Tokyo with a toddler

 Our little family stopped off in Japan for 2 weeks en route between London and Sydney in November.  It is a fabulous time to visit, with the spectacular Autumn leaf displays.  With climate change affecting the seasons it is worth checking the websites if you are particular about visiting in Autumn or Spring to ensure you are in the right region of Japan at the right time.  Our little girl was a big hit in Japan at the age of 10 months, she still fitted in a sling and it was the perfect way to travel on the metro, avoiding hauling strollers up the miriad of stairs.  We had ready made babysitters at all of the noodle shops we went to, and she smoothed our way through the tricky etiquette, in particular when you stay at a tradition inn (Ryokan).

In Tokyo we chose to stay in an apartment after researching on trip advisor. The  Oakwood group have many apartments all over Tokyo, it can take a while to trawl through the various locations. We ended up at the Yotsuya apartments based on cost and availability and it turned out to be a great location with the metro about 300m away. The advantages of staying in an apartment include being able to prepare your own food - vital with an allergic baby, and of course having a little more space to relax in. Japanese hotel rooms are notoriously tiny.

In Kyoto we chose to rent a Machiya which is a renovated traditional house. It was wonderful, down an alley way, with a beautiful rock garden, fantastic hot bath and tataki mat rooms. The best feature apart from the neighbourhood where we saw geishas going about their business on 3 different occasions, were the bikes. Two bikes are provided and we strapped the little one into her sling, to get around the beautiful easily, avoiding needing to take taxis everywhere and really getting to know our surroundings. Again, perfect with a baby, there was a kitchen, two bedrooms and a great dossier of local tips - all for much less than a tiny hotel room.

We rounded off our trip with one night in a ryokan which ended up being the only way for us to experience true Japanese specialist cuisine with a noisy baby. Our attendant took such great care of us, we were able to enjoy 17 courses, while the little one slept in the corner, and we were able to take turns enjoying the mountain views from the hot baths. Highly recommended for stressed out, tired parents. No worries about your kids playing up in a restaurant, take all the time you need to eat - you can even pick up your beers from a vending machine to enjoy with dinner.

 We took all of our baby food as we would not have been able to read the labels and our little one was allergic to sesame, egg, dairy and nuts.  For the parents, mostly we got our food at food courts in the department stores.  There was an amazing choice of either pre-prepared bentos, or you could pick your food to be cooked right there.  Then we were able to relax and eat in the local parks (or the gardens on some of the department stores in Tokyo) without worrying about behaviour in a restaurant.

Try and take a sling or a harness if your little one is walking - it gets very busy and would be awkward negotiating the masses with a stroller. The department stores are the best place to change your baby, with very comfortable facilities.  The department stores sometimes have playgrounds as well - you can search online for the tokyo expat forums for more information.

Be prepared for lots of attention - our little girl learned to wave as she was the star attraction at any sight seeing we went to.  It was all very pleasant however, except for people trying to peek when she was asleep in the sling on our chests.

Our little one loved the bicycle, metro, bullet train - we were lucky and saw Mt Fuji whistle past and the fabulous automated baths.  Enjoy this wonderful country - we are so glad we went.