The stage of 6 to 12 months of baby’s growth includes lots of new experiences. Your baby starts to grow more, move around the house more independently, starts talking and even eats enthusiastically themselves. These new experiences need to be cherished and memorable for both you and baby, and you need to be equipped with the perfect things for this time frame in life for your baby.
Childproofing
As we all know the age of 6 to 12 months is where our baby starts rolling, scooting, crawling, and maybe even walking as they keep exploring each and every corner of your house. It may make sense to get down on all fours and crawl around the house from a babies point of view, this will help you easily point out the dangers. Considering all of these new movements, you would definitely need the following:
- Safety Gates, keep your crawling baby inside of a safe and designated area. Check out the best baby gates here.
- Electric Outlet Covers, you definitely need to cover all your electricity outlets before your baby starts exploring them with his or her hands. Or, with little tiny objects they try to force inside the socket holes.
- Cabinet and Drawer Locks, your baby will definitely be curious to know what’s inside any cabinets or drawers, so it’s better to lock them beforehand from their prying hands and curious minds. To be triple safe, store dangerous items higher and out of reach. Most of the time, the funnest part is them opening and closing the cabinets, again and again.
- Crib Rail Covers, as your baby can now pull himself from the crib, they may suck or chew the crib rails. So it’s better to cover it with covers to prevent ingesting any paint or wood stain.
- Safety Bumpers, to cover all the sharp and hard edges of tables, chairs, dressers, cupboards, drawers, cabinet, coffee tables, etc.
- Safe Cabinets, for storing medicines, cleaning products, toiletries, etc., usually with a lock and key or stored super high.
Interactive Toys
Starting at half a year old and between 6 to 12 months of age, your baby is exploring everything and anything. They keep themselves engaged with opening, closing, filling, emptying, shaking, pushing, squeezing, sorting, pouring, hugging and what not, keeping in mind it’s all important for baby’s overall development. Remember, talk to and speak with your baby from the start using real words, it’s proven to help them develop language quicker. Leave the “goo goo gaa gaa” at the door! Here is a list of suggestions that help baby’s development:
- Blocks, the soft, rubber or wooden blocks with round edges are perfect for your baby to learn hand-eye coordination and also to learn how to stack and tumble things.
- Playing Ball, so that the baby can push, bounce, throw, feel and observe who objects react when thrown. A variety of colors are helpful, too.
- Simple Puzzle Game would help to develop the motor skills of your baby.
- Plush Toys, that would interact with your little one would be the best for his developing stage and surely put a smile on their face.
- Musical Toys, make sure that your baby learns to recognize music and so having a musical toy would help him to demonstrate better music skills.
- Bath Toys, bath time is the greatest time to discover and explore, so make sure your baby has all the bathing toys so that he can learn interactively while bathing. Watch out for the rubber toys that collect water inside and mold easily!
- Sturdy Push Cart, find a push cart or wagon that would withstand the baby while pulling himself up by the handle.
- Walker, so that your baby can learn walking in an easy and interesting way.
- Interactive Electronics, get your baby an interactive electronics gadget so that he can learn things in a more easy and comfortable way. Use this with caution and rarely.
- Felt or Wooden Fruits and Vegetables, so that baby can learn about different types of fruits and vegetables right from the very start!
Feeding Essentials
Are you going to make your own baby food or try baby led weaning (BLW)? Your baby girl or boy is growing so quickly now and you even have started giving them solids, so why not make feeding more enjoyable by getting the following feeding gears:
- High Chair, as your baby is now eating solids, you need to add an extra chair on your dining set, so why not get the perfect size high chair for your baby. This portable cloth high chair comes super in handy at friends houses or restaurants, especially while traveling!
- Dish Set, get a rubber or steel dish set so that your baby doesn’t suffer from any ingestion issues, be sure to check for bpa’s if choosing plastic.
- Burp Cloths and Bibs, so that you can put it around baby’s neck to provide him or her from making his clothes messy, even though we know messy will happen!
- Transition Sippy Cup, would definitely help your baby to have milk and water without spilling it all around. This durable Made in USA sippy cup set looks pretty nice!
First Aid Kit
By now you already know that your baby keeps bumping into things, falling over, hitting their head (ouch!) at all possible places. Now, it becomes important for you to have the following things handy for quick use conveniently, especially while out and about in the diaper bag:
- Baby Thermometer, to keep a track of your baby’s body temperature.
- Infants DYE-FREE Liquid Fever Reducer, to be used when the baby has a fever or pain.
- Infants Ibuprofen Liquid, to be used when the baby is in pain, fever or has inflammation.
- Ice Pack, for swelling.
- Band-aids, for when baby gets cut or scratch.
- Hydrogen Peroxide, for those dirty ouchy boo boos.
- Antibiotic Ointments, for applying on wounds.
Outdoor Essentials for Baby
We know how excited you are to take your baby outside to enjoy the world and its beauty, what better way to use up energy and breathe in that fresh air. But both of you are going to need some special gears because it is important for you to cover your baby and protect them from the sun and winter because baby’s skin is delicate, sensitive and quickly prone to burning. To avoid that, you’ll need the following:
- Hat, to protect baby from the harmful sun rays.
- Sunglasses, to protect baby’s eyesight from sun and dust.
- Sunscreen Lotion, so that the sun rays don’t affect your baby to a greater extent. Check out these natural, and some organic, sunscreen options.
- UPF Swimsuit, to protect baby’s delicate skin from too much of the sun’s heat.
- Shoes, so that your baby can walk in soft leather made shoes which would provide him comfort.
- Snack Cup, so that your baby can easily have his food outside also. Always watch for choking, we like the motto “when you’re eating, you’re sitting.”
- Portable Highchairs, you need these for traveling, they make life so much easier and wash easily in the washer.
- Stroller, so that your baby can walk alongside you wherever you go with his tiny baby steps, or nap quietly inside while strolling.
- Car Seat Poncho, there is no denying that big coats and car seats are not a safe mix, that’s why a car seat poncho will help in keeping your baby or toddler safe by not interfering with the harness at all!
We know the list is of quite limited essentials and you want to provide much more to your baby. You can do that but make sure that whatever you get is comfortable and safe for your baby, research away!
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