[Jaime Christine]

We are leaning towards bringing our 18 mth old with us to visit her sister at the Marriot. For those who have brought small children... any advice?

What paperwork did you need to bring? (Melia was adopted from Guatemala)

What is the age limit to purchase a lap seat?

Thank you, thank you- this forum always gives great input.

Jaime

[whereintheworld]

Jaime,

We are looking to bring our son with us to visit our daughter when we receive our new referral. We are guessing that our son will be right around 12-13 months at that point.

You do need a passport for your daughter. If you have the CoC and a SS Card and a couple of other documents, you can apply.

I believe that the lapseat is available until 2 years of age on most airlines, although I read somewhere recently that one of the major airlines will only let you lapseat up to 1 year on international flights (but I can't find the article again, so I am not sure which one).

I look forward to hearing some practical tips on this subject. We are also planning to do a little travelling while we are there (without our new baby).

Good luck!

[Foradoption]

We took our daughter with us at 23 months. We took a copy of her birth certificate, certificate of citzenships, and an extra copy of her passport as well as her actual passport. You can use a lap pass and only pay taxes on this until they are 2 years old. We had a great time taking our daughter, she had a lot of fun in the pool. You can PM me if you have more questions.

[dspakowsky]

I did this alone, with my 8 month old visiting my 3 month old. The plane ride was easy, but once I had both babies it was tough! They didn't like being in the hotel room, so they cried a lot. My 8 month old had become used to our routine, so she was all out of sorts - crying, cranky, wouldn't sleep, etc. When I tried to bathe one or feed one, the other would cry. This went on for 4 days... It was very difficult.

The best advice I can give is bring a double stroller. I don't know what I wouldv'e done without one. Like I said , they cried in the room. So, we sat outside and by the pool most the time. I can't really say I enjoyed the days. But at night, when my 8 month old was sleeping, I'd hold my new baby and just stare at her for hours.

I know it will be easier on the pick-up trip, because my husband will be with me.

[sesmom]

We brought our son with on the visit trip and the pickup trip for our daughter. He was 22 months for the visit and 2 years for the pickup. We didn't bring anything but his US passport and we didn't have any problems.

The age limit to purchase a lap ticket is 2 years so we did the lap ticket for the 1st trip and had to get him his own seat for the second. Both ways worked out fine - I thought he would get restless on our laps but he did really well - we just packed a lot of books, puzzles & snacks. He spent a lot of his time looking out the window.

As for advice... have fun!! It was a little more work to bring our son along but we are so glad we did. He had fun in the pool at the Marriott and he loved the Guatemala City zoo. It was really nice to be able to share our trips as a family.

Ann

[Jaime Christine]

We have not filed for her COC yet, we do have her Resident card, social security card and new Birth Certificate....

[Jaime Christine]

Bumping.... Wanted to find out about paperwork needed, we have her original passport, social sec. card, resident card- but no COC yet?