Shanti\’s adorable! You\’ll have a great time, and you\’ll find that lots of people will be friendly to you when you have a baby. I flew with one of our children to Switzerland when she was six months old, and it was SO much easier than when she began walking. Tip: do not bring strained carrot baby food on the plane, at least not if you’re wearing white clothing.

– Learned From My Mistake

Absolutely precious! Started my morning with a wide smile.

How wonderful that Shanti will be such a young world traveler! Have a great time–can’t wait to hear all about it.

Josue
I just got back from Belize, you’re headed down there! We had a wonderful time in Belize and I thoroughly enjoyed spending the week with Matt Miller. Shanti hits 10 on the cuteness scale. Have a great trip — don’t forget mashed avocadoes at lunchtime.
Ross

That’s a good lookin kid! But dude…don’t put your baby in a tie dye! You’re probably making her listen to old Dead bootlegs and daubing her with pitouli. That’s just wrong…

Glad to hear you had a good trip. You know…Seun Kuti is on tour with Egypt 80…hear it’s the best thing this side of Fela’s angry Nigerian ghost. Be on the lookout!

Do babies get jet lag?

Agreed that Shanti is adorable. And so precocious. Studying up about her destination already — and than nibbling too!

I think that Marilyn Terrell was a trooper to wear white clothing at all. I took my son a lot of places (including Europe) when he was a baby, a toddler, a preschooler and a grade-schooler. I was a single mom for most of that period, so we were traveling at a 1-to-1 ratio rather than your enviable 1-to-3. Still, I enjoyed that time and hope that he got something out of it too.

Claire @ http://travel-babel.blogspot.com

Your baby is truly adorable, very cute.
And hope she has a great journey.
Well I just found out that Shanti means Peace, So let your angel spread the word around the world.

Cheers!!!

a wonderful adventure!! I am loving it!! I feel like I am on the trip with you!! (Weird,huh!!???) Love and Kisses,Melody

Hi — We are finding the Peapod Plus a very useful travel bed. (My daughter is 14 mos now.) It’s like a little screened tent with an inflatable bed as a base and it’s lightweight. It has flaps that can go down over the windows so she can’t see us (she can stand up and look out of pack’n'plays and cribs even if the sides are covered.) if we’re sharing a room which is essential to her going to sleep. ( I’m told there are similar things from Baby Bjorn and Phil and Teds.) It can also be used outside, which makes napping on the go easy, too.

We also find that carting her around in the Ergo baby carrier is lifesaving to our backs and that in the airport you can put luggage in your stroller and the kid on your back (leaving you hands-free) until you get to the gate. I didn’t even have to remove my daughter from the Ergo to go thru security at Logan.

Also, in terms of products, the smaller SkipHop changing things that fold into thirds and keep diapers and wipes in them are extra helpful.

If you will be using a car rental car seat at all, they don’t have sun shades. You can tie a sarong between a passenger seat head rest and the handle above the door. You can also use a sarong to cover a sleeping baby in an umbrella stroller, sit on it on a beach, use it as a towel, change a kid on it, clean a spill with it, or cover the sides of a hotel pack’n'play or stroller. I consider having one essential, lol.

Those nursing cover up things that look like aprons (Bebe Au Lait) also work well for another use: worn around the neck covering a kid worn in a front pack from the sun. The other approach is to put a similar apron attachment on a sarong.

Avocados, bananas, papayas are your friends… take some extra ziplocks. Gerber-type baby food there will likely have more sugar involved than in the US if you care.

Shanti looks like she knows what’s going on. She’ll tellya whatever you need to know.

–bethany (NE Cabins & Cottages)