Top Baby Items 6-12 months

It is so hard to believe our daughter is turning 1 year old in just a few days! We celebrated her birthday last weekend and preparing for a second party with my family this upcoming weekend.

After 6 months, our daughter's schedule became way more predictable and with her attending daycare full time, we had a set routine. That being said, time away from the house requires a little bit more effort and on the weekends, we are focused on her entertainment.

Similar to my 0 - 6 month favorite thing post, this will be a recap of the top items we used the last six months.

The First Years Cup - the first time we introduced a cup with a straw, our daughter freaked out and lost it. Similar to bottles, we've tried so many different sippy cups to transition to drinking water. This one was the winner! You can push the bottom to force water to come up through the straw, after one time of using it, she learned how to drink from a straw. Now, we have a variety we use such as Dr. Browns Milestones cup and the Mushie silicone straw cup.

Squid Socks - we were constantly sending socks to daycare and she would immediately pull them off (sometimes on the short drive). I did some research and found this brand, it had been a product on Shark Tank! The socks have additional grip pieces at the top of the sock that totally keeps them on, even with her pulling them. I've purchased a variety of colors, patterns and sizes. They often have sales and mark down packs to ~$9 (originally $25+).

Solid Starts app - I LOVE this app and the purpose behind it. There is a subscription option if you want recipes and more resources, but the food search is free (and the owner is adamant to keep it that way) so you can easily search a food, such as "strawberries" and it will show how to safely prepare it for different stages. Introducing solids is such a scary thing, so having guidance is very helpful.

Infantino Go Gaga! Fodable Soft Foam Mat - I looked at a lot of options but I'm glad I went with this affordable and easy to travel options! I find I need a mat to place down more when we travel or spend time outside than inside our house.

Long Sleeve Bib - this was perfect for mealtime because it kept all the staining fruit and pouches off her clothes. It does have a small catcher as well. It was very simple to handwash and let air dry.

Paci Clip - doesn't seem like a game changer, but our daughter also never took to a paci, so I didn't think to use it. Then I had the idea to attach her teething rings and whenever we are out and about, we just clip it at a highchair or on her outfit. I don't know why it took me so long to realize to do this, but just incase you missed it, it works great for those items as well!

Stokke Tripp Trapp Highchair - I did a LOT of research trying to figure out what highchair to purchase. At first we only had the Inglesina Fast Chair for traveling, and when I set it up to try it out, I knew quickly whatever highchair we purchased could not be all fabric. I was able to find one new on Rebelstork for a slight discount but I love how it adapts over the years for kids and that it matches our other chairs! I purchased a cushion attachment from Amazon (that is SUPER easy to wipe down) and attachment tray. Overall, I have been so happy with how easy it is to clean. Every so often, we will disassemble the straps to soak and clean them, but typically we just wipe everything down after each use thoroughly.

Baby Nasal Aspirator - this was so much easier to use than the bulb, and you could actually see how much "gunk" was in their noses. She began daycare in September, so we went through a never ending cold season and now, we are dealing with excessive pollen in the South. She does not enjoy the process, but it helps cut down how much she is coughing and how much her nose is running, so she seems relieved afterwards.

Frozen Fruits and Vegetables - when it comes to assembling her meals, it is so easy to grab 3 or 4 frozen broccoli florets to heat in a pan or defrost a handful of blueberries or strawberries than to cook it fresh. I just purchase a variety of the plain vegetables and fruits to keep us stocked.

Things I didn't use as much at this stage:

• Silicone Baby Bib (with food catcher) - everyone swore by these, but for us, it was too bulky and get in the way, and our daughter found it fun to lift it to dump out all the contents.

• Lovevery Playkits - hear me out, we LOVED our Lovevery Playmat and I purchased 2 of the playkits for additional toys, but it was too much and she didn't play with it enough to justify the price. She is also in full time daycare so her play time at home is an hour or so at night and on weekends only.

• Shoes - we had several people gift us shoes, and we did put them on when we were out and about, but for the most part she just wore socks. It is good to have maybe a pair or so, but I wouldn't buy an excessive amount until they begin walking!

• Marketed teething foods and baby snacks - it can be easy to get caught up in the baby section and want to buy every marketed teething snack, cracker, puff, etc. They can be super helpful for on the go, but typically when it comes to her snacks, we opt for fruit or offer something that we also would eat, like Nature's Bakery fig bars, as long as it has safe ingredients for her.

  • We do purchase the yogurt melts and Noka superfood smoothie pouches from Costco for "on the go" snacking and to keep in our diaper bag if we ever get stuck somewhere and she is hungry. It is not something we use every day though.

Poll time! What are your top baby items? Anything you also found you didn't need or baby didn't like?