3 Days in New York City with a toddler

Embarking on a New York City adventure with a toddler can seem daunting, and we’ve postponed until our daughter is 3Y4M this summer when we can enjoy a lot more activities together. With some planning, it turned out to be an unforgettable experience for us with our daughter. Here’s our journey through the Big Apple, where we arrived the city on a Wednesday afternoon and spent about 3.5 full days during this trip.

Lodging

After searching for hotels under 300 USD per night for a room with 2 beds (we have not tried co-sleeping) near Midtown and almost giving up, we found the New Yorker, a Wyndham hotel in Midtown and right next to the Penn Station for Amtrak and FlixBus for our arrival and departure respectively. The location was convenient for exploring places in our plan, and there were plenty of food options and things to do nearby. The hotel staff was very nice and gave us the room earlier when she saw our daughter. Even though the room had an internet issue that wasn’t easily solvable, they changed our room to a higher floor with a great view of the Empire State Building and waived our resort fee for the day. The resort fee was additional, and they charged $5 per item if leaving any bags or luggages on the day of checkout. The building was more than 90 years old, the room might have a bit awkward design but overall was comfortable for our stay. We were able to request a crib for our daughter and switched to a queen-size bed instead of 2 double beds.

Getting Around

In/out of NYC

Amtrak: We boarded at Philadelphia 30th Station for Penn Station (31st Street) in NYC, which took about 1.5 hours including a bit of delay. While waiting in line 15 minutes before the departure time, the staff kindly led us to board first using the elevator, making the process much smoother with a toddler in tow. We grabbed a tasty sandwich from Pret A Manger at the station (there was also two Dunkin’s) to eat on the train.
FlixBus: We departed from 31st Street and 8th Avenue, at the lot with a light green wall. Seat numbers weren’t enforced, so we arrived early to have more seat options. There are lots of bus options that go to smaller towns, it only took us 2.5 hours to get back to my in-laws in Scranton area and our daughter took a good nap on the comfortable bus ride.

Subway

While convenient, we found it pretty hot in the summer, with occasional out-of-service elevators, and the absence of guard rails and amenities like bathrooms in many stations. We also encountered people smoking on the platform. Being used to public transportation in Asia, we were not very accustomed to the overall experience but we still preferred the subway for its convenience. We brought the portable car seat and didn’t have to use it for this trip as we walked and took the subway for all transportation.

Stroller strategy

We opted for a travel-oriented stroller (ErgoBaby Metro+) that can be folded into half as a carry-on on an airplane, which proved invaluable in the city. Even though more subway stations were becoming accessible, there were still a few stations or exits that did not have an elevator for a stroller. A few places offered stroller parking:

Kinokuniya bookstore (park at the register and receive a number)
Some restaurants allowed us to keep the stroller inside

Dining experiences

Dinner at Junior’s

A cheesecake restaurant from NYC where my husband had childhood memories with his family, we brought our daughter to have early dinner here. We came to the Broadway location around 5 PM, right among the hustle and bustle. The restaurant had an accessible bathroom with a diaper-changing table. Indoor seating had a longer 20+ minute wait, so we opted for the outdoor table. I shared a shrimp pasta with our daughter, and we split a deluxe strawberry cheesecake as our treat.

Burger at Shake Shack

One of our favorite burger chains usually only in big cities, we went for a quick lunch after the Transit Museum in Brooklyn. They have a restroom but the diaper-changing table had two cigarettes sitting on it when we went. Our daughter had her own ShackBurger, and we shared a lemonade on a hot summer day.

Burmese food at Rangoon

We are fans of Burmese food from living in the Bay Area, and we thought NYC is probably one of the few places we can have it again on the East Coast. While the location we went in Brooklyn near the Brooklyn Children’s Museum was recently closed, the Chelsea location still seems open. We shared a tea leaf salad (gave our daughter some peanuts before mixing it), crispy chicken dry noodles, and vegetable curry rice. The tea leaf salad was on the sour side, a bit different from the taste we were used to.

Korean feast BCD Tofu House

We came here and its Los Angeles location quite a few years ago, and it was a fun experience bringing our daughter this year. It is located right in the Korean town, with its own interior style and classic metal utensils. We shared two combos, bulgogi beef and pork bibimbap, that both came with a soon tofu. The portion was decent, they had high chairs and kids utensils, and the staff was friendly.

Healthy lunch at Sweetgreen

A salad chain that I missed from the time we were in the US, we visited the location near the American Museum of Natural History for lunch. They had high chairs, offered kids’ meals with a couple of options, and it was spacious enough to park a stroller.

Fusion ramen at Kajiken Ramen

It was a last minute pick on the walk back from the subway after Central Park, and we enjoyed some Japanese and fusion food after a long day. We shared an order of takoyaki, and our daughter and I split the old bay ebi (shrimp) soba with some side dishes. The soba was pretty well seasoned. They did not have high chairs as the space was a bit limited, we folded our stroller to store it at the table.

Poke Bar

On our last day, we had an early lunch at the Poke Bar inside the Urban Outfitters store. We like getting poke with our daughter for its variety of sides and cooked protein options. I shared a bowl with our daughter, the portion was pretty big and it was one of the lowest cost meals this trip with $40 for 3 people. They did not have high chairs or kids utensils, we all sat on high bar stools and we put the stroller behind her seat in case she falls backward. There were quite a few poke chains and locations when we searched.

Magnolia Bakery (34th Penn Station)

A dessert that brought back some fond memories recommended by my cousin more than a decade ago, we had to get a small order of banana pudding before the end of our trip. The banana flavor and texture were hard to find. Takeout orders were pretty quick and it was convenient when catching a train at this Moynihan Train Hall location.

Bagel breakfast

As it is hard to find authentic NY style bagels where we live, we had bagels for breakfast almost every day for 3 mornings of our trip. Fortunately, there were plenty of great bagel options near our hotel.

Russ & Daughters

A popular Jewish bagel joint, we always tried to have a fish bagel here when we visited the city. They specialize in a variety of fish and cream cheese (all savory) that are very fresh. Our daughter and I shared a Heebster (whitefish & baked salmon salad with horseradish-dill cream cheese & wasabi flying fish roe) and an everything bagel with tomato and scallion cream cheese. The portion was large, and we finished some leftover at lunch. The 34th Street location was spacious enough with quite a few tables and a restroom, we enjoyed our bagels there.

Best Bagel & Coffee

We got takeout to eat at our hotel, it cost a lot less than the fish bagels but also very good. Our daughter was happy to get blueberry bagel as her favorite kind of bagel, with strawberry cream cheese.

Brooklyn Bagel

On our last day, we walked to Brooklyn Bagel and enjoyed our last bagel in the city. We shared a bialys with scallion cream cheese, which was very rich with a lot of scallions inside. It was very filling and a perfect way to end our trip.

Attractions and activities

Day 1: museums in Brooklyn

New York Transit Museum

We planned to come here last minute, and got the tickets online the day before to skip the line. We enjoyed this museum a lot, I learned more about the history of the NYC subway and they had lots of kids friendly facilities. Going down the stairs, there were actual vintage trains from the early days which were my favorite part of the museum. We stepped in to many different trains, time traveling to earlier time with various interior design and interesting ads at the time.

Brooklyn Children’s Museum

For this museum, we came on a free day (Thursday) afternoon in the summer time which turned out to be a mistake. Even with a reservation system, the crowd was beyond my comfort level. Almost every corner of this place was in disarray, with items missing or space being overcrowded. Next time we would come at an off time, and wear a mask when it is crowded (I got sick at the end of the trip). There were quite a few different areas with fun educational facilities and interactive exhibits, our daughter loved the water area in particular. There is also a park outside the museum within five minute walk, we played there before heading to dinner.

Day 2: along the Highline

Walking the Highline

We entered from the entrance near the Vessel. It was a pleasant walk, with occasional shade and artsy arrangements along the way. Our daughter walked on her own and she liked all the different fun surprises either on the path or from the buildings nearby. We ended the walk at the Chelsea Market.

Taco lunch at Chelsea Market

We got to the indoor Chelsea Market at early 11 AM, and there were still plenty of tables available. There were a bunch of stores and vendors for browsing like the Hot Ones hot sauce, and we got three orders of tacos at the popular Los Tacos No. 1 for lunch. The diaper changing tables in the restroom downstairs were fancy with UV light disinfection.

Little steps to the Little Island

Little Island at Pier 55 is an artificial island and was open in 2021 after our last trip to NYC. It was less than 10-minute walk from the Chelsea Market, and we walked with our daughter through the island and enjoyed the water view before starting her nap. The tulip structure was unique, and the path was well designed that also offered an accessible way for our stroller. We first walked to a plaza that had some stands and tables. One area had a bubble machine and painting activity, though it was empty at the time and we did not inquire further. Later we walked up the stairs to see the Hudson River with Manhattan in the background, our daughter was very excited. There were a few kids friendly interactive exhibits along the way, our daughter loved the jumping music floor near the bathroom. The restrooms were pretty nice with diaper changing tables.

Day 3: Central Park area

Morning in the American Museum of Natural History

The nearest subway station (81st Street) was not accessible at the time we went, if accessibility is important A/C/E lines would be easier. The stroller had to be folded just upon entrance. We went on a Saturday morning shortly before it opened, the line was very long but moved pretty fast. The exhibits are a wonder for young eyes, our daughter was particularly enchanted by the sea creatures and mammals. It was also funny she liked touching the large tactile letters in front of the animal exhibit windows. We spent quite some time in the marine life section with the large whale.

Indoor play time at 81st Street Studio at MOMA

The recommendation came from a coworker, and we visited right after her stroller nap. It was easy to find the entrance near the fountain, and the restroom across from it had diaper changing facility. The studio was like a indoor play center, with some focus on arts in general and the toys were pretty unique and diverse from my visits to many parent child centers. The entrance policy wasn’t available online, maybe they keep changing or have different rules based on the crowd. When we went, they cleaned every half an hour and we got in right away about 20 minutes left. It wasn’t a huge space, but our daughter could totally stay for an hour or more if possible.

Central Park

One of the drawbacks of visiting NYC in the summer is the heat during the day, when our daughter had most of the activities. There are a few playgrounds inside the Central Park, and we walked to the Ancient Playground after the 81st Street Studio at 4 PM. Most of the kids were at the shaded sand area and the splash pad. We weren’t prepared for either, but will be next time we visit – rash guards for the splash pad, and some sand toys.

Family shopping

The following two were very close by in midtown, and we spent some time at these two stores after dinner at Junior’s.

Nintendo store

The only Nintendo store in the US, we took our daughter to see a few familiar characters like from Mario, Animal Crossing, and Pokemon. On the second floor, they had a display of Nintendo machines based on its history. Our daughter was excited by the many plushies and characters in the store, we got a cat peach plushie of her choice as her only gift this trip.

FAO Schwarz

We came to this grand 150-year-old toy store with lots of toys displayed at the windows, that my husband visited with his family before. There were many different types of toys to browse and some samples to play. On the upper floor (there was an elevator for strollers), we lined up to play the step-on piano on the floor. I tried it with our daughter for the second time to attempt a simple tune, and it proved to be quite challenging to play the piano with feet.

Diaper changing locations

At the time of travel, our daughter was still partially potty trained. It was also more convenient for us to change diapers instead of worrying about accidents or emergencies while traveling. On the other hand, finding diaper-changing tables wasn’t always an easy task. During our trip, we found changing facilities at the following locations. We also brought snap-on diapers so that it is easier to put on a new diaper in case we cannot find a table.

Wrap Up

New York City with a toddler was an exciting challenge for us, but we had a great time this trip with some planning ahead. Our daughter’s impression of the city was “too many sounds,” especially since we stayed in midtown with lots of sirens throughout the day. There are many other sights and neighborhoods that we did not get to explore this time, we will be back for sure to experience the Big Apple with our daughter in the near future.

Here is the full itinerary and lists of places that we considered for the New York trip:

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