Baby Must-Haves: 6 Months
Well, we are now 7 months into being parents! I’m not sure where all the time has gone. Before we get to the new list, I want to just direct you guys back to the first baby products list I posted when Maddie was about 3 months old. I wanted to say that we still count on and use basically all of the products on that list still at almost 7 months old. The only exceptions are the Rock and Play and regular swaddle wraps, but this is only because Maddie has grown out of them, but the bottles, blankets, Nighty Night Owl, stroller, Soothie pacifiers, Boppy, etc.. are still items we use daily around here.
You’ll notice with this 6-month product list, a lot of it is focused on feeding. I know some parents start their little ones on solids sooner than 6 months, but we waited, so you may want to pick up some of these things before than if you plan to introduce solids before 6 months!
Feeding
1. OXO Sprout High Chair – Ok, so I know some of you are probably gawking at the price for this high chair. I know, it’s a lot! It’s no secret that I am a huge OXO fan on this blog. I truly love their products and when I found out while I was pregnant that they had a line of baby products, I flipped! This high chair is soooo nice! I love it for a few reasons: 1. It’s actually very compact and doesn’t take up a lot of space, 2. It’s also very sleek looking to me. It looks more like a nice piece of furniture rather than a big plastic and clunky high chair, and 3. It’s comfy and easy to keep clean! It also grows with your baby and converts to a booster chair. Love this thing!
2. Bumkins Waterproof Bibs – Once you start feeding solids, you are going to need a lot of easy-to-clean waterproof bibs! We love these Bumkins bibs and they come in lots of fun patterns!
3. OXO Tot Feeding Spoons – Spoons! You will need a bunch of these too. We have a few different types and I think Maddie prefers these OXO spoons the best. They are easy for her to get all of the food off of and are soft on baby’s mouth. We also have these Munchkin spoons, which also seem to work well for us. We go through about 3 spoons a day so I recommend having at least 6.
4. Nuby Feeding Bowls – I love these bowls. They the perfect size for mixing up Maddie’s cereal and fruit in the mornings! Also super easy to clean.
5. Nuby Garden Fresh Freezer Tray – If you are planning to make your own baby food in big batches, a freezer tray is a must! We also have the OXO Tot Baby Blocks Freezer Containers which I also love. If you don’t want to spend money on freezer storage, I have heard from many others that a regular ice cube tray will also do the trick!
6. Food Processor or Baby Food Maker – You have a couple of options for products if you plan to make your own baby food. I contemplated getting the BEABA Babycook Machine (which a lot of people tell me they love), but we don’t have a lot of counter space in our townhouse and I realized that I already have two food processors (a mini and a full-size machine), a blender, steamer baskets, mashers, etc.. so I opted not to get the BEABA. Instead, I often use my Cuisinart Mini-Prep Food Processor after roasting or steaming fruits and veggies and it does the job well! So it’s really up to you!
Play/Activity
7. Bright Starts Springin’ Safari Activity Center – An activity center is a great way to keep your little ones entertained and contained! Maddie was pretty unsure about this activity center when we first got it for her, but now she enjoys playing in it and it helps me to keep her entertained while I am cooking or taking photos for the blog. I like that this one also has extra hooks for us to attach our own toys. Maddie likes the bouncy bottom as well!
8. Chewable/Teething Toys – Even when they are not teething, babies like to chew on things! It’s yet another way for them to explore their world and experience new textures. She loves anything chewy and she really loves teething toys that can be chilled in the fridge! She loves her Nuby Teething Keys and of course, her Sophie!
9. Summer Infant Cushy Cart Cover – As a first-time parent that is paranoid about germs and whether or not my baby is comfortable or not, I love this cart cover. As soon as Maddie started sitting up, we started using this and I think she really likes being able to look around while we do our shopping and it also makes sitting in a hard and cold metal cart much more comfy!
Nursery/Sleeping
10. Summer Infant Wide View Video Monitor – So this is actually an item you will probably use way before 6 months. I think we started using ours at around 2 months or so, but I am putting it on this list because now that our baby is in her own room and crib, this monitor has been even more handy to have. We went back and forth on if we wanted a video or just a sound monitor, but I am SO glad we chose video. We live in a two-story house and this monitor saves so many trips up and down the stairs. At night, I just keep it on my nightstand and like that I can just look over at it to check on the baby instead of constantly getting up. I think it’s even more handy once you start sleep training because it allows for you to keep an eye on baby without having to go into the room.
11. Wearable Blankets – We stopped fully swaddling around 4 1/2 months so now we just use wearable blankets without having to wrap her arms. I highly recommend these. These are nice and lightweight, but just enough to keep baby warm, and best of all, they are safe to use! If you are wanting to transition out of the full swaddle, the Summer Infant Wrapsacks are a great option because you can wrap arms in or leave them out. We also are really loving the Halo Sleepsack Wearable Blanket. The Wrapsacks allow for you to wrap around the midsection so they are tighter and have less wiggle room in the legs if that is something you think your baby prefers. At almost 7 months though, I am liking the Halo ones a little better at this point because they are looser and leave more room for baby to move around.
12. Books – I know I don’t talk about my full-time job on the blog too much, but if you didn’t already know, by day, I am a developmental psychologist that specializes in education research, particularly related to language and literacy development. Not that I think you have to have a doctorate to know this, but IT IS NEVER TOO SOON TO START READING TO YOUR CHILDREN! Yup, I say this in all caps. Super annoying. I can’t stress enough how important reading to your babies is. It is a great way to lay a foundation for teaching little ones new vocabulary and language skills. Early exposure to reading is also associated with better literacy skills later on. So READ, READ, READ! We started exposing Maddie to books around 2 months. Obviously being a baby, her attention span isn’t super long, but as she is getting older, she seems to likes books more and more. Her favorite bedtime story? Goodnight Moon. Cliche I know, but she really loves this book and it really holds her attention. She also really likes books by Eric Carle like Brown Bear, Brown Bear and The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
13. BreathableBaby Mesh Crib Bumper – I knew from the start that we were not going to a regular crib bumper. As cute as they can be, they are a suffocation hazard and are no longer considered safe to have. But, I also didn’t want to do no bumper because I also worry about little arms and legs getting stuck in the rails. The happy medium? The BreathableBaby Mesh Crib Bumper. These are certainly not as pretty as the bumpers at Pottery Barn Kids, but they are safe! And let me tell you, now that our baby is in her crib every night, I can’t tell you how glad I am that we have this because she always ends up sleeping with her face almost smashed against the bumper and we sleep a lot better knowing she is getting proper air flow. Instead of a traditional crib bedding set, I got this bumper in white and then got a pretty dust ruffle and fun, girly sheets in a few different designs from PBK. Done!
14. Huggies Overnights – It may seem silly to put diapers on a must-have list, but these are not just ordinary diapers. Once we moved to the crib, Madeline almost immediately became a tummy sleeper. Spending hours and hours on the tummy leads to one problem: leaky diapers! And when you have a leaky diaper, you have a baby that wakes up cranky. These diapers are more heavy duty than other diapers and since we started using them, we haven’t had a leaky diaper at night since which allows for our baby (and us!) to sleep much better at night! At the advice of many, go one size up for added protection!
I hope you guys find this list helpful! As I said, you may want some of these items before your baby hits the 6-month mark, but these are the newer items that we have learned to love now that our little girl is starting to eat solids, playing more, and sleeping in her own room and crib! Stay tuned for another product list in a few months!
Disclaimer – This is NOT a sponsored post. I was not compensated to mention any product on this list in particular. These are products that we truly love and use! This post does contain affiliate links.
2 Comments on “Baby Must-Haves: 6 Months”
Oh my 7 months already. We just hit the 3 month mark. It goes by so fast. I want time to stop. But I am also really excited for solids. Saving this for when we need all things food. And I do want that high chair. Glad you hear you thought it was worth the cost.
Time flies so fast!