Europe With a Baby
Updated: Aug 29
What worked, what didn't & what we'd do differently.
We took our 7-month-old through Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany for about a week. Here's the short version of what made the trip easier—and what wasn't worth hauling across the Atlantic.
THE QUICK TAKE
AGE 7 months
ROUTE Belgium → Luxembourg → Germany
BEST DECISION Booking the bulkhead with an airplane bassinet
MOST-USED BABY ITEM Infantino baby carrier
BIGGEST MISTAKE Bringing our full-size stroller/travel system
HARDEST PART Moving all the baby gear between hotels
JET LAG Surprisingly, none
WOULD WE DO IT AGAIN? Absolutely.
PACK THIS
✓ Infantino Flip 4-in-1 Carrier
Our MVP of the trip.
Cobblestones, steps into storefronts and historic buildings made baby-wearing significantly easier than pushing a large stroller.
Our son could look around, nap when he wanted, and we could simply keep exploring.
VERDICT: BUY AGAIN ✓
✓ Medline Disposable Underpads
The weird baby item I never want to travel without.
Put one on a questionable changing surface, underneath baby on a hotel bed, or anywhere you need a clean, absorbent barrier.
Clean? Reuse it.
Diaper disaster? Throw the whole thing away.
I've purchased these multiple times because they're useful well beyond international travel.
VERDICT: ALWAYS PACK ✓
✓ Familiar Sleep Sack
Don't reinvent bedtime just because you're traveling.
Our son wore his normal sleep sack on the overnight flight and again throughout the trip. It gave him one familiar cue that meant it's time to sleep, even when everything around him was different.
VERDICT: PACK IT ✓
✓ A Small Baby Medicine Kit
We packed:
Infant pain reliever + dosing syringes
Saline nasal spray
Nasal aspirator
Band-Aids
We used...
none of it.
I'd still bring it again.
Bring the basics you're comfortable using and discuss appropriate medications and dosing with your child's pediatrician before traveling.
VERDICT: WORTH THE SPACE ✓
LEAVE THIS AT HOME
✕ The Full-Size Stroller
Technically, our Graco travel system was useful.
The infant car seat clipped into the stroller, the basket held our stuff, and it made getting through the airport easier.
Europe was another story.
Cobblestones + steps + small storefronts + changing hotels made the full-size stroller feel like one more enormous thing we had to haul around.
GOOD EVERYDAY SYSTEM? Yes.
WOULD I CHOOSE IT FOR THIS TRIP AGAIN? No.
I'd bring the baby carrier and, if we needed a stroller, choose a very compact travel stroller instead.
**VERDICT: LEAVE IT HOME FOR THIS KIND OF TRIP ✕
THE FLIGHT
The airplane bassinet was a game changer.
The flight was the part I worried about most.
We flew direct from the Washington, D.C. area to Belgium and were able to get bulkhead seats with access to an airplane bassinet at no additional cost.
The extra legroom was great.
Having somewhere safe for our baby to sleep was even better.
He slept surprisingly well on the flight.
I got covered in baby spit-up.
We'll call that a win.
What actually entertained a 7-month-old:
BOOKS Bring familiar favorites.
NEW SNACKS Anything new automatically seemed more interesting.
PAINTER'S TAPE Cheap. Tiny. Weirdly entertaining.
NURSING COVER Made feeding wherever we happened to be much easier.
SLEEP SACK Helped signal bedtime on the overnight flight.
GETTING AROUND
Carrier > stroller.
If I could give someone traveling to historic European cities with a baby one piece of gear advice, it would be this:
Bring a baby carrier you already know you and your baby like.
There were simply too many cobblestones, stairs, small entrances and awkward spaces for our big stroller.
The carrier let us keep moving.
FEEDING
Our son was eating solids, so we kept this pretty basic:
Sippy cup
Plastic plate
Plastic utensils
Snack cups
Nursing cover
Plenty of snacks
And apparently European mushroom soup.
He loved it.
The goal wasn't recreating our kitchen abroad. It was having enough with us that we could feed him wherever the day took us.
DIAPERS
We brought:
1 sleeve of diapers. 2 packs of wipes. Disposable diaper bags. Medline underpads.
We chose to bring our normal supplies rather than immediately needing to shop for baby basics after arriving.
The downside?
Babies require a truly unreasonable amount of luggage for people who are approximately two feet tall.
SLEEP
Keep the familiar parts familiar.
Hotels provided a crib for us.
We tried to maintain our son's normal routine without allowing his schedule to dictate the entire vacation.
His familiar sleep sack came with us.
Naps still happened.
Bedtime still happened.
And somehow:
No major jet lag.
We were flexible without throwing his entire routine out the window.
That worked for us.
OUR ROUTE
BELGIUM
MonsOutdoor cafés and exploring town.
BrusselsGrand-PlaceGaleries Royales Saint-HubertBeer tasting in the Pentagone
LUXEMBOURG
Vianden
Coffee. Lunch. Castle views.
The overlook toward Vianden Castle was one of the beautiful stops of the trip.
GERMANY
Meersburg + Lake Constance
Walking, sightseeing and exploring the waterfront.
Mainau Island
The famous garden island in Lake Constance was an easy place to spend hours walking.
Huge flower gardens, beautiful grounds and plenty to see while our baby came along in the carrier.
ALSO WORTH THE STOP
Battle of Bastogne site
And somewhere along the way:
Eat the German pretzel.
ONE MEMORY
We were exploring the cellar of a castle.
Old stone walls. Centuries of history. Incredible acoustics.
Our seven-month-old discovered the acoustics too.
And proceeded to repeatedly blow very loud fart noises with his lips.
They echoed through the cellar.
Some travel memories come from the itinerary.
The better ones usually don't.
WHAT I'D DO DIFFERENTLY
1. Pack lighter.
Moving between hotels was harder than actually sightseeing with the baby.
2. Skip the giant stroller.
Baby carrier + compact travel stroller would have been a much better combination.
3. Bring fewer "maybe" items.
Prioritize things that solve an actual problem.
4. Keep familiar sleep cues.
Travel doesn't have to mean abandoning every routine your baby knows.
5. Go anyway.
This was the most important one.
FOR THE PARENTS
Should you take a baby to Europe?
I would.
Our son doesn't remember Belgium.
He doesn't remember Luxembourg.
He doesn't remember the gardens of Mainau Island.
But we remember experiencing those places with him.
Having a baby meant more luggage, more flexibility and occasionally getting spit-up on somewhere over the Atlantic.
It didn't mean we had to stop seeing the world.
If you're comfortable traveling, your child is healthy and you're prepared for the logistics, don't automatically assume you need to wait for some perfect future age.
We got outside our comfort zone.
We went.
I'm really glad we did.
OUR TRAVEL FAVORITES
Best for: Getting around with baby Our verdict: ★★★★★ Very affordable. Adjustable as baby grows. Hands-free for exploring and baby gets to see the world, too.
Best for: Diaper changes + hotel beds Our verdict: ★★★★★ Tons of different uses! No stress solution for messy situations.
Best for: Lightweight footwear option Our verdict: ★★★★★ Incredibly comfortable. Easy to slip on/off. Easy to clean. No blisters even after miles of sightseeing.
Best for: International travel Our verdict: ★★★★★ Essential. Don't get to Europe and realize your electronics are not compatible with the outlets.
Best for: Long days away from the hotel Our verdict: ★★★★★ Always useful. Holds battery life exceptionally well. Capable of charging a laptop.
THE BOTTOM LINE
Bring: carrier, compact gear, familiar sleep essentials and more diapers than you'd like to carry.
Skip: oversized baby gear and things you're packing solely because you might need them.
Remember: the logistics feel temporary. The trip is what you'll remember.
Our family took this trip in September 2022 when our son was seven months old. This guide reflects our personal experience; every child and trip is different.
THE FAMILY FIELD GUIDE
Real experience. Honest recommendations. Just the useful parts.
Last updated: August 2026
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