When we told people we had decided to go to New York with our 8 month old daughter Allegra, they looked at us like we had just announced we were going to move to the North Pole to learn to speak polar bear.

“Um, that’s exciting” they all said, when their faces clearly said, “Are you nuts?”

Ok so we booked the trip when she was just a newborn and the idea of travelling with her then seemed so simple. After all - back then all she did was eat and sleep. What could be so hard?

In the lead up to the big departure date though our innocent plan of going to the US for a dash of work (Children’s fashion fairs Bubble and ENK) and a splash of play (visiting friends in NY, Chicago and then a little beach break in Hawaii on the way home) was starting to look like all work. My pile of things to take for Allegra was growing as tall as the empire state building and her sleeping patterns in the weeks preceding our departure went from not so bad to completely erratic. Even Allegra seemed to be trying to warn us- don’t do it!

I started calling Qantas obsessively twice a day to get our frequent flyer seats upgraded to business class. Suddenly the extra expense of points seemed completely justified for a bit more wiggling room for our very wriggly little girl. I was also madly trying to get someone to confirm that we at least had the bassinet in economy, and just how many mls of baby food in zip lock bags was I allowed on board?

In the end our 21hr flight with her (in economy - and yes by some miracle we got the bassinet/bulkhead!) was not all bad. We dove in with our eyes closed expecting the worst and our little angel behaved as well as could be expected. Of course she was crawling the walls by the end of it (but then we were too!) and we had a couple of excellent screaming sessions where I was sure we were going to be shown to some secret baby screaming room that I had never noticed before when flying - but we all got there in one piece and I even got to watch a couple of movies along the way which is a sheer miracle in itself!


"Up in the air, I fly" We got a spare seat between us and Allegra
seemed to like it!


Tips for flying with an infant:

- I found the most stressful thing about the flight is trying to keep your child quiet for other passengers comfort. But I soon realized that they all plug into their movie headset from take off until landing so they don’t care. And therefore nor should you!

- The bathroom is a useful place. Just as a change of scenery for your child- ooh look at the mirror, ooh a tap, wow a really noisy sucky, flushy sound…you get the picture.

- Its ok to let your 8 month old watch Kung Fu panda on the mini tv screen after 20 hours of trying to entertain her with the 6 toys you took along and singing 25 rounds of Old Macdonald’s farm. Just make sure the volume is down low on the headset!

- Spoons from the food tray ARE interesting. As are serviettes, torn pages of the inflight magazine and small containers of milk. Utilise everything within your reach to become a toy. In flight blanket? Perfect for peekaboo!

- Babies do not seem to like sleeping in those bassinette things. Well mine didn’t anyway. She would do 45 minutes and then wake screaming when she saw the harness seat belt above her head (I mean I would have too- totally claustrophobic and jail like!). So don’t stress too much if you don’t get one. They are however useful as a play pen!

- Take food for your baby - ignore the liquid limits and just pack whatever you want into ziplock bags. If I hadn’t - Allegra would have been eating her first ever dish of spaghetti with meatballs, a popper of apple juice and fruit cake for dessert because Qantas seemed to think we were travelling with an 8 year old not an 8 month old!


So anyway, all that being said - we got there. And it was fabulous and totally worth any dramas encountered along the way and the sleepless nights as Allegra adjusted to the time zone change. The fashion fairs were great and we found some really cool new labels that we know you’re just going to love (you’ll start to see them on the site soon we promise!).


I also had a great time checking out some posh Upper East side kid’s stores in NYC (just window shopping!) as well as looking at the standard issue gear for every American child from Gap, Ralph Lauren etc.

On the whole I have to say I found the vast majority of kid’s wear in the US (particularly in the department stores) pretty uninspiring. We have much more interesting things here in Australia I am proud to report!


New York on the whole is very kid friendly. It's so flat so walking everywhere is easy and as a result its de rigeur over there for 5year olds to still be pushed around in strollers! Even the subway was easy - New Yorkers always offered to help me up and down the subway stairs with the pram. Now that was a big surprise! The only bad thing about the subway was the ridiculous alarm that sounds on the entry/exit door to the platform when you have a stroller (because you can’t use the turnstiles). I swear Allegra lost 5% of her hearing from those doors - and I was not at all surprised to hear that some New York mums have mini headphones in their diaper bags to shield their babies ears on the way through.

Walking through Central Park we stumbled across an area that was like something out of the Nanny Diaries movie/book. There were nannies and their charges everywhere - having lunch on picnic rugs, playing on the grass or pushing babies around in prams. We even saw some in kind of nurses scrub style outfits! We definitely noticed that you start to do a double take on the streets of Manhattan (and to a lesser degree, Brooklyn) when you see a woman or man pushing a child in a stroller who looks to be their own. Nannies are soooo common - everyone has one. It seems almost odd to not have one!

While there we stayed in Brooklyn with friends in their awesome 4 storey brownstone. Brooklyn is very cool and super family friendly- definitely worth checking out. It’s like a big sigh of relief when you get off the subway from the frenzy of Manhattan into the leafy, tree lined streets of Brooklyn.


Here’s some highlights to our time in the Big Apple…


On the subway platform with Daddy.


Savouring the treats at Magnolia Bakery (yep the same one from Sex
and the City!) with my sister Alicia who was travelling through NY at the
same time.


Allegra and I check out Bonpoint in Soho... we walked in, read some price
tags and walked pretty much straight out again. The teenee weenee little toy
kitten I was going to buy her as a souvenir of Suri Cruise's favourite shop
(and I now understand why!) was $480. Um yeah... can we layby that to pick up
when she is 18?


The people of Brooklyn are breeding like something crazy - and Area Kids is
on practically every street corner ready to service their needs. It's a cool
kids store... but not as cool as BGS of course!


The leafy streets of Brooklyn


Just one of the locals in my NY cap...


Our friend's lovely brownstone in Brooklyn. I felt like Miranda from SATC!


In Central Park - but of course
















My new all time favourite store ever... ABC carpet and home. The kids
department was swoon-worthy. So beautiful - and with prices to match, darn
it!


"Be honest - do you think these Marc Jacobs sunnies are just a tad too big
for my face?"


Final tips:

- Our lightweight Maclaren stroller was a god send. So easy, so light and we could even push it right up to board the plane.

- Don’t make the mistake I did and pack a million and one huggies and a whole lot of baby food, wipes and toys. Americans have huggies, they have wipes- heck they even have baby food. Who knew? They have way more choice than we do so its kind of fun to try out different brands and I was annoyed I had to use my boring stuff from home the whole time!

- American coffee is an entirely different beast to Aussie coffee. Like comparing apples to oranges. I kept persisting and ordering them all over the place but in the end I switched to tea! On the upside they make a mean sandwich- as a country they have seriously perfected the art of the sandwich. I mean toasted sourdough with smoked ham, pear, rocket, gruyere cheese and walnuts? Seriously yum. And food is cheaper than Australia- even organic food (which is really widely available and super mainstream) is cheaper than what we pay for regular food. Visit a Wholefoods store and prepare to be dazzled and truly overwhelmed by choice.


I could write so much more, but in conclusion - it was fantastic. And we’re really excited about the new brands we found at the trade fairs for you (and after all that was the main purpose of the trip!).

As much as it was hard work travelling with a small person - it was absolutely worth it (as I’m sure any of you would agree who have done any long haul travel with your kids).

To sign off I have to include a pic of our little travelling bub in Hawaii (which was just beautiful by the way). As you can see I couldn’t resist buying her a hula outfit complete with coconut bra. It’s not stylish I know but it is very funny I’m sure you’ll agree. Happy travels!

Xx Daniela (head style baby)

Dear Daniela

I just read your NYC trip blog and was wondering where you got your gorgeous brown handbag from and what brand it is. It looks lovely and soft and I like that it can sling across the body-very handy with kids!! Allegra is gorgeous by the way.

Thankyou

Kind Regards
Brittany

Daniela says- Thanks so much Brittany! It’s a Samvara design from a few years ago so not available now unfortunately, sorry! My very stylish mother-in-law gave me that one, I know how lucky am I?

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It's great to hear of your exciting holiday with baby Allegra.

We travelled to Singapore with my eldest daughter when she was 8 months old and had a great time. The people in Singapore love Aussie babies. We couldn't walk 2 feet without being stopped for a photo op.

Last year we travelled to the US with my 2 girls in tow, Jemma 5 and Madison 3. We stayed in Vegas for 7 nights and then Anaheim for 10 nights. We too got the "are you crazy!" comments but on a hole found the kids had a great time. We did travel with 2 other families (who also had 2 children each, that's 6 children altogether!) but found it was a great idea as we could all share babysitting duties. Vegas has alot for children to do, the pools and kids clubs are brilliant and some restaurants even cater for children. I recommend Disneyland before the kids get too old and past the Disney Princesses / Nemo stage.

Happy travelling!

Leigh

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Hi,
I was so delighted to read of your travels to NYC. I too remember how everyone thought we were mad when we travelled to Thailand when our son was almost 6 months old. and then we copped the flak all over again when we headed to Europe for 5 weeks when he was 11 months old. Whilst i agree with you that travelling will never be the same again - it is a unique delight to see the world with them and make such great memories. I will never forget strolling the streets of paris with my two favourite boys - my adorable son and amazing husband. what better way for you to experience NYC than with your own adorable daughter!! Tegan

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Hi

I was just wondering if you could ask Daniella when she went to brooklyn there was a pic of her at a furniture shop she was sitting on a Reddy/pink lounge Could you Please ask her what the name of the shop was

And also if she thinks it would be expensive to go to Brooklyn for 10 days

Thanks

Love the stuff from your site

Teena

Daniela says- Thanks Teena this shot was taken in ABC Carpet and Home which is in Manhattan not Brooklyn. I’m not sure how expensive it would be to stay in Brooklyn for ten days sorry as we were fortunate enough to stay with friends. But it would certainly be a cheaper way to see New York than to stay on Manhattan Island!

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I just read the blog entry about your trip to New York and I wanted to share a site that can help anyone traveling to the US with a baby travel lighter. In the end you remind the readers that they don't need to carry their nappies or food. Our site Babies Travel Lite can take that to a whole new level. You don't have to bring anything to care for your baby with you and you don't have to worry about shopping for it either. Order in advance of your trip and have everything waiting for you at your destination. Check it out at www.babiestravellite.com.

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Hi Daniela,
I had to laugh when I read your blog about your travels. We took our daughter for her first o/s trip when she was 8 months too and got similar reactions from everyone. But it was great and we haven't looked back. Before our daughter was 2 she'd been to Singapore twice, New zealand and Japan. We are about to go to China and Hong Kong with her too (she has just turned 3). Some travel essentials we have discovered are ... the Quicksmart stroller - incredible useful, weighs 5kg and it fits in an overhead locker. We also found that taking a kinderkot with us solved all the sleeping issues. It is basically a cross between a pop up tent, a swag and a port a cot but can fit up to a four year old. Instant familiarity at only 3kgs that fits in a suitcase. We also invested in a small laptop which we fill with the current favourites wiggles, dora etc and it can be used with or without headphones. Great for on or off the plane.
Glad you had a good trip and keep up the travelling. For the extra hassle, taking your child to experience different countries/cultures is well worth it.
Cheers
Louise

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Hi Daniela,
Great post on your trip to NYC with gorgeous (and fashionable) Allegra! So smart that you stayed in Brooklyn. We just did the same trip in August with our Sophie who was 11 months old. Our tips:
* We stopped at Vancouver on the way over and San Francisco on the way back to break up the length of the flight a little. Worked well for us
* Love the Maclaren!!!!!
* If you have to stay in a hotel room, see if the wheelchair-accessible room is available, as they have extra-wide bathrooms and (I know this sounds gross) you can fit the hotel crib/cot in most of them - separate sleeping area!
* Be aware that for some airlines (are you listening United?), the bassinet is not actually fixed to the wall, but a vinyl gym bag with a zipped top (mummy style) that you put on the floor under your feet. Not good! Also, that in the bassinet/bulkhead seats the arms do not raise between the seats as they have food trays stashed in them.
* Introduce your baby to the people around you straight away; they are less likely to get annoyed with a baby once they know their name, and have had a nice toothless grin.

Best wishes,
Steph Bond @ Bondville
www.stephbond.com

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Check out Shannon Noll's boys all decked out in Baby's Got Style Gear.