formula that doesn't come in a ready made version.

Am I making a meal out of this unnecessarily? Has anyone done a similar trip and can provide any tips?

OP posts:
MerryMarigold · 10/09/2023 20:06

It's not the baby that would put me off its the jet lag. You just get over it, and then it all starts again! No way!

mathanxiety · 10/09/2023 21:19

You will need your own rear facing car seat for the baby in any Uber or Lyft car in NYC. They don't come equipped with car seats for babies under two.

For public transport, use a sling. Lifts can be hard to find, dirty, out of order, and in general unreliable in the subway.

I think it's doable overall. You'll be tired when you get back, and jet lagged, and you'll probably have picked up a good few germs and end up sick, something to take into account perhaps.

Make sure you pack enough formula to last the entire trip and do not check the bag with the formula in it. I second the advice not to fret about preparing it with hot water. Sterilise your bottles and use bottled water. Your own supply may have improved by the time the baby is 12 weeks old too.

Depending on how far from NYC the wedding is, I'd avoid the issue of transport out of the city for the wedding by staying as close to the venue as possible.

mathanxiety · 10/09/2023 21:20

Buy yourselves some melatonin in any drugstore in NY to help with jetlag there and once you're back home.

mathanxiety · 10/09/2023 21:25

TropicalTrama · 10/09/2023 19:37

One thing higher up this thread that I don’t recall being a thing was that someone said that it’s only in the UK we give warm milk/formula. When we went we were asked everywhere if we wanted milk warmed. However this was before pre prepared cold formula was a thing at all - ie 15+ yrs ago.

Was that me? It’s only in the UK (as far as I’m aware) that you’re told to add the milk powder to 70+ degree water to ‘kill bugs’. The advice in the US is to use cooled boiled water or distilled water and add the formula powder to that. You still might want to warm it to baby’s drinking preference though. I had my first in chicago, we couldn’t drink the water because of lead, so we’d usually used ready made (Enfamil) bought in 32oz bottles but keep them in the fridge once opened then warm the bottle. Sometimes we’d use the powder mixed with cool distilled water and then yes we’d warm that. Especially if you went out for any period of time in winter whatever was in your diaper bag would be almost frozen so you’d definitely want that warmed once you got inside! It’s not part of bottle making advice though, if that makes sense.

Agree with this observation - also from a Chicago experience. You can also use 'nursery water' to make up the formula. It is purified.

If your baby's formula gets warmed in a microwave, make sure of the temperature amd shake it well before you offer it to the baby.

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