NYC trip planning help

[marie3246]

We are trying to pack as little as possible for our thanksgiving trip to NYC and then to visit H's family in upstate. We will be gone for a week total. I'm really struggling bc there is so much baby stuff that I feel like we need to make our life (or mostly mine) easier. 

Ideally I would like to wear her everywhere, but I'm not sure how practical that is to do 24/7. We will be in the city 2.5 days. We would like to see some of the parade, visiting family and going out to eat. Having a stroller would be nice because she could sleep in that and we wouldnt have to hold her while one of us eats. I'm not sure how much of a pain that would be though. 

-if we take the stroller, should we take the car seat? then I guess we would need to take the base?
----I know that we could make it work to wear her the whole time and H and I would switch off, but if we want to eat, sit down, she always wakes up and gets fussy. I feel like it would result in me holding her most of the time. Although I don't know if many restaurants will allow strollers. 

What about toys, playmats, etc?
 -Right now she uses her kick and play daily as well as her bouncer as well as her bumbo. Should we just leave those at home?

Feeding? 
-Right now I'm fully breastfeeding her and we supplement frozen breastmilk if I'm not making enough. Usually 6oz a day. I have pretty much stopped pumping and really don't want to drag my pump with us. Should we just take powder formula or try to bring some frozen milk on the plane? (we aren't planning on checking a bag.)

Anything else I should think about?

[marina007]

I would bring a stroller. For me, having somewhere she can sleep is key, and in my experience my DD could sometimes be a bit fickle about being worn. I'd bring a car seat too - does your stroller have an adapter so it can click in? I would not bring the car seat base for the car if it can be strapped in with the seatbelt.
I would skip playmat and bumbo - assuming you won't be home for oodles of time, and likely have family who will interact with the baby a bit too?

[anna7602]

What would be the point of taking the stroller AND the car seat? Do you anticipate being in a car? (Or is the stroller just for the upstate part of your trip?)? I have never used a car seat base, so I really don't see the point of traveling with one, either. Why would you need to bring it if you bring the seat?

It IS convenient to have a stroller in the city for a full-day outing, but I would not have one somewhere crowded like the parade.

I have never traveled with play mats and things like that. I would leave those at home. You'll probably be out and about all day anyway. Pack a few toys.

I don't know how you would fly with frozen milk and keep it frozen. If you're not opposed to using formula, that seems easier.

[marie3246]

Sept 20, 2014 15:07:30 GMT -5 marina007 said:

I would bring a stroller. For me, having somewhere she can sleep is key, and in my experience my DD could sometimes be a bit fickle about being worn. I'd bring a car seat too - does your stroller have an adapter so it can click in? I would not bring the car seat base for the car if it can be strapped in with the seatbelt.
I would skip playmat and bumbo - assuming you won't be home for oodles of time, and likely have family who will interact with the baby a bit too?

The stroller does have an adapter that the car seat and strap into. We have the britax b safe, I have never used it without the base and I am unsure if it can be strapped into a car with the seat belt. In the city we won't be home for tons of time, but when we get to upstate that is all we will be doing. H's family homes can sometimes be gross so I'm not sure how I feel about her rolling/crawling around on the floor....

[marie3246]

Sept 20, 2014 15:08:01 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

What would be the point of taking the stroller AND the car seat? Do you anticipate being in a car? (Or is the stroller just for the upstate part of your trip?)? I have never used a car seat base, so I really don't see the point of traveling with one, either. Why would you need to bring it if you bring the seat?

It IS convenient to have a stroller in the city for a full-day outing, but I would not have one somewhere crowded like the parade.

I have never traveled with play mats and things like that. I would leave those at home. You'll probably be out and about all day anyway. Pack a few toys.

I don't know how you would fly with frozen milk and keep it frozen. If you're not opposed to using formula, that seems easier.

Yes, we plan on being in a car. We are only in the city for 2 days and then the rest of the time we are renting a car so we will need a car seat. I was thinking the same thing about frozen milk. I think if its in the fridge it can last up to 5 days, but I'm not sure how much we could actually bring on the airplane. 

[Jalapeñomel]

I hate the stroller so much here...and PT is not stroller friendly, IMO. However, if you are going to be out and about all day, I would probably consider bringing it.

I wouldn't bring a playmat, just a blanket and a few toys.

[brooklyn]

I would not bring a carseat base. I never owned or used one, and installing with a seatbelt is super easy.

I wouldn't bring a playmat or whatever either. A small blanket and a few small toys are better. All the new sights that baby will be exposed to are entertaining enough.

[Deleted]

Our "throw money at the problem" solution was to get each set of grandparents their own carseat. It has made our lives so much simpler.

I would bring a stroller but keep in mind that you may not be able to use it as a makeshift crib/baby containment contraption in restaurants. Most are small and they'll ask you to fold it up and keep it in the back or behind the hostess stand. (Incidentally this has been true in all the cities where we travel, not just NY.) Can your LO sit in a high chair yet? I used to wear DD when she was under 5 months old (yes, even during dinner) or we'd have her in the infant seat, if she'd let us put her down.

[marie3246]

Sept 20, 2014 16:21:13 GMT -5 @linzercookie said:

Our "throw money at the problem" solution was to get each set of grandparents their own carseat. It has made our lives so much simpler.

I would bring a stroller but keep in mind that you may not be able to use it as a makeshift crib/baby containment contraption in restaurants. Most are small and they'll ask you to fold it up and keep it in the back or behind the hostess stand. (Incidentally this has been true in all the cities where we travel, not just NY.) Can your LO sit in a high chair yet? I used to wear DD when she was under 5 months old (yes, even during dinner) or we'd have her in the infant seat, if she'd let us put her down.

I was thinking about this, but they live so far away from us and we only visit once every year or every other year. H is also pretty upset that non of them make any effort to see us, so he wants to visit even less... So I don't want to buy one just for a few days use. I'm going to look into renting one thru the rental place. 

She cannot sit in a high chair yet, maybe in 2 months though. 

[anna7602]

Sept 20, 2014 15:32:12 GMT -5 marie3246 said:

Sept 20, 2014 15:08:01 GMT -5 anna7602 said:

I don't know how you would fly with frozen milk and keep it frozen. If you're not opposed to using formula, that seems easier.

 I was thinking the same thing about frozen milk. I think if its in the fridge it can last up to 5 days, but I'm not sure how much we could actually bring on the airplane. 

I have always used defrosted BM within 24 hours. 

[kershnic]

We usually choose to baby wear in the city over bringing a stroller. Subway elevators are gross and can be a pain to navigate, and strollers are hard in crowds. I can't think of many NYC restaurants that would let you have eh stroller at the table. Out of the city we have brought in a car seat but in the city we've always either held them or worn them in restaurants.

Don't bring a formal play mat but bring a few toys and use a blanket (bring, borrow, or buy a cheap one) for a clean surface to play.

Don't bring the base. Way too much weight and effort for no benefit.

eta: do not under any circumstances plan to bring the stroller to the parade.  You will regret it I promise.

eta2: we flew to Wisconsin for a long weekend with two 6 month olds and didn't bring a stroller.  No regrets at all.