belize on a budget with young kids

the vast majority of central america's visitors are going to miss you

Thanks for replies. I had thought about CR but feel we wouldn't be able to explore as well as I would like with a 4-year-old in tow. And my 7 year-old is very interested in old stones. Honduras is experiencing a bit of political unstability at the moment so perhaps not the best time also was wondering about medical facilities there.
Anyway, yes posting 1 seems like a good plan (and some of the other advice too- need to look at further detail) and I think will see if Belize is possible this year, keeping away from expensive places and using public transport.

An additonal attraction would be to be able to visit Tikal from Belize. Is that an expensive/complicated business (from San Ignacio presumably)?

Visiting Tikal is easy from San Ignacio or (even closer) The Trek Stop. There's an exit tax per person and staying in the park isn't cheap but is worth the splurge in my opinion. Public buses are possible but a little complicated since you have to switch buses after crossing at the border and the buses run to Flores which is an hour or so from Tikal. It's potentially cheaper to stay in Flores or in El Remate but then you're not in the park. It's possible to do as a day trip but I wouldn't recommend it, especially with kids. When you spend the night in the park you take advantage of the cooler evening and early morning hours when wildlife is abundant and you practically have the ruins to yourselves. Check out my 2003 travelogue (main page of 2003 photo collection below) for how we did it - hiring a van to drive us from the border to Tikal and return to pick us up the next day. There are more Tikal photos in the 2007 and 2009 Guatemala collections. Keep us posted!