New York with a baby
 

Any suggestions for the best place to stay in New York for a week with an 18 Month old baby.In August.

You have to be kidding.

Manhattan in August with an 18-month old is perhps not the best choice. Traveling with a toddler in the city is challenging at any time - they tend not to understand waiting on line - which is necesary for most everything. But in good weather you can take kiddy breaks at the zoo or playground for the little one to run around and get rid of some energy. I'm not sure that would work in August.

Be sure that you have a very small foldable stroller - large one aren't allowed on the bus - and stollers and the subway just don;t mix - there are way too many stairs to negotiate. Or you might consider just cabbing everywhere.

Are there enough of you that someone can mind the baby if you want to go out in the evening - to the theater or ?

Ridiculous responses. There are many people who live in Manhattan with children, including many friends and neighbors of mine (and hopefully myself in the not too distant future). The people I know that have moved out of the city after having kids did so because of money reasons (cost of a big apt, schools, etc.), and if they could have afforded it would have loved to stay in the city.

Obviously, you'll have to plan ahead accordingly. But that goes without saying whenever you travel with an 18-month old.

Unfortunately, I can not offer much advice on a particularly good place to stay with a baby. You didn't give any other info (cost, neighborhood, etc.) to help offer a suggestion.

Certainly, I would suggest trying to stay near the Park since it may be brutually hot then and the park is wonderful over the summer. I would definitely avoid Times Square because those are the most crowded/difficult to navigate sidewalks (I would offer that advice to all travelers to NY, but esp w/ a baby). And I would just call whatever hotel you end up considering before you book to make sure there are no or minimal stairs involved. In general, August is probably among the best times to come if you can stand the heat because the city will be fairly empty with lots of people on vacation.

Just a reminder that the Republican Convention is here the last week in August - expect long delays and inconveniences for traffic and security.

Obviously there are many people in Manhattan with toddlers. And they obviously occasionally do toruist type things with the baby along. But doing one touristy thing every couple of weeks is far different from trying to play tourist in a concentratred period while dragging a toddler along. Especially in August the baby is going to have no interest in much except a pool or a shady sandbox - and why come all the way to NY to do that with a baby?

If it were me I would either wait for better weather (late Sept or Oct) or leave the baby with the grandparents and come just for a long weekend. (IMHO adults will see far more in a long wekend by themselves- including theaters and nice restaurants they can't do with a baby - than in a week with a toddler along.)

However, I agree about the hotel location. do not even consider Times Square - way too crowded to navigate with a stroller. Perhaps the upper west side is a good choice. Easy access to the Park for baby's amusement, lots of inexpensive restaurants where a child would be welcome and reasonalby good bus service up and downtown.

I would recommend avoiding the Times Square area where the sidewalks are mobbed.

It's difficult to navigate the crowded sidewalks everywhere though. And "a very small foldable stroller" will not provide much protection from brief cases, shopping bags, etc. swinging all about at the child's level.

A hotel near a park and also near a Grayline hop on/hop off bus stop would be favorable. The Grayline buses have a place on the bottom to stow your stroller. Though you do have to climb a rather narrow and curved staircase to get to the upper deck, folks with toddlers do this all the time.

You may have to be persistent in hailing taxis. I've noticed taxi drivers tend not to see folks holding strollers.

One of my very dear friends lives on the Upper West Side and manages two very small children and this is what I've observed when I visit her.

Collapsable umbrella stroller. The bus is your friend. Much easier than the subway and cabs can be hard to find sometimes.

Eat early. Restaurants are easier to manage with kids around six before the restaurants get full. Some may not be kid friendly so you may want to call to see if they have high chairs.

The Plaza Hotel is very kid friendly and very near the park.

Le Parker Meridian is also and has a swimming pool.

Things to do: Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty, Natural Museum of History, Toys R Us in Times Square, Levin Playground in Central Park (5th & 77th), Children's Museum, Children's Art Museum, Intrepid Museum, to name a few.

Thanks for all your responses.We are actually travelling from Australia so we are well aware of the daunting task ahead but know it is worth it.

Hello RubyJ,
Just curious...how did your NYC trip go? We just returned from 5 nights in NYC with our 16 month old. We stayed at the Kimberly. We used public transit exclusively (even from LaGuardia). It rained off and on all week, but not enough to keep us in the hotel.

About the Kimberly...it was very convenient, clean, and comfortable. We had a one bedroom which was plenty big for us. The baby had room to play and the kitchen was fully equipped, so making meals for the baby was easy. A grocery store was three blocks away. We would stay there again.

Any specific questions about travelling in NYC with a toddler are welcome.

Alice would love to hear a bit more about the Kimberly. It's supposed to have a pool, right? Did you see it or use it? Can you say what you paid/night and where you booked the res.? Other posters are often looking for suite type hotels.

We just spend a week in NYC with an 8 month old. We stayed at the Inn on 23rd. They had a pack-n-play for her and were more than accommodating. There was also a family with a 2 year old at the time who also raved about the service. They have a refrigerator for use and a big library which was nice to use when you wanted to rest but not be in the room.

I think something near park space would be nice, for down time with your toddler. Central Park west is a nice location, residential with lots of restaurants and shops, and near transportation to many sites.

Also check out the affinia line of hotels. They have suites with kitchens that would come in handy with a toddler.

Details regarding the Kimberly...
I booked through Hotel Connections
( http://www.hotelconxions.com )

Express Hotel Reservations
( http://www.express-res.com ) also had good rates for the Kimberly.

Regarding a pool: They do have a pool available in one of their affiliated health clubs, however, we did not venture out to use the club.

As far as lines, the only line that was a pain was for the Empire State Building as it was not air conditioned (due to remodeling) and it was late in the day and we were all tired (our fault).

Other lines (example: waiting for the boat to Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island) weren't too bad (possibly due to the light rain). We packed treats and brought out a few toys as needed. We chased a lot of birds in various parks. We seemed to find every tractor/utility vehicle in Central Park (only parents of toddlers will understand this!).

We tried to time our visit to the Met (and other museums) with the baby's nap, then when he woke up (and wanted out of the stroller), we split up and one of us went to the park to play. We had cell phones and arranged to swap at appropriate intervals. This worked out well.

He was intrigued by the Guggenheim (where they have loaner backpacks for babies/toddlers). The backpack gave him a different "ride" which was a nice change for him.

The baby loved all the walking and enjoyed pointing out all the other babies (lots of children in strollers!).
He also really liked riding the subway (what toddler doesn't love "choo choos"?!). Anytime a walk was getting old, a fire truck or dump truck would appear and break up the monotony and somehow buy us another 10-15 minutes of walking or people watching.
I highly recommend walking across the Brooklyn Bridge (toward Manhattan). My husband and I enjoyed the views and the baby thought it was all sorts of fun to watch the cars below.

We went to the Intripid Air/Space Museum because we thought the baby would enjoy seeing the planes. He did enjoy the planes but really liked the little utility vehicle that picks up the refuge cans. Go figure.

Sure...there were mishaps, but they were minor in the big picture. And, we didn't "fine dine", but that's not really what we do at this point in our lives. We didn't move at the pace we would have before the baby came, but that was okay as well. Good luck everyone.