Here are a few things I've found/considered, with prices. It's Manhattan-centric so add anything you've found! I'm also adding a *\* if this is a sensory-friendly environment for kids who need smaller crowds or less intensity.

I'm NOT affiliated with ANY of these companies and make no judgement about whether it's good/"worth it"!

Bowling: (I can't believe how expensive bowling is nowadays!)

Chelsea Piers Lucky Strike: $39/pp for 2 hours, including shoes. Also has an attached arcade. There's also a cheaper kids party option listed that is $29/pp for 1.5hrs and comes with pizza but I'm not sure what the rules are here

The Gutter: $42/per half hour per lane Sun-Wed, $50/half hour per lane on Th-Sat. Much quieter than Lucky Strike. Kids NOT allowed in the Brooklyn location at any time! Absurd.

Indoor Play:

Complete Playground: groupon has coupons! $36 per kid/adult pair for 2 hours of open play. Climbing, slide, bounce houses, play supermarket - lots to do. *\* - with the caveat that you should call ahead to check if any parties are scheduled. I've found mornings and late afternoons to be the most quiet. I don't think it's as ND-affirming as they claim, because they don't set aside slots for ND kids.

GameBox: Self-contained "whole body" games, including Paw Patrol and Angry Birds. $32 per child for 60 minutes. *\* because the rooms are fully self contained and game volume levels can be controlled by the player. Please note that you have to wear a helmet for the game to work, which may be difficult for sensory-sensitive kids

Museums:

Transit Museum: $5 per child, $10 adult. Incredible museum with amazing value. *\* very ND friendly! No music, no noise or bright lights. Mornings and the hour before closing are most quiet times.

The Met: Free for NYC residents. There's also the new 81 Street Studio with hands-on activities for kids.

Math Museum: Free admission day on Sept. 10th at 3pm. Hands on activities and open spaces. *\*

Other Stuff:

• WTC observation deck has NYC resident pricing - $36/adult, $30/kid and free for kids 5 and under
• Empire State Building has 25% off ticket for NYC residents
• NYC Ferry - we found we were more likely to get a "round trip" (aka not being asked to exit at the "last stop") when we took the East River route
• World Financial Center - as is the case since I was a 90s child, this is a great place to bring a kid on a rainy day. You can walk straight through to the WTC (and even to Chambers Street!) without ever getting wet! There's a kid-friendly Sixpoint Brewery, lots of places to snack or sit, clean bathrooms, and it's easy to come up with a fun scavenger hunt to find artwork/signs.
• Industry City is also a great run-around destination, but less so in the rain and way more on a beautiful day.
• Cars (2006) is being re-released at Regal Cinemas this week, with lots of afternoon matinee price showings
• Plane watching at JFK and LGA! We especially like JFK because of the AirTrain ride and the number of terminals we can visit. The TWA Airport Hotel also sells day passes to their rooftop pool for $50/adult, $10/child

Hi, our pediatrician clinic is charging $350 per kid as additional admin fees that we need to shell out in addition to insurance co-pays per visit and insurance premiums. No concierge services offered. I'm hearing this is a trend. Are parents pushing back against these practices?

My husband and I have two young kids (will be 5 and 2 at the time) and are expecting our third. For those of you without a local support system for childcare, who watched your children while you were giving birth? Are there any agencies that have experience in these things? I'm going to talk to our regular date night babysitters but I doubt that either will be up for a multi day engagement. Curious to hear how other families have worked through the logistics.

Any recommendations on private swim instructor for a 2.5 year old? I dont have a pool in my building and dont want to go in the water lol.

Ideally wv/tribeca/soho but will travel tbh

Thanks!

Hi everyone! We are planning a trip to NYC over thanksgiving with my extended family. There’s 10 adults and my husband and I are the only ones with a child, who will be newly 2 at the time. I have some questions about what would be most helpful for us to have.

We have a full sized stroller (Nuna Mixx Next) that is great on uneven pavement and comfortable for napping (babe will likely still be taking one long nap a day. Hopefully in the stroller as we’re out and about). And a smaller travel stroller (Uppababy Minu) that folds down very compact and light but the wheels are smaller so it’s a slightly bumpier ride, and it doesn’t lay completely flat for naps. Which stroller would you suggest we bring for our trip? We’re planning lots of walking and the typical tourist things, including watching the parade. I’m asking on here because I figured this group would likely be familiar with these strollers and have good recommendations.

Also, would you recommend we bring the car seat? I’m assuming we will only be taking a car to and from the airport. We’ve always brought our small infant car seats on trips but this is the first trip we will be taking since he was moved to the larger car seat which is obviously much more difficult to travel with.

Finally, any other recommendations or tips for NYC travel with a toddler? Any suggestions or thoughts would be greatly appreciated! This will be my 6th trip out there but my first as a parent! Thanks everyone!

Hi there, looking for an in-home daycare option in Chelsea area for our little one (7 months old), in the next 2 months. Finding it difficult to find at-home daycare options online. Would love some recommendations from those who have toured or their children go/have gone there.

(NYC) I’m honestly starting to panic a little. My daughter was recommended for a District 75 placement, but we still have not received an acceptance or been told what school she will be attending.
School starts in about 9 days and I have absolutely no idea where I’m supposed to be taking her on the first day. I’ve been following up and trying to get answers, but I still don’t have a placement.
Has anyone dealt with this with NYC DOE/District 75 before? Is it normal for placements to come this late? Who should I be contacting or escalating this to at this point?
I just want to make sure my daughter has a school to walk into on the first day and that I’m doing everything I’m supposed to be doing on my end. Any advice from other D75 parents would be really appreciated.

Hi all - I am 9 weeks along with a history of pregnancy loss (this is the farthest I've ever gotten) and it's time to graduate from my IVF clinic to an OB. Because of my history of loss, I have a very hard time taking this step without convincing myself I'm "jinxing" something, but my clinic is kicking me out (nicely and normally), so here we are.

I have friends who say finding an OB that is in your neighborhood (ie, walkable) is very helpful, especially later in pregnancy when you may not be up for having to commute on the subway all the time to your OB appointments. How important is this in reality?

I live in the Park Slope area and there are some OBs within walking distance with appointments, but I am a patient at Downtown Women in Soho (of a GYN only) and I wouldn't mind staying with that practice because I've had a fine experience. However, it's a 30 minute commute on the subway.

What is important to prioritize? Or do you pick a hospital first and then work backwards? And how do you even know what hospital to pick? If you live in Brooklyn, is it even realistic to pick a hospital in Manhattan? Or should I just be focused on the hospital closest to me in Park Slope, sheerly based on proximity?

I feel like these are things people think about well before they've gotten to this point, but again, all of these things feel so hard to contemplate for me, but I know I need to start getting the ball rolling ASAP. Thank you, friends!

Our baby isn’t arriving until spring 27 but I’m trying to do some research now. My mom said her tax guy convinced her to set up my 529 in a non-NY state and she got slammed on her taxes later so hoping to avoid something like that!

Basically the title - I want to take nice photos for our Christmas card and just to have. I am very self conscious of my weight since having the baby, so that would be a big point of contention for me, and I’m looking specifically for someone who has experience with postpartum/newborn shoots.

Thanks!

Need recommendation on where to buy classic used children's books in NYC

We are coming to NYC in Mid October for a consulate visit to get my children (21 months and 3.5) citizenship for their mother’s home country. For whatever reason they have to be there. Good luck if they think either will confirm identity or repeat anything other than “No.” The consulate is in Midtown East. I was thinking of staying there close as it’s close enough to Central Park but also away from Times Square Madness. The appointment is at 11:30 so I didn’t want to stay far and then lug it across town with a tired family after a full morning.

Anyways, my concern is dinner. I was hoping to go somewhere that maybe the kids can play on a playground while I just pick up something simple for a picnic. Any suggestions? I don’t want to sit down or doing anything drawn out. We are exploring Central Park all morning. I have the feeling they will be smoked, even post nap.

Thanks!

Is it natera or a different company?

Is there a resource that compiles information on what private schools offer pre-k (2k, 3k, or pre-k) and how/when to apply?

Hi all! I'll be in NYC for a week in a few weeks with my 6.5 month old. My husband will be working during the day so I'll be solo with the baby in the city. I'm looking for some ideas on what to do! Are there any fun drop-in baby classes or anything like that to help fill up the day?

Edit: thanks so much everyone for all these ideas!!!

Does anyone have recent experience with postpartum meal services in NYC that they recommend? I tried Chiyo recently but found it mostly inedible - I threw out at least half of the meals unfortunately, I really wanted to like them!

I’ve looked into Welcome Home but it seems expensive for what it is, might still try it - does anyone have a recent review to share?

Feast and Fettle? Any others that are pescatarian/vegetarian friendly?

I used Sakara for a long time but that doesn’t seem ideal for postpartum.

Looking for moms who tell me I must buy a big purse. I find it hard to justify though because:

- i have never carried a purse or wallet in my whole life (just my phone with license attached in my pocket)
- i use a backpack for work and it only has my water bottle in it. Don’t even put my phone or inhaler in it
- can’t everything i need fit in my diaper bag and the huge storage at bottom of stroller. Toys, snacks etc.
- my 65 year old mom only carries mini purses now from the trauma of carrying around 4 kids’ shit from ages 0-18
- I’m a FTM so I know nothing about this, please roast me

If I do need one
- is it dumb to buy an expensive one cuz it’ll get ruined?

Hi everyone, I am looking for doula recommendations. I live in BK and am delivering at Lenox Hill. My top doula picks are already booked for my due date in January. Please help!

Hi all! I am looking for an OB and came across Spring OBGYN. I like that is small, you meet all the doctors, and that they deliver at NYU however, the front desk is so rude. When I called to make an appointment they were short, would sigh with annoyance whenever I asked a question and were generally unpleasant. That’s when I went down the reviews rabbit hole and, in addition to complaining about the front desk, there were some negative reviews about the OB group (the gynecology part has great reviews overall)

I’d love to hear if someone here has actually used them before and their experience. Thanks!

EDIT: Thank you ALL for your responses. I so appreciate you all sharing your experiences. I'll be looking at other options other than Spring based on the general consensus in this thread. Thanks again!

Nanny Recommendation 🌟

Our former nanny is looking for a new family — open to babysitting, back-up/temp care, ideally a long-term part-time/full-time position in Manhattan or Brooklyn heights/Dumbo area, with an infant she can grow with.

20+ years experience (mostly infants/toddlers), CPR/First Aid/AED certified, degree in child psychology & development, non-smoker/non-drinker, licensed driver, strong swimmer, pet-friendly (our cats adored her!).

As a first-time mom, trusting someone with my baby was hard — she made it easy from day one. Calm, patient, attentive, and truly wonderful with babies. Always kept me in the loop and was completely dependable.

DM me if interested — please include what you're looking for!

Open to any suggestions on where else we can post her. Tia

Looking for a night nurse for probably 3-4 weeks in January when I give birth. We loved our night nurse with #1 but sadly she’s already booked for our dates!safe sleep is a must, personal recommendations only please

i really am struggling. there are a ton of fertility doctors in nyc, but im having trouble getting an appointment. with nyu / weill, they want me to pick my doctor first. all the doctors with good reviews have months long waitlists. the rest still have longer waitlists, but they told me im stuck with whoever i choose at the beginning. i dont even know what i need so that seems unfair, but whatever.

next, i just dont know how to even begin making appointments, there are way too many clinics, and too many doctors and too many long waitlists. how did you do it? im trying to speak to someone about getting fertility tests for miscarriages.

Hello,
My kid is being homeschooled currently, but in 2 years he’ll be going to middle school here in the Bronx. I’m trying to get ahead of things so I don’t get caught off guard. I fall under district 7. I heard that I can apply to any middle schools outside my district. Is that true? Overall I’m just trying to find a decent middle school that will prep him for high school apps. Any suggestions? Thanks