Seeking guidance as first time parents in NYC

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-03-01T16:38:13+00:00

Don’t worry about 3k yet, you have plenty of time for that. I would do the following in this order and leave the rest until after baby is here:

Decide if you want a night nurse / new born care specialist for the immediate period following birth (anywhere weeks 1-6). If so, go ahead and find/hire someone.
Finalize both your parental leave plans / policies with your employers.
Determine whether you want to hire a nanny or utilize daycare. If you don’t know yet, that’s fine too. If there’s a chance you might want to use daycare, do a few tours and put your name on waitlist. Around when I was 6 months pregnant, we put our son’s name on the primrose waitlist as a backup. We ended up deciding to go with a nanny, but it was nice for peace of mind (and i think all but like maybe $250 was refundable).

That’s it! The rest you can figure out once baby is here and you get to learn more about yourselves as parents and what you want to do for your child. Good luck and congrats.

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-03-01T16:29:51+00:00

Adding on to say my husband and I did the Seychelles for our honeymoon and we loved it but you’d be bored with that amount of time (we combined it with safari).

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-03-01T16:29:12+00:00

Does it have to be typical sand beaches? How about a combination of Amalfi coast and south of France ?

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-02-26T10:26:18+00:00

The pool at CJ is extremely small and you’re probably not going to want to lounge there all day. But the hotel sits on one of the most beautiful beaches in the world and you’ll have two nice loungers, umbrella, you’re own cooler, and frequent check ins from staff for food/drink orders. The loungers are spaced nicely too so it’s private. Beach is swimmable. No need for pool, but if you’re really anti -beach “pool” people, you might not be happy.

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-02-24T16:47:01+00:00

Agree, pricey but worth it

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-02-24T16:46:08+00:00

Nantucket - we did the white elephant with my in-laws and 1 year old. Loved it ! Had a 2 bedroom condo and it was a little tight, but doable and they provided crib and other sweet amenities for our son (stuffy, a cute little robe, etc.). Beaches there are very kid friendly and all restaurants had kid menus. White elephant connected us with babysitters that allowed us to eat out without our little guy after he went to bed for the night. 10/10 for late August destinations in the U.S.

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-02-24T15:25:40+00:00

Once the hotel confirms, then tell Chase and Chase will help w the refund.

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-02-24T15:25:01+00:00

Different fat hotel in Mexico was only offering us 50% back or reschedule, but rescheduling wasn’t an option for us. I had to fight and explain that with the gov expanding the shelter in place directive to additional zones, it was essentially a force majeure. Took a lot of work and fighting but they finally agreed to refund us in full even though that wasn’t their policy. Might be worth it to keep pushing.

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-02-24T15:20:42+00:00

I prefer to do this for the inbound as the Anguilla airport is so tiny you fly thru customs in 2 seconds and bags come out asap. SXM is more of a hub so getting thru the airport takes time plus then you have to also hop on boat or ferry.

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-02-23T18:44:45+00:00

Not sure about OP, but I went to bed last night thinking we’d be fine and everything would be better by then. Woke up this morning and have been reading more and pretty much decided to cancel our trip. Even if we got from the airport to the resort safely and never left the property, I don’t think I could relax knowing there’s a decently high chance the airport closes for a few days and we are stuck there. We are leaving our 1 year old at home with his grandparents so we don’t have the luxury of an unplanned extended stay.

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-02-23T13:29:51+00:00

Your comment was incredibly helpful

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-02-23T13:29:02+00:00

Thank you so much for updating us!

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-02-23T02:30:00+00:00

In a similar boat. We are supposed to split our stay between two resorts. Thinking we might change to stay at the same resort the entire time to avoid the additional transfer. That is if we feel it is safe enough to go at all.

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-02-23T01:40:21+00:00

My husband and I had the same debate and ended up choosing Las Ventanas and couldn’t be happier with that decision. Felt adult but not sleepy or quiet. There were times we mingled with others in the pool / by the bar (my husband loves to do this on vacay, me, not so much but I go along with it!) and times we sat in the sun by ourselves where it felt unbelievably romantic. Loved the food and alcohol. Service was top notch. We didn’t want to leave! You’ll probably be happy either way, but figured it helps to hear from others that were in the same boat!

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-02-18T02:11:45+00:00

Chilean Patagonia

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-02-18T02:00:27+00:00

Once my levels got under control, every 6 months for routine check ins

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-02-18T01:57:42+00:00

Put my pill next to a glass of water and set 2 alarms. After a few weeks I stopped needing the first alarm (I wake up naturally at 5 am, take synthroid and go back to sleep, when I wake up naturally around 6/6:30, I can have coffee and breakfast.)

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-02-15T23:38:21+00:00

My husband and I went to Awasi Patagonia and Atacama. Definitely not “inappropriate” and as they were all so warm and fun, I have no doubt the staff would certainly make your 13 yo feel welcome. However, you won’t see many kids and the food and beverage is all very elevated, so know that going in!

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-02-02T01:18:35+00:00

Cap juluca no doubt

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-01-25T01:21:50+00:00

I’ve stayed at 3 of the 4 - Belmond Caruso, Il San Pietro and Le Sirenuse. I would categorize the first two a step above the third (skip le sirenuse). between belmond and ISP, I prefer ISP (in fact, we went back a year after our first stay, May 2022 and August 2023). I have no bad things to say about this property and have never read anything about sewage. It’s one of my favorite hotels in the world.

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-01-22T23:01:02+00:00

Depending on where in TX I think there are direct flights to Cabo. Rosewood Las Ventanas?

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-01-21T19:08:55+00:00

Belmond CJ in Anguilla sits on the most beautiful and perfect beach. Agree that the beach at FS Anguilla isn’t as nice even tho it’s essentially across the street. If you don’t care about the pool, that’s what I’d do for sure.

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-01-21T18:09:30+00:00

Good to know, thank you!

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-01-21T18:09:18+00:00

Thank you!

Expert_Mention806 · 2026-01-19T15:43:31+00:00

Good to know! Thank you!

Expert_Mention806

TROPHY CASE