Considering Traveling to NYC with 8-Month Old

Give it a try. You'll be sad you missed the wedding especially when you realise how easy babies are to travel with compared to toddlers, I am sure!

I wouldn't worry too much about throwing off his schedule. I have travelled a lot with our now 8-mos-old, and he has been very resilient and flexible.

Ask your hosts if anyone else will be hiring a babysitter on the night, and see if you can either use that sitter or get a recommendation from someone in the area.

In the meantime, you could try babysitting a few times to get some practice. It's probably more for you than for your son -- I'm still not used to the idea myself!

As for freezing breastmilk in advance, can you take a pump with you? You'll probably need only one or two feeds' worth if it's just for the Saturday night.

As someone who is constantly being told to go out, relax a little, and enjoy my life for a few hours without the baby, I must pass on the advice! Have fun.

We've traveled a lot with our kids, and in our experience it was much easier to travel with them as babies. Can you bring your son to the wedding? If not, can you bring along someone he knows to watch him? It's a huge added expense, but it may be worth it. Good luck in your decision.

i've always wonders how does the whole car seat and cabs in nyc thing work? do you just carry around the car seat and base with you or is it ok to just hold the baby in the backseat? i wonder how new yorkers who dont have cars get around, i cant imagine them only using subways and buses for the first few years of a baby's life.. have you found out about that?

It all up to you. My husband and I started traveling with our daughter when she was 4 months old, most recently to Europe at age 2. In retrospect, it was a lot easier when she was younger, so personally if I were in your shoes I would go. However, is taking your baby to the wedding and option? At eight months he is not walking and you can take turns holding him or put him in a stroller while he sleeps. I come from a large family, so children are never excluded from any family event including weddings. When we have attended religious ceremonies, I have kept my daughter busy with a favorite snack or bottle, this has worked like a charm. As for the time difference, since it's just for the weekend there wouldn't be a need to change his routine. We were in NY in June and jetlag was zero percent. Good luck to you and enjoy the wedding, if you decide to go.

Hi A.,

My little ones are veteran international travelers and everything was always just fine, especially when they were under a year old. If you would like to be at the wedding I say go. However, in your description, it sounds like it is you who may feel inconvenienced and stressed more so than the baby will.

I think a red eye is perfect and hopefully baby will be asleep for most of the journey. Packing gear for an airplane is no different than packing gear for the car, just a bigger bag I suppose.

I was still breast feeding my kids at 8 months and carried them in a sling so they were always close to the body and easy to discreetly feed. The airlines have special seats that can accomodate a little sleeping cot which they supply.

My children have traveled from Los Angeles to London, to France, back to London, to LA, to Vegas, back to LA, to Maui, back to London, again to Los Angeles and then to Kauai and throughout the Hawaiian islands when they were babies all over the course of 2 years. Long legs of traveling. They are now 5 and 7 and they love the adventure of flying.

The joy my children brought everywhere we went and the genuine love they received from just about everyone who laid eyes on them was a marvelous experience I wouldn't trade for anything. I have taken my babies to weddings and they have always been welcomed and cooed after. If you can't take baby to the ceremony perhaps you can ask the bride or groom for a suggestion of a great and trusted sitter.

I think it is all a matter of perspective as to you having a nightmare of a time or the time of your life.

Have fun and be adventurous!

C.