NYC - With a 9 month old?

[twoplustwo]

We are going to visit family in Detroit this summer, and I want to stop in NYC on the way back to visit my SIL.

My husband thinks I am crazy, he has been to NYC several times, I have never been. We would be driving our car, so we would have the stroller, car seat, ect with us so that we could walk and not have to carry all the spare things.

Am I completely off base thinking it won't be that bad?

Can you recommend any hotels that I won't need a small loan to afford for a few days? My sister lives in Astoria, so I am assuming we should be kinda close.

Any other thoughts of what I might be missing?

Thanks!!

[lishie]

My MIL is in Manhattan, and we've made several trips up with our kids to visit her. While we're not eating at Masa or LeBernadin, we've enjoyed our trips to NYC with our kids.

We tend to like Central Park anyway, so we spend a good bit of time wandering the park, going to the Childrens' zoo, playgrounds etc. We still eat out and wander the city as we did pre kids, we just have to take more breaks to let the kids burn off some energy.

Once he hit two, my older son started to LOVE the Manhattan Childrens' Museum. If you visit SIL again in a year or two, that might be a good place to go.

We always stay with MIL, so I can't speak to hotels.

[dutchgirl678]

I would love to visit NYC with our kids (4 and 1). I don't see why it would be a problem. I haven't been there in a long time but the couple of times we were there we stayed at the hotel Wolcott. Pretty central location and back then not too expensive.

[jjsbride]

We just visited with a 8 month old and a 3 1/2 year old.
It was a very easy visit for us.

Can you stay with your sister? If not I would actually get a hotel in her area...Its Queens right?
Its is significantly cheaper to stay there than in the city....
If you can stay near or with her, then I would just catch the train into the city.
So much cheaper than taking your car into the city.

Make sure you have a good stroller (we have a maclaren for my 3.5 yo and a city mini for the baby)...the roads and sidewalks are tore up something special.
We walked everywhere, but we are used to walking a lot.

Section your visit off; do Central Park/Times Square area one day, then Lower Manhattan the 2nd day.

FYI: You don't need a car seat to catch a cab/train since it public transportation.
Bring a baby carrier with you just in case your baby gets fussy in the stroller so you can keep moving and seeing things.
Toys R Us in times square has a great free restroom and a Babies R Us section in case you need something.
We had amazing pizza at John's pizzeria in Times Square. Very kid friendly. www.johnspizzerianyc.com/index2.htm
The most hectic part of the whole trip and it wasn't even that bad was getting back on the train and trying to find seats at the end of the day (it was rush hour for us ;-p) with a stroller and some extra bags of souvenirs.
There are more people, no seats, you are tired and it feels like you have way more stuff than you thought.
I would bring a few lightweight reusable shopping bags with you so you can consolidate everything.

Something else fun to do is hit up Good Morning America if you get there in the AM early enough. Cute babies always get on camera :-)

Let me know if you have any other questions!

[keweenawlove]

My family stayed at the Country Inn in Long Island City. It was significantly cheaper than staying in Manhattan and an easy subway ride to Times Square. The hotel was nice and well kept too.

[travelingturtle]

I don't think it will be bad at all. I haven't travelled to NY with my son, but we've been to a bunch of big cities. You just won't be able to do a lot of the nightlife stuff that you would've without bring the baby.

I do think staying away from the city is a better option so you don't have to deal with city traffic and the stroller you use is important. Don't plan to do too much each day.

[twoplustwo]

Awesome advise! Thanks so much everyone!

[bronxgirl]

NYC is an excellent vacation spot for babies and young kids. Tons of kids live here. Your baby will fit right in. Obviously you won't be going to clubs and fancy restaurants, but there is a ton of stuff to do. Have fun!!