Traveling with babies

Not crazy at all, especially if you rent apartments. I would keep it all in France, as going to Tuscany involves a flight, which complicates things. Is the baby now 5 months, or will he or she be that old in October? Either way the baby should be pretty portable. My son and his wife took their son to Ireland last September when he was 7 months, and it was a breeze. They had a wonderful time and everyone loved their baby. They just returned last week frmmanweek in Paris,mwith the baby now 15 months. Mthen said it was "difficult" because he now has a mind of his own. But with a younger ochild that should not be a problem. As for the two-year-old, a child that age can be unpredictable, but I wouldn't let that prevent the trip. Just plan onplentypf playground time. You will see a new side of Paris.

Well that is six full airfares, possibly seven( I personally always bought a seat for my kids when they were under 2 for safety and sanity). So,, there goes 8 or so dolllars... So lets assume you scoop deals and after airfare it leaves you 10,000 dollars for 2 weeks for 5 people ( we don't need to count food or admissions for the tot and baby really) . Do remember that you must the tots in your numbers when searching for accomadation, in Paris anyways they have strict fire codes that limit occupancy numbers and a baby counts as a whole person usually.. although my thoughts are some will make an exception if you them up front, do not arrive with 7 of you and having only said you were booking for five.
Moving from Paris to next destination, another 500-1000 bucks in airfare or trains,,( assuming you scoop some deals here also) depending on where you go and how and how soon you book . I think its possibly doable but it will be tight.. apartments are the way to go , you can buy groceries etc and save a ton that way.. But, its going to be tight.. perhaps one destination would be better idea.

Angela recently posted "Travel to Europe with a baby" on the General Europe forum, with a link to her lessons learned - http://www.lifewithzachary.com/2013/05/05/mom-travel-reflections/ I can't help with the budget, but there's good advice on traveling with little persons.

Airfare, $9000 (for six). Paris apartment for a week,$2500 ( Vacation In Paris has apartments for 6 tp 7 people for $300 to$315 a night). Allow the same for an apartment somewhere else, and that leaves $4000. That should be enough for food, sightseeing,metc., especially if you mostly fis meals at the apartment and figure in what you would otherwise be spending on food at home.

Chani, thanks for the shout out! And Carol, you are not crazy dreamers. We just returned from a month in Europe with our 8-9 month old, and our itinerary included Paris and the south of France. We rented apartments everywhere. Please feel free to send me a message and I can share links and other lessons learned, as I unfortunately cannot do so directly on this post.
Angela

OMGracious....I suppose I'm about to be the stick in the mud here. I'm a VERY practical person. I try to think of all the things that COULD go wrong, in hopes that they won't. First let me say, I LOVE kids. Had one myself. However, traveling even short distances can be problematic. Kids need routine. The whole time loss situation can through their little systems off for days. They don't adjust well to unfamiliar surroundings. What if one/both get sick? Flying is very uncomfortable for some kids even on short flights. A crying baby is very unwelcome to other passengers when they are stuck. The situation becomes extremely tense for all involved. Once you arrive, many sights/sidewalks and streets are NOT stroller friendly at all. Try pusing a stroller on cobblestone. I'm just asking you to be practical and wait until they're older and can enjoy and appreciate it. I don't see any fun on this trip. Sorry! Just being practical and honest.