Critical Baby Gear/Gizmos/Thingamajigs: 3 to 6 Months

May | June | July

I cannot believe that I am already writing the second installment in this series. This post was started once Calvin turned 3 months old and will continue to be added to until he is six months old. This series will continue to have an installment every three months until Cal is a year old (or possible longer!) I will link other installments at the bottom. These months were all summer months, so seasonal items will also be included.

SLEEP AND COMFORT

Zipadee-Zip – Calvin L O V E D being swaddled to sleep. So when he started showing signs of rolling, transitioning out of the swaddle was R O U G H. We tried the Nested Bean Zen Sack and it kind of worked, but Calvin would often scratch his face and wake himself up. Enter the Zipadee-Zip. This sleep sack works wonderfully for my little swaddle baby. For the first two weeks of the transition, we used the Zipadee-Zip with the Snuggle Strap to simulate a bit more of that swaddle snugness, but now he sleeps in only the sack. He sleeps well and long, it’s easy to wash, and his little hands are covered so he doesn’t scratch himself in his sleep. Especially now that he’s rolling every which way, I love knowing that he is safe and able to clear his airway when he rolls onto his tummy. It can also be worn while he’s in the car seat!
HelloBaby Monitor – For the first three to four months of his life, Calvin would sleep anywhere no matter how bright or noisy, just as long as he was swaddled. That ended right around his sleep regression and we transitioned to naps in his crib. This monitor works well, isn’t reliant on wifi (because ours isn’t always reliable), and I don’t have to have the sound on to know when he wakes up. As long as I have it in eyesight, I can see when he starts to move, turn the sound up, and go check on him if needed.

FEEDING

6 Bottles – the reason I say six is because Calvin now eats 5-6 bottles in a day. We only had 3 bottles for so long, which was fine when I was still nursing him some of the time, but when we had to switch to exclusively bottle feeding, we were washing bottles all throughout the day. It was disastrous when we had a hungry baby and no clean bottles. So now that we have six, we wash them each night before going to bed (no dishwasher in our apartment) and we always have enough clean bottles for all of the next day’s feedings. If you are going to be bottle feeding from the beginning, I would suggest more like 8-10 bottles because newborns eat smaller meals more often.
Formula bottle – I saw this bottle on some random Instagram story while I was browsing on Discover and boy, I’m glad I did. It came in a three pack and can have anywhere from 1-15 servings of formula, depending on how many you stack together. Each compartment can (tightly) hold four scoops of formula (which is enough to make 8 oz.)
Boon Grass Drying Rack – I love this product. Since we don’t have a dishwasher, all of our dishes are done by hand. We have a drying rack that sits over our sink for our regular dishes, but I love having a separate and specific place for drying clean bottles. Plus this one is cute and matches my apple green KitchenAid.

Yes, I know and understand that the Bumbo is a floor seat and manufacture instructions say to use it only on the floor. If it is ever used on an elevated surface, I am constantly watching him and do not move out of arm’s reach.

HELPFUL AND CONVENIENT

Bumbo – Calvin sits in the Bumbo at least twice a day. He can’t quite sit up on his own, but wants to see everything. We especially like it for sitting him in front of us on the counter or out in the grass while we have Lucky out.
Homemade Stain Remover – babies stain things. Keeping a bottle of stain remover next to his laundry basket makes it easy for me to treat stains as soon as they happen. My stain remover is one part blue Dawn Ultra and two parts hydrogen peroxide mixed in a dark glass spray bottle.
Gas Drops – formula makes Calvin a little constipated, but gas drops help. I also read a little trick for his vaccinations. Right before the MA gave him his shots, I put a little bit of the gas drops solution on his pacifier. As soon as the shots were over, I popped the sweetened binky into his mouth. The pacifier combined with the sweet taste distracted him from the pinch and ache of the needles and he didn’t cry very much at all.
Pacifier Clips – Calvin only uses pacifiers for sleep nowadays (it’s one of his cues) but we still use the clips quite often. Any toy that has any sort of loop or narrow bit, we tie a pacifier clip onto so that when Calvin drops or throws it, it can’t go far. I’ve done this with the oball, teethers, animals, all sorts of things.
Binxy Baby Hammock – I got one of these on a sweet deal and it is a literal life saver. I bought it after taking Cal to the grocery store with me and realizing that his car seat was taking up the entire basket of the cart. It was ridiculous. I plan to use it until Cal can sit in the top portion on his own.

TOYS AND ENTERTAINMENT

Hanging Carseat Toy – I regularly rotate what toy I have hanging from the handle of Calvin’s carseat, but having something entertaining makes putting him in the car seat much easier.
Floor Quilt – this isn’t a specific product, but more of a suggestion. Once baby starts rolling, they are not going to stop moving! We have hard laminate in most of our house and fluffy carpet in the bedrooms, Laying down a large blanket to lay Calvin on is much cleaner and safer than putting him on the same floor that our dog licks and rolls around on.
Teething Tubes – these are currently Calvin’s favorite toy. Easy to grip, multiple textures, and super easy to clean and sanitize. I highly recommend these teething tubes.
Oball – Calvin really enjoys that he can easily grab and hold onto this toy. He doesn’t enjoy that it isn’t easy to suck on. I enjoy that it’s easy to pack and clean. I don’t enjoy that my dog thinks this toy is his.
Random Stuff in Your House – shoes, burp cloths, dog toys, kitchen tools, empty bottles, full bottles, hair ties, remotes, a dirty t-shirt, mom’s cell phone, socks, cups, boxes, literally anything in the pantry, the dog’s tail…the list could go on and on. I don’t know why, but my baby loves random stuff in our house. Sometimes when he’s fussy and bored, I’ll pick him up and we’ll just go stand in the pantry where he can see and touch all sorts of fun stuff. Do what you gotta do.