We've been taking our daughter to St John every year since she was six months old (she's now five) and we stay at the Westin. I think it would help to know where you are staying - near Cruz Bay or near Coral Bay, villa or timeshare, etc. In general, I would suggest trying to get as direct a flight as possible and trying to arrive early afternoon. Bring plenty of sunscreen and bug spray. We had alot of success using those portable sun shelters - for the first couple of years we used the baby tent that's in One Step Ahead, and now we've moved up to more of the family size cabana. They break down into easily packable sizes and the shade they provide allows you to spend more time at the beach. Our daughter took several naps inside her tent for the first couple of years at Salt Pond, Cinnamon Bay, Maho Bay, etc.

Also, think seriously about sending ahead a package of baby essentials like diapers, any food she MUST have for snacks, and any beverage (juice, etc) that's she's picky about. The selection of goods on St John is ok, but if you/your daughter are particular, it's best to bring or ship your own.

We also found the stroller to be very useful in the airport for transporting luggage, etc.

I'm sure I'll think of more, or if you have any specific questions, please feel free to email me.

Lori

We carried an umbrella stroller on the plane to use in the airports (we had a connection) and any on any paved surfaces. We checked a Kelty backpack carrier which we used at the beaches, hiking, etc - almost everywhere we went.

My 15 year old eats most food in restaurants and can walk through airports on her own. We only need the stroller/backpack when they forget to make her strawberry daicquiri virgin.

We leave on Saturday for STJ. My girls are looking forward to horseback riding, burgers at Skinny Legs, virgin daicquiris at Woodys and snorkeling.

Cheers, RickG

Seriously, I've been taking my girls down since they were 5 months old. It's easy to bring special foods down. We stick to beaches with shade and skip the infrastructure. I don't think there is much to worry about, but sometimes too much information is just righte:

- Find a villa with an enclosed stairway. My sister, New England on this board, is renting Le Lapin II from Caribbean Villas for this reason.

- Bring some masking tape to put on those enormous glass doors. My oldest ran int one at full tilt when she was tiny and that big sliding glass door rang like a bell.

- Cactus - there's a good bit of prickly things on the island. My youngest has gone hands first into one.

- Sea grapes make great shade for a nap. If you put your kid under a palm tree for a nap make certain there are no coconuts up there! Hawksnest, Jumbie Bay, Trunk Bay, Cinnamon Bay, Maho Bay, Francis Bay, Vie's Beach at Hansen Bay, Lameshur Bay are good for little ones. Maho bay you can set up under a sea grape next to your car if you get their early enough.

- Mongoose - love to get into any food you have out. They'll climb into a knapsack. Donkeys have no shame as well.

- Hat and sunglasses - my blond youngest gets sun burn on her face even with the Coppertone Spectra SPF 50. She also gets a red stripe across her eye balls if she does not wear sun glasses.

- Little people like early schedules. Go to the beach early and bring something for breakfast! Or, go to Maho Bay Campground for breakfast. The place is crawling with kids, the breakfast is great and they start serving at 7:30.

We have the Gang of 24 leaving on Sunday for a week on STJ. The ages are 2 to 69. The kids love STJ at least as much as the adults.

Cheers, RickG

We are taking our 16 month old on his second STJ trip (and 4th plane-trip). I will share my experiences/tips with the disclaimer that they may not be right for everyone:

Flights - the earlier, the better. We have taken both direct and connecting. Direct was great for a non-mobile infant. Now that he is walking, the connection gives him time to stretch his legs and burn off energy.

We rolled the dice and got empty seats in the past. Now that he is larger and less likely to tolerate sitting still, we purchased him a seat. Personally, trying to restrain him on my lap for a 4 hour flight would be an absolute nightmare. Make sure any carseat you try to use is clearly marked "approved for motor vehicle and airline use"

Taxis - we spent the extra cash for the private taxi. It worked out to an extra $3 per person total. We had sufficient time to install the car seat without feeling rushed.

Ferry - we spent the extra money for Dohm's. Because we had 6 people, it ended up being an affordable option.

Baby supplies - we didn't have trouble packing diapers, wipes, etc. The villa agency had a pack-and-play set up (no charge) for us on arrival. I have heard of an on-island rental service that gets good reviews on another forum - Christy's Classic.

We have not taken (and will not again this year) take a stroller. Personally, we don't feel comfortable pushing him around Cruz Bay. (traffic, lack of sidewalks in areas, stairs at restaurants and shops) But then again - we LOVE our backpack so going without a stroller is no big deal for us.

We just got back from traveling to St. John with our 15 month old and 3 1/2 year old and had a great time. I plan to post a trip report sometime soon, maybe after Thanksgiving...so I won't give too many details here.

We stayed at Maho Bay Camp and had a great time. Our daughter perfected her stair climbing there and had a great time running around on the boardwalks (with close supervision of course). We rented a jeep Liberty at the airport and took the car ferry. I highly recommend this as it was nice to just load everything into the car and go. That way the kids could get strapped in to the car seat once and not get out until we arrived if we wanted.

We also checked a beach umbrella and were really glad to have it. We could put it up near the water and play in the sand and water without worrying about the sun. Get a long sleeved rash guard shirt (maybe find one on sale now even). We had the short sleeved for our daughter and I wished we'd had the long sleeves. They did great for our kids (ours came from LandsEnd and LL Bean).

We travelled with our all terrain double stroller and a Kelty backpack carrier (you can get a bag from them to check it in). The backpack was great for the beaches we walked to like Salt Pond Bay and the stroller was nice for Trunk Bay and some others. She had a couple of naps in it while we were at the beach.

We did bring a bag of food and a small cooler. We use organic milk and weren't sure if we could get it down there. It was nice to have the familiar foods for snacks and more importantly, it was nice to not have to run any errands while there (not easy with little ones).

I also highly recommend purchasing a seat for the little one, so much easier and safer too. If you have specific questions, post them here. I'm indebted to the people of this forum for all of the great information I received and was so glad to have spent so much time planning and reading the posts on this forum!

Keri,

Did you happen to find a place on St J to purchase sand toys?

Thanks
Maggie

Hey New England, Ryan can use your empty Bushwacker cups to build a corral for his scorpions!

Try a PM to StJohnRuth, she'll know what's what. I think her St. John Kids store is more clothing oriented.

Cheers, RickG

Isn't there a K-Mart on St. Thomas? I'd bet you could find children's sand toys there!
Most of the time you hit the beach with really cool sand toys for your kids, & they WILL find other stuff to play with anyways....leaving all the toys for all the other kids on the beach!

I seem to recall seeing sand toys at a children's store in Coral Bay in the new plaza by the Police Station. Also you might try at the gift shop by Skinny's. They have a lot of childrens toys and things there.

Chelsea Drugs (across the hallway from Starfish Market) had some sand toys if I remember correctly. But bushwacker cups and scorpions sound like more fun 😉

Hysterical! Uncle Rick has a sick sense of humor. Maybe Ryan got the crazy gene from him??

Uuummm not to rub it in, but I am headed to Boston tomorrow and then to St J on Sat!!!!! I'm too excited to sleep. I haven't' been since 1997!!

NE - Give yourself a lot of time to get to the airport, it's raining very heavily right now and traffic could be a problem. Logan may have some weather-related travel issues as well. At this moment it's only 10 degrees cooler here than it is in Cruz Bay (67 in metro Boston, 77 in CB) - how weird is that???

Casebolt, How strange is this weather? I called my husband and told him he took the screens out too early and that I couldn't open up a window...He said uummmmm it's almost Thanksgiving!! We are spending the night at a hotel near the airport to avoid the strange traffic patterns that seem to creep up overnight in Boston. I think it's 66 right now at 7 AM.

I actually brought some with me, got a dump truck and bulldozer sand toy set at Target at the end of summer. My 3.5 year old really liked the trucks and played with them a lot. I think their favorite sand toy was an empty 2L Diet Coke bottle though!

We just returned (from FL, not STJ) and our diaper baby was heavily eyeballed by TSA. I will say the agents were very reasonable about the milk and juice but I did get a bit of a lecture about the size of the liquid and cream items. For our upcoming STJ trip, I will not be carrying diaper cream and sunscreen in the diaper bag.

I don't want to come across being disrespectful or caddy, but for the life of me I can not understand bringing a baby to the islands. I actually just returned and my husband and I just discussed this particular topic. I could understand if you had no one to look over your child. But when they are real small (under 3) they first of all won't remember it and it just seems like such a hassle dragging all the gear around.

We do leave the kids at home with the Grandparents - maybe I'm just a bad Mom waiting until they are a lttile older....we are thinking 4 or 5 years old.

Some of the people here have been coming to the islands for quite awhile before they have children; others just want to share the joy and beauty of St John with their children. We take "family" vacations and have never thought not to include our child. What is it about the islands that you think children wouldn't enjoy? Who cares whether or not they remember a specific island? What they will remember is that Mom and Dad care enough about them to spend time with them and Mom and Dad want to share their love of a destination with the child. As I've stated before, we've been bringing our child to St John since she was 6 months old (she's now 5). Maybe it's easier for us because we own at Westin St John; maybe if this was a once in a lifetime trip we might not include our child - but I still think we would. Our 20th anniversary is coming up next year, maybe we'll take a trip without her, but more likely than not, will just include her in our lives as we've always done.

Lori

We are one of the type of traveller that Lori mentioned, we have been travelling to St. John since our honeymoon in 1995. We had several trips under our belt and were very comfortable taking an infant last year and a toddler this coming year. We thoroughly enjoy our child and love being able to share life experiences with him. We simply don't want to leave him at home. We just returned from a trip to Florida and for us, seeing him scamper in the surf was a thousand times better than thinking about him at home with grandma. He will not remember it until his is older but we will and for us, that is what is important. Travelling with kids may not be for everyone but for our family, it is the best option as stj+mom+dad+child = paradise.