USA - New York, Baby
The city that never sleeps welcomed us again!
We have been in New York 3 times - twice as a couple in 2017 and 2018 and this year we have traveled as a family having also our daughter with us.
Since I have received many questions about how I prepared for traveling to NYC with a 7.5 months old baby and since I realized that would have been helpful to have all the places where we have been in the past stored in a place, I decided to add this experience in my blog - maybe it inspires/helps some of you or even myself if we travel again there soon :).
We traveled KLM . They really make traveling with a baby fun and easy. (Thank you, KLM). Children who are younger than 2 years old can travel sitting on your lap free of charge (you only pay few airport fees). On the way there we had an extra seat where we could put the car seat of Anastasia and on the way back we have requested the special baby bed that was provided by KLM and put on the wall of the plane. She slept like a baby inside it.
Once we arrived there, we took an Uber and went straight to the hotel. We stayed this time on 8th Ave. Before we stayed on 6th and Lexington - I think I liked it more before. Nevertheless, the main attraction areas are all quite close by.
As it is still pandemy, wee decided to walk throughout the city and not take metro, bus or ubers (except to and from airport). Our stroller did amazing and we walked daily between 20.000 and 30.000 steps. We have Bugaboo Fox 3 and are very happy with it. Also Anastasia was amazing - she allowed us to feed and change her in museums, shops or restaurants :)
Below I would like to share the key attractions for us when traveling to New York and few advices, or well maybe too much said advices - things that helped me while I traveled with a baby.
Favorite museums / attractions :
MOMA - especially for the romanians, you will enjoy seeing a beautiful collection of Brâncuși - we go here everytime! :) On top of it you will be impressed seeing the spectacular paintings of Vincent Van Gogh, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Gustav Klimt, Claude Monet and many others.
Rockefellar Centre - here you may ice skate or just enjoy beautiful buildings and the show of lights and music (during holiday season).
St Patrick`s Cathedral - opposite to the Rockefellar Centre. Very impressive and beautiful.
A walk in the Central Park
Museum of Mathematics - MOMATH - very fun. not baby friendly, but definetly kids friendly (of all ages).
The Morgan Library & Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art - it is huge. you should dedicate enough time.
Guggenheim museum
Empire State Building - nice to do it once for the view
Grand Central Terminal - very beautiful inside - besides that not much to do there:) you can have a coffee @Grumpy Cafe afterwards
Brooklyn Bridge - lovely walking on it
Statue of Liberty - make sure you are properly dressed if you go there in winter. It was always freezing cald and a lot of wind.
World Trade Center - nice to do it once for the view. Also, close to it you will see the Memorial 11th September.
The Art and Design Center - to see beautiful grafitti
Times Square - extremly busy, but nice to walk past it to live the New York vibe. We have tried once to spend the New Years Eve there, but was a bad idea. The streets were packed since the morning and there was absolutely no chance to come close to the scene to see the concern and the ball drop. I do not recommend this, but arranging a nice party in a restaurant.
Musicals - must do when in NYC:
- We have been only to the Lions King. We loved it - totally recommend it!
Shopping :
- 5th Avenue - clothes & not only
- Macy`s
- Woodbury Premium Outlet - clothes & not only
- Whole Foods - groceries
- Buy Buy Baby - huge shop full of baby stuff - years ago I was leaving New York with bags from VS and other shops, now I left with many bags from this shop :)
Coffee Places / Brunch Places we like :
Felix Roasting Company - super beautiful & everything is very tasty and instagramable
Ralph Laurens Coffee - the coffee is nice. You may find a Ralph Lauren mini van in front of Rockefeller Centre or you may go to the Ralph Lauren`s Coffee shop (at the time I have been you could only enjoy coffee outside on the terrace) - next to RL flahship store.
Cha Cha Matcha - Matcha Heaven with healthy drinks and nice matcha combinations.
Grumpy Coffee - good coffee , but grumpy staff :)
Best Bagel & Coffee - You cannot visit New York without eating some bagels. I found the ones from this place the most tasty ones. Fun thing is that they are on the same street as the Liberty ones.
Liberty Bagels (here you can find very instagramable rainbow bagels)
Restaurants where we would go the 2nd time for dinner:
The Polo Bar - our must when in town - I just love the vibe. You should make reservation on time and proper attire is recommended. We like to start with a cocktail at the bar, followed by the dinner and then to close the evening back in the bar. During one of our dinners we stayed close to Woody Allen so everything can happen here :)
Cipriani - we have spent NYE here in 2018. Was very nice, although we had to stay in a long queue outside (in cold) to wait to enter.
Tonchin - a hidden gem, where Tokyo meets New York. We have been here 2 times during this trip. Very tasty food. Light was not good so couldn`t take pictures :) This is a Michelin recommended japanese restaurant in midtown specialized in ramen, buns and shaved ice.
The Clocktower - elegant nice place, british style. As they present themselves “A taste of contemporary London in bustling Madison Square Park.”
Lobster and Burgers - nice for an easy and fast dinner (but heavy). Service was so and so, but food was good.
Tips for traveling with the baby :
- at take off and before landing make sure that you are feeding the baby. This trick helps for the air pressure from the ears.
- if formula feeding, make sure you bring enough milk powder with you.For example our formula is not approved yet in USA so we would not have been able to find it.
- if formula feeding, make sure you are using a bottled water that is baby approved. Since we had a bad experience in Italy (with bottled water), we are giving to our daughter always Evian as you can find it anywhere and is baby approved.
- during the flight we kept her busy with her favorite toys, 2 books (Usborne) and food
jetlag didn`t affect her at all during the trip, but on the return. We decided not to stress her, but to let herself adapt back to our timezone etc.
we had with us clothes just at the limit (for 8 days) :
- 2 jackets (one out of wool and a ski one - had to to be as back-up in case one is wet/dirty)
- 2 hats (same principle)
- 10 pyjamas
- 16 bodies
- 8 pants
- 20 bibs
- 1 pacifier (our daughter is not really using it. I decided to wait up to when she was 3 months old before giving it to her for the first time so she got used without it)
for food we gave her packs of mashed veggies or fruit from the commerce (I prefer the self-made ones at home, but during the holidays this is an acceptable option as long as they do not have added sugars and ideally are bio) : from Netherlands we bought Otrivit and from USA we bought Gerber
