Since Baby girl has successfully surpassed her 6-month mark, I thought I should take a moment to share our 3-6 month baby must-haves. I posted a huge list for our 0-3 month must-haves, and we’re still using a lot of those things too, but a lot of them have kind of gone unused since she’s grown bigger. In today’s list, I’ll be sharing only the most-used items from our 3-6 month journey with our sweet little one.
Updates from the 0-3 Month Post
As I said before, we’re still using a lot of things I mentioned in my 0-3 months must-haves post, and some of those things we’re using even more than before. For example, we really still love our carseat/stroller combo and I’m really glad we decided to go with the one we chose. It’s been so handy. We still prefer the Huggies diapers and wipes, though I’ve switched to the ones that say they stay dry for 12 hours just for extra coverage.
Things We’re No Longer Using
But there are a few things that we’re no longer using in the 3-6 month stage. For instance, the baby swing? She never loved it enough to make it worth it… It got taken apart in order to move stuff in the living room, and then we never put it back together. There are things she’s outgrown too, such as her cosleeper and her cute little unicorn slippers. Man, babies change so fast it’s hard to keep up with them… Some of her outfits were only worn once, or not even worn, just because she outgrew the size so quickly!
Baby Must-Haves for 3-6 Months
So what’s new that we added to our product usage between 3-6 months? Read on for more information!
3-6 Month Baby Must-Haves for Sleep
Here are the two items we added to our sleep routine as baby grew…
Convertible Swaddles
As baby grows and starts to roll over in bed, they can’t be swaddled any longer as they’ll need their arms to keep themselves from suffocating. However, some babies can’t handle the change from being swaddled to free all of the sudden. It can keep them from sleeping soundly as they adjust… Here comes into play the LoveToDream SwaddleUP 50/50, which allows you to slowly work them out of swaddling by unzipping one arm, and eventually the other. It helps ease the transition, and baby girl did just fine. We still use it without either of the arm covers just as a wearable blanket.
Sleep Sacks
I also decided to get her some new pajama options and order this SUPER adorable mermaid sleep sack. It’s nice and light weight, so she doesn’t get too hot, and you can tie the bottom or leave it open or not. My girl is a mermaid at heart, so it fits her personality. This does fit a bit snug, but it’s also pretty stretchy.
3-6 Month Baby Must-Haves for Play
Play is becoming so important during this stage. I love to watch her face as her little brain is learning and reacting to new kinds of toys and colors. She’s so smart, and it’s so fun to see her progress as she learns how to use her toys and develops important motor functions. Here are some of our favorite play things from this stage:
A Bouncer
Guess what the most expensive toy we bought for baby girl was? The swing. Did she love it? Sadly, not $200 worth. She’d only be in it for a 10-15 minutes before getting tired of it and wanting to be held again. Plus, with how tall she is, she outgrew it super fast. I’m going to save it and hope the next kid likes it more than she does…
Okay, so guess what the cheapest toy we got was? Her bouncer. That’s because my cousin gifted us her second-hand Baby Einstein Bouncer for free. Does she love it? Sooooooo much. Who knew the biggest winner would be the free one? Now I know. She’ll spend quite a while in the bouncer, and those little legs are getting so strong.
Pat and Play Water Mat
This was purchased as a way to get her to sit in her high chair a little while after eating. She spits up so much that we wanted to keep her vertical for a bit after feeding her, and the Pat and Play Water Mat was entertaining enough to keep her occupied a few minutes. It’s super cute, and it’s nice and cool on a hot day.
A Play Gym
One thing I expected to need from the beginning was a play gym-and luckily we were gifted an Amazon gift card and picked this one up before baby got here. It’s easy to lay out on the floor and do tummy time on, and safer than the carpet since you know… Dogs are gross. Feet are gross. Babies lick everything. You get the picture.
Textured Sensory Balls
Textured sensory balls were Chris’ idea. He said we had to have them, and he bought them, and it turns out she loves them. They all feel different, and they’re different colors and sizes. She likes to play with them, and of course, put them in her mouth.
3-6 Month Baby Must-Haves for Travel
Going anywhere with baby is a huge to-do. There’s sooooo much you have to pack, so adding to that packing list may not sound like fun. However, I promise you, having the right things on hand when you’re traveling with baby-even when it’s just a short trip-will make like a whole lot easier.
A Portable Bouncer
To be honest, Amélie loves her bouncer so much that we decided we needed a portable bouncer for when we’re out of the house. We’ve used it a ton! We bought a portable bouncer that folds up like a camping chair, and I’ve brought it out at friend’s houses, the park, grandma’s, and while camping. It’s been one of the most useful things we bought for baby.
Lightweight Carseat Cover
I had mentioned in my 0-3 month post how much we liked our awesome Wonder Woman Carseat Canopy, and honestly we still do, but it’s heavy and hot. For Summer I switched her over to a lightweight and soft jersey car seat cover. Honestly, it can be worn as a scarf or used to cover for breastfeeding also, which is super handy! We’ve even used it as a blanket in a pinch.
Window Shades
We’re kicking ourselves for not getting the windows tinted… But who has a few hundred dollars just lying around to do it? Not me. So we bought some inexpensive stick on window shades, and they’ve done the trick mostly. Hopefully one day we’ll get the tinting done…
3-6 Month Baby Must-Haves for Teething
Did you know that teething can start as early as 3-4 months? I didn’t either… But it does. She started drooling and chewing on everything around 4 months, all the while acting like her gums were bothering her. We also felt some bumps under her gums around this time, though an actual tooth didn’t pop through until 6 months. It’s still best to help sooth them while those teeth are working on coming through, and she enjoys chewing everything.
A Munch Mitt
Okay, so little one started teething at 4 months, but she wasn’t really able to hold onto her teething toys easily. Easy solution, the Munch Mitt! Seriously, you just put it on like a glove and they can go to town on it. Amélie enjoys hers when it’s not too hot-unfortunately her hand does get a bit sweaty in it.
Drool Bibs with Teething Toys
Another fantastic option is the drool bib with teething toys attached to it. It holds it for them, or you can clip their binky to it, and it catches all that chewing drool that flows out of their mouths. Amélie drools so much she gets little wetness rashes around her mouth, and the keeping the drool bib on to sop up the drool helps prevent that from happening.
3-6 Month Baby Must-Haves for Feeding
Rubber Spoons
We got a TON of spoons from our baby registry. The kicker? Even though they’re baby spoons-they’re too big or too deep for her mouth. She doesn’t really like any of them, and it was really hard to get her to take all of the food off of those spoons. Then, I remembered this tiny pink rubber spoon my momma always kept in her drawer when we were kids. It was an old-school baby spoon from when we were little, and I set out to find rubber baby spoons just like it hoping they still made them. They do! We bought about ten of them because they’re so much better for tiny beginner mouths (and we suck at staying caught up with dishes haha).
Suction Cup Bowls
The first time I fed baby she slammed her hand down into the little plastic bowl and spilled carrots everywhere. Not super fun to clean up, and carrots stain. So, the next time I hit Target I grabbed her some Munchkin suction cup bowls and they’ve worked well.
High Chair
It took us a while to pick a high chair, and when we did we were happy to find the Chicco Stack 3-in-1 high chair. It’s really nice, because for now she’s using it as a regular high chair, but eventually she can use just the high chair part strapped to a kitchen chair, and even after that the base works as a stool for small children. She’ll likely use this for many years to come. The only feature I wish it had was folding up-it’d be nice to tuck it away when we’re not using it.
Stage 1 Foods
When I got the go ahead from my pediatrician to start feeding baby, I hit the store and picked out some wonderful organic baby foods. It wasn’t until I got home that Chris informed me that there were numbers on the bottles that I needed to be aware of. I’d bought a bunch of stage 2 foods, and hadn’t even had any idea as a brand new mom that there were stages and different blends. The things you learn… So if you’re going to start feeding baby solids soon, make sure to grab the right kind. They’re typically listed as Stage 1 foods for starting out, or with some (like Gerber) they go off of how the baby sits and they’ll be listed as “assisted sitter” foods. We like the Gerber Natural ones, or the Beech-Nut and Earth’s Best brands. However, I’ll use any brand where there’s only one ingredient-the type of food it is. No need for additives.
Stage 2 Nipples
Another thing I didn’t know before having a baby-there are different stages of nipples. When we first bought bottles we did our best to find slow flow ones, which are typically stage 1 (0+ months). Now, those frustrate baby because the food doesn’t come out fast enough for her. Upgrading to stage 2 nipples (3+ months) for our Dr. Brown bottles solved that.
Towel Bibs
Bibs are even more important now than they were before… How do they get their food in their ears when you’re the one holding the spoon? I’ll never understand… We find that our favorite bibs are the kind that are just a towel with the neck hole in it. These are the only ones Chris will use because he only has one good hand and they’re the easiest to pull on. Also, they fit over her huge head (she’s in the 86th percentile for head size), they’re huge so they cover more of her clothing, and when we’re done feeding I just wet it down like a washcloth and mop her up with it. Perfect. Plus, they come in super cute designs like these Wonder Woman and Super Girl towel bibs-which we bought three sets of.
3-6 Month Baby Must-Haves for Cleaning
The clean-up is usually the hardest and less fun… But there’s always a clean-up on isle baby…
Hand & Face Wipes
Did you know your’e not really supposed to use baby wipes for places other than their bum? Me either. But they make these super handy hand and face wipes to use instead. I find they even come in handy with the older kids when we have them too.
Spray Cleaner
As a parent, especially at the 3-6 month stage where they’re dropping all of their toys on the floor (where the dog drags his butt, you know it…) a good spray cleaner is important. It is also helpful for doorknobs and stuff around the house in order to keep sick germs out. I’ll admit that advertising works on me, because I grabbed the Seventh Generation spray disinfectant based off of the TV commercial with Maya Rudolf where she’s spraying everything and raving about how she doesn’t have to wash it after spraying because it’s natural and safe… I really like it. I like it a million times better than the other spray cleaners I’ve used.
Baby Detergent
So, it turns out, I HATE the smell of most baby detergent. That overly strong baby powder smell? No thank you. I went on the prowl for a baby detergent that doesn’t smell so strong, and I found the Baby Ecos Lavender Detergent. It’s on our Subscribe and Save to auto send to us every few months because I really like it.
3-6 Month Baby Must-Haves for Clothing
For us, we have a few unique must haves. Due to Chris being partially paralyzed and not having good use of his left hand, he can only use zip-up jammies and if I leave baby in a onesie and pants I come home to her pantsless and without the onesie snapped up. For this reason, I bought baby girl more dresses. They’re the easiest thing to leave her in during the Summer months and make it much easier for daddy to change her during the day.
Swimsuit
3-6 months is the perfect time to start getting baby acclimated to water. This is why we picked up an adorable mermaid swimsuit for her, and started taking her to the indoor pool. We’re hoping to do actual baby swim lessons soon, but for now just some kicking and splashing in the public pool has been fun. She loves the water-I told you she is a mermaid at heart.
Jackets
Baby will likely need a jacket or two for when you’re out and about on cool or cold evenings. I found this super cute fluffy pink jacket on Amazon, and we love it. It’s soft and really warm.
3-6 Month Baby Must-Haves for Suncare
Baby Sun Hat
Babies have such fragile skin, and with little to no hair sometimes the top of their heads might burn easily. I didn’t even think about a hat for baby (she never really liked wearing those newborn caps) until my mom found an old baby sunhat in storage and gave it to us. It’s been super handy to keep the sun off her head an face, and it’s adorable.
Sunscreen
I’m including baby sunscreen in this list, but I don’t think that they’re supposed to use it until 6 months*. It was just about 6 months that we started using it if we were going to be outside. I don’t recommend the spray on kind-the coverage has been shown to not be so great. My favorite is the whipped sunscreen from Coppertone. It’s much easier to apply than the regular cream and it has good coverage like the cream.
*Check with your pediatrician if you’re unsure when to start using sunscreen.
What are your 3-6 month baby must-haves?
Please keep in mind, I’m not an expert (by any means) and one child’s development may be different than another. These items are just items that worked for us during this time, if you’re baby isn’t ready for these things yet at this stage, don’t force it. Always encourage development, but never push them too hard to be where you think they should be. They’ll get there.
Also, if you ever have doubts or questions about when to start something new with baby(feeding, sunscreen, etc.) check with your pediatrician. You should be able to call them and leave a message or ask them, no need for an appointment, or you can just ask at your next well-baby visit if they don’t bring it up.
