Is Boston Infant Friendly?

My wife and I are looking for vacation options for our family. We have a 14-month old baby girl. I%26#39;m an avid traveler and with a new family I don%26#39;t want to give up traveling, but instead looking for destinations that have something my wife and I will enjoy, but also destinations that are ';infant friendly.'; Thought about New England. Any thoughts or suggestions on whether or not this would be a good experience for our young family?

Is Boston Infant Friendly?

If it were me, I would focus on a place like the White Mountains Region of New Hampshire. Basing yourself in a town like North Conway in the White Mountains would be nice for tax free shopping with discount clothing outlets. It also has nice restaurants, shops, and attractions, both there and nearby. Mount Washington Car Road or Cog Railway, Conway Scenic Railway, Story Land, Santas Village, Clark%26#39;s Trading Post,Water Parks, Aerial Tramways, mini golf, freshwater lakes, covered bridges and lots more are all easy day trips of no more than 30 miles. You definitely need a rental car, but you would love it up there. Very refreshing and scenic. Far more relaxing than having the baby with you in the city.

Is Boston Infant Friendly?

The Public Garden is a nice place to take kids. They have the swan boats which most kids enjoy. Also,the Children%26#39;s Museum would be an option as well. Mostly geared towards toddlers, but they do have an ';under 3'; area that your daughter will enjoy. Visit www.bostonkids.org.

Also, the MBTA has taken steps over the last couple of years to make the subway a little more kid-friendly. It%26#39;s still a bit of a challenge, and I wouldn%26#39;t recommend taking a stroller on at rush hour, but during the day you shouldn%26#39;t have a problem using public transportation. visit www.mbta.com for all subway and public transport info.

To answer your question the answer is yes.

Some suggestions for the under two crowd visiting Boston:

-The Boston Children%26#39;s Museum is a must! (Believe it not your toddler will be too old for one small section designed for infants and crawling babies. It is located in a corner in the Playspace exhibit for the 0-3 crowd) There are a lot of exhibits in this museum to entertain your toddler.

-The Museum of Science has their Discovery Center. It is designed for the 0-6 crowd.

-The New England Aquarium has a Curious George Discovery Cornerpace and an Edge of the Sea tidepool touch tank

-The Boston Public Garden has the Swan Boats and the Make Way for Duckling statues.

-The Boston Common has Frog Pond to take a dip in (child must have a waterproof diaper on)

-Plenty of playgrounds including the Boston Common Tadpole playground and the playground at Christopher Columbus Park

-Plenty of fountains for your toddler to get wet including the fountain near the Christian Science Center or the new fountains at the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

-Go to Castle Island in South Boston enjoy the playground

- Or take a boat ride to one of the many Boston Harbor Islands

These are a few examples of things to do in Boston with a toddler.

Hope this helps, Enjoy!

Maize

Keep on travelling about now - because really it gets harder. Whilst the little one can be popped in a backpack or stroller and can fall asleep whenever, occupied by a squeaky toy - you are OK. As the kids get older you have to do more and more that interest them.

You probably don%26#39;t need to know about travelling with teenagers - just enjoy the next 12 years whilst you can. :)

Have a lovely time with the little one.

Boston is fine for an infant--the Swan Boats are lovely. You can take a boat cruise to George%26#39;s Island and pack a picnic lunch. The Aquarium is usually a big hit with the little ones. Riding teh train is fun---just looking out the window, they get a kick out of it.

The only caveat I have is that you invest in a LIGHTWEIGHT stroller and make some gym visits before coming here. The T is not famous for great elevators (bring clothespins for noses--many of them smell like giant urinals- bring hand-sanitizer for button-pressing). Elavators can be stinky and/or out of order and they%26#39;re sometimes hard to find, so the easiest thing is to just carry the strollers %26amp; babies over the stairs, which means a light stroller = a happy parent.

We have lots of fancy restaurants that aren%26#39;t really baby friendly but (thanks in part to huge student population) we have a huge variety of great but unpretentious places to eat.

If you go to the White Mountains, there%26#39;s Storyland, which caters to the toddler crowd. North Conway has outlet shopping too... plus hiking paths...

Having children should not stop you from travelling!

We spent 3 months in Boston a couple of years ago, with our 2 boys aged 5 and 2 at the time......they loved the Science Museum, the Children%26#39;s museum, the Duck Tour, the parks even the Fine Arts Museum, although I think I enjoyed that more than them!Then there%26#39;s Plimoth Plantation and the beaches around Manchester, absolutely gorgeous.

We now have 3 kids under 8 and recently returned from a 3 week trip to Thailand!!It was fantastic!!

Take your kids wherever you want to go and they%26#39;ll grow up with a more tolerant and accepting view of the world....have fun!

The one advantage that Will007 lists in his post about visiting the White Mountains area you would have a car. Sometimes the car is convenient to carry all the required gear where as taking the subway around you%26#39;ll have to pack what you take out each day carefully. Other than that the suggestions to visit listed in this posting are right on. Definitely if you go to the Swan Boats get the Robert McCloskey book ';Make Way for Ducklings'; before your trip.

This is some extremely helpful information. I thank you all for your insightful posts. Looks like we could be Boston-bound this summer!

If you come to Boston, and you have all the above reasons to, you simply owe it to yourselves and your daughter to stroll around the Public Garden. Even if you don%26#39;t go on a Swan Boat, you can look down at them from the footbridge that%26#39;s over the pond. The pond is surrounded by glorious old weeping willows and other ancient trees, and there are beautiful flowerbeds. ';Make Way for Ducklings';, mentioned above, really took place here - at least twice - and there are little brass duck and duckling statues that kids can climb on. It%26#39;s one of Boston%26#39;s iconic photo ops.

Leading from the Public Garden, you should walk up the Commonwealth Mall, actually the older version of a mall, a long park up the middle of a wide avenue, also lined with tall, ancient trees.

There%26#39;s a reason for suggesting this walk. Two blocks up, at Clarendon Street, turn right and go into the little gated park at the corner. This park is devoted to children up to about age four. It%26#39;s always filled with parents and small children in daylight hours. (It might even be locked at dusk. I%26#39;ll have to check.) The parents take special interest in the park, and both maintain it themselves and make sure the P %26amp; R department does. Anyway, there are lots of kids to play with, in addition to lots of tame toddler climbing apparatus and swings. It%26#39;s also an excellent source of tips re other things to do, and the ease of doing them.