The Zogs recently returned from a two week return to my favorite city in the world. We had a more than fabulous time. One big difference in our trip was that we are very familiar with the city and we received some great advice from other New York mamas. We did have a tiny major hiccup with our stroller, but more on that in another post.
Here’s a list of helpful tips for when you’re traveling to a big city with your baby or toddler. A few of these are specific to New York.
Getting to and from the airport
- Choose whether you want to bring your car seat. It can make a difference whether your child is still in an infant carrier or has progressed to a convertible car seat. We have a Diono, which folds for travel – but weighs a ton. In New York, you are not required to use a car seat on a bus or in a taxi. That being said, I would never recommend this option. We chose to use a car service between JFK and Manhattan.
- If you are not bringing your car seat, book a car service that provides one at a nominal cost.
Car services that offer car seats:
Legends Limousine: You can choose which type of car you’d like to ride in. Car seats are available for $8. Legends is one of the easiest to use online and will allow you to tell them if you need a car seat in a drop down box and select what age of child you have. We personally used Legends on this trip and they were fantastic.
Eastern Car Service: Their online reservation process isn’t as slick but Eastern’s actual service has been fabulous for us. Car seats are available for $5.
Dial7 Car & Limousine Service: Dial7 is one of the larger car service companies in the NYC area. You will have to reserve an SUV if you require a car seat. The cost at this time is $75 for the service between JFK and Manhattan.
KidCarNY: This is the most expensive but also the most exclusive. KidCarNY charges $160 each way, which is significantly more than any of the previously mentioned services. However, the drivers are specially trained.
You can also take the train in from JFK, but if you are lugging a child and luggage, this can be a burden. I personally think it’s worth it to pay, but if that’s not in the budget, it’s hard to beat the price of the train in.
Getting around the city:
You really have two options here. And you may choose both.
1. Baby wear:
We brought our Ergo, and thank heavens we did because the not-so-great Delta Airlines, destroyed our very expensive stroller. We had brought it as a back up, not thinking that Baby Zog would stand to be in it any longer at 14 months and a true wiggler, but he did just fine. He fought a bit when his daddy wore him, but when I wore him, he seemed to take extra naps. Just fine by me.
Benefits to baby wearing in NYC:
- You can manage crowds MUCH easier
- You do not have to find elevators at all the subway stations
- You will fit many more places. NYC is not a spacious place.
And the dark side of baby wearing in the city:
- You will eventually tire of carrying your child. I felt the burn in my tuchus when carrying my 22 lb baby boy.
- Your coat will probably not fit around your baby, meaning they will be exposed to the elements. If your child wears a coat, they will probably overheat. It’s a tricky situation.
2. Use a stroller:
You will see some super-duper, uber-ritzy strollers while you’re strolling around the city. We chose to bring our Phil & Ted’s stroller on the trip. As mentioned previously, we had an incident with Delta Airlines, leaving us stroller-less. An umbrella stroller has the benefits of being smaller and less costly to replace if an airline decides to destroy your stroller and then refuses to compensate (after they acknowledge fault). The cons are that there is little to no storage space and depending on your stroller, your wheels may not be able to handle the terrain. I’m a big believer in putting money into a nice stroller. We purchased the Phil & Ted’s because it can transition to a double stroller, yet it is inline, meaning it keeps the same width when you have two kiddos sitting in it.
For travel in the airport, I highly recommend using a Snap ‘n Go. We’ve used that on previous trips when Baby Zog was closer to, well, a baby. It’s lightweight and once again, if Delta or another airline decides to break your belongings, you will be out less money.
If you’re wondering how to dress your baby/toddler during the winter in NYC, I got you covered.
And if you’re interested in our “occurrence” with Delta, feel free to click here. Wouldn’t it be great if big ol’ companies learned they shouldn’t take advantage of individuals? We can be pretty powerful when banding together.
And if you need ideas about how to handle a baby/toddler on a flight, click here. {coming soon}
