We are interested in planning a trip to the Caribbean in July/August and wondering the best place to go with a baby (she will be 5 months old at that time). We have travelled fairly extensively but not familiar with infant travel. Does anybody have any suggestions on a place where we can relax for 4 or 5 days? We tend to prefer interesting places with ethnic food and cultural experiences (ie... not particularly interested in generic locales such as Aruba or Bermuda). Any stories or experiences on travelling with your baby would be greatly appreciated.

Infant travel is tough. We did it with our now 11 yr old quite a bit, but frankly it's not easy. Bottom line is that compromises are in order.

Though we went to several islands during that 6 month - 3 yr "infant-toddler" stage, Jamican and or Jamaican seem to be best equipted to deal with it. (at least for us) That said you really have but two choices, a resort property or private villa. Then at either of these you can hire a "nanny" if you choose to help you out. Jamamican women/young ladies are naturals at "mothering" it seems. I'm not suggesting you drop your child with a total stranger and take off exploring for hours on end. Rather a nanny can simply allow you and your partner to relax a bit more on the beach while your child and nanny might be off under a shady tree within eyesite or up under a villa porch while you're in the pool. In the evening the nanny might stay back at the room while you are 5 min away at a restaurant if you choose.
(depends on your nature and parental "instict". Jamaican resorts like Half Moon, The Ritz or Tryall would be great places that could help you prearrange a wonderful nanny if you like. Also FDR in Runaway Bay though not quite of the caliber of the others, has a built-in nanny program. The plus side of this property is though it's all-inclusive, the food is generally pretty good and the resort rooms are huge. Also in July it would be cheep enough that you could justify going off-property a few times for some "local flavor". That said, my 1st choice would be Half Moon as it has a very nice shady beach and you can get a room and or suite that is very close to the beach if you like. The managment there can most certainly help you pre-arrange an experienced nanny. It all depends on your budget and level of adventure I guess. Bottom line is like I said earlier, compromises are in order for a few years my friend.

Hope this all help a bit and good luck!

I think Micheal said it correctly by saying compromises are the thing . We travelled with our infant children , and still do with our now 6 and 8 yr. old . I never actually found it difficult , have baby will travel kind of deal !! A back pack with lots of compartments became our diaper bag , a baby carrier , and cheap collapsible stroller ..... One thing that did make it a bit easier was I nursed them so heating and carrying bottles was not an issue , but I am sure that could be easily figured out ... We never did the nanny thing , but as was pointed out it could be an option . I have a good friend currently in Costa Rica , they were there last year when the baby was 2.5 months , they went back again in November , they were in Jamaica at an all inclusive in Janruary , and are as I write back in Costa Rica ! ( hot tub buisness !!!! ) All this to say that they simply adjustwhat they expect a bit, and off they go !

I do not have children myself, but parents in my extended family traveling with kids under 3 to the Caribbean always made sure they visited an island that had medical facilities they were comfortable with. For them, this meant Aruba, St. Martin, and most recently Antigua, though I realize that these three islands are all fairly built-up (albeit in decreasing order) and not high on your list of must-see places.

Jamaica does get raves from parents, either in the private villa route or the FDR resort route.

We like the Long Bay Hotel on Antigua because we feel it offers a taste of the old Caribbean before spas and swim-up bars became de rigeur. They are on a family-friendly beach frequented by locals and the whole island itself has much to offer in the way of culture and history beyond the tourist strips. Take a look at www.longbayhotel.com and see if it would be right for you and your young one.

Wherever you might go, have a wondferul time and I hope it marks the beginning of a family tradition of travel. If you've not flown with an infant before, it's a good idea to either nurse or give a bottle as soon after take off as possible to help alleviate pressure in his/her ears.

The above responses offer common-sense suggestions. I would say the best destination would be the closest one; forget anything involving the additional complication of changing planes. If the baby's ears hurt and he/she screams for most of the flight, it is miserable for you and other passengers. Also, babies tend to pick up little infections much more easily than hardy older children, so you have to be within reach of good medical care. We took our first baby to Jamaica, stayed at Half Moon and had a nice time, but there was a lot of extra work involved. She picked up some kind of bronchial infection along the way. We continued to travel when all our kids were very young, and what a pain in the neck it was. I usually returned home exhausted. Once over the age of 3, they began to enjoy travelling, slept better at night in new places, and didn't get sick. If I had it to do over, I would just stay home, except for visits to relatives, until they were old enough so we could all enjoy the trip.

We had a wonderful time with our 7 month old son in Negril. We equipped ourselves with a child carrier/backpack and a small, fully enclosed, beach tent for him to nap in under an almond tree on the beach. We stayed at Coco La Palm. The pictures we have of our trip will be a treasure for us and him for a long time to come. Oh yeah....we checked in a car seat, as well. We had an older one that my in-laws use when taking our son on the road. Jamaicans don't use them and we are firm believers in car seats. Highly recommend that you address that issue as well.

Have a look at mdtravelhealth.com - a very informative site - health/medical issues should be a priority.

The health and safety section of frommers.com is also a good site to check out.

Thank you for all of your responses. The mdtravelhealth.com website was especially helpful and it is clear that travel with baby will be quite different than travel without baby has been in previous years! We plan to keep travelling though and will just need to learn how to make it work for us. Both Antigua and Costa Rica look interesting. We are still researchinga dn would love to hear of any travel stories and /or experiences travelling with infants.