My Favorite Baby Products (Months 6-9)

One of my favorite things to read as I was preparing for Sophie’s arrival last fall was any kind of blog post with baby product recommendations from real moms. I feel like a lot of ads pop up on Facebook (or in your inbox!) for new parents, with every company vying for your attention! It’s really hard to know what’s out there, and what’s actually helpful. (This is something that’s been getting on my nerves a lot lately; we have so, so many choices at our fingertips, and there are so many opinions out there, each one claiming that theirs is the best. It accounts for a lot of decision fatigue for parents now days! This is another reason I crave slower living.)

I know that I appreciated seeing what other moms recommended – which products they actually used, and which products they felt were kind of a racket. 😉

Since it can be difficult to sort out what you may actually use for your child, I’ve been trying to help other moms out with a little series here on the blog! Now that Sophie’s 10 months old, Bjorn and I have tried our share of baby products – and we’ve found some that we especially like. I’ve been sharing our favorite baby products for Sophie, grouped every 3 months.

READ MORE OF OUR BABY PRODUCT SERIES:

Favorite Baby Products Months 0 to 3

Favorite Baby Products Months 3 to 6

Favorite Baby Products Months 6 to 9

I feel like I should offer a little disclaimer here: Obviously, every family is different and what one family loves, another family may not. That’s okay. These are our personal recommendations. Hope they help!

My Favorite Baby Products (Months 6-9)

Some links below are affiliate links, meaning I make a tiny commission if you use the link to purchase. Thanks for supporting my blog!

Boon Silicone Feeder // This feeder is a great way to let babies try foods that are difficult to grip (or if you’re worried about choking). I like to break bananas up into small chunks and freeze them in a bag…and then I can break a chunk off for Sophie to chew on in her feeder while I prep the rest of her supper! The feeder is easy for babies to hold onto with its nice handle, and simple to disassemble and wash, too! Sophie likes the feeling of chewing around on it. She’s had cherries in it, all kinds of berries, bananas, watermelon, and more! We own two of these now, and I often hear from other people how cool it is that Sophie has one, and how useful it looks! (It is!) 🙂 This would be a cute baby shower gift for someone.

Waterproof Silicone Bibs // These made it onto the list for months 3-6, too. Sometimes, I prefer soft fabric bibs, but when she’s eating chunkier foods that may roll down into her lap, this silicone bib is great because it catches the food in its pouch! 🙂 I also love how easily these can be washed off (without having to do laundry).

Munchkin Miracle 360 Cup // Sophie loves drinking water from her 360 cups! She has one with handles (which allows her to practice tilting the cup herself more easily), and one without handles. Both work well and we use both frequently! This is another awesome baby shower gift idea! These 360 cups can be used for years! And the best part? They’re spill-proof! The only time it’s leaked for us was when Sophie threw it down super hard from up high in her highchair. But as far as tilting it around, no water comes out. These are so great to throw in the diaper bag for a day out and about!

^^ This is an older photo, but it gives you a good idea of the size of it! We now have Sophie’s large DockATot in it, since she likes to lounge in that – and we changed the shape of the enclosure a bit, to four sides of two panels each. ^^

North States Baby Gate // Bjorn and I did a lot of thinking and researching babyproofing products before we settled on this option. We live in a house that’s over 100 years old, with a lot of little flaws, unique sizes of things, and corners that make “perfect babyproofing” rather difficult. We’ve worked with help from family on the more crucial elements, such as sanding down and repainting all of the downstairs windowsills and windowsills in Sophie’s room (no lead paint, please!). Bjorn and I love to play with Sophie anywhere in the house, as long as I’ve kept it clean and neat, and as long as we’re supervising Sophie! But for times when we need to step out of the room, or if we just want her to have a safe place to play independently, this baby gate enclosure is amazing!! We got it from Target, since we wanted the cream color version that they sell, and not bright rainbow colors for our living room. 😉 It is so sturdy (Sophie can pull to standing on it without us worrying), and it’s easy to fold up and take with us. It’s too big for a hotel room, but it’s an awesome large size for Sophie to play in a living room! It’s an 8-panel enclosure and can comfortably fit at least a couple adults playing with Sophie and her toys, too! 🙂 So, if you’re looking for an indoor/outdoor gate enclosure, this one is so great!

Soft White Baskets // We have several of these around the house. Sophie’s stuffed animals live in a large sized basket upstairs, and a smaller soft basket sits on her changing table to store diapers. She also has another large soft basket downstairs in the living room, and she knows it’s where her toys are! 🙂 She crawls right over to it to get the toys out that she’s looking for! I like the cream color and how it fits into our decor, but it also gives us a nice way to keep some of her toys easily accessible downstairs! I have an additional small basket in the kitchen on a shelf, and it’s where I store a few of Sophie’s smaller toys that she plays with when she’s sitting in her highchair!

Indoor Thermometer + Humidity Gauge // Who knew I’d be listing something like this?? But I love our little thermometers so much! I bought two of these a while back, and I glance at them often throughout the day! They’re really small and simple, but they stand up anywhere and they’re so easy to look at if you need to know the temperature right away. I have one on Sophie’s changing table in her room upstairs, and another downstairs in the living room. Our baby monitor isn’t one of those ultra fancy ones with the temperature listed on the screen, so I just use these little thermometers to make sure Sophie isn’t too hot or cold at night or during her naps. Plus, I just like to look at the downstairs one to know the temp of our house as we go about our day! These are inexpensive and have worked very well for us.

Soft-Soled Tennis Shoes // These shoes are my go-to lately when Sophie and I are headed out the door! They’re so sweet and cute, and since she’s not walking yet, she doesn’t need anything with a hard sole. I got these on my Kidizen app (favorite app ever!). They’re from Old Navy (size 6-12 months) and they have Velcro instead of laces.

PS – if you’re looking for a great place to get new or lightly used clothing for your kids, definitely check out Kidizen! You can get $5 for free (which goes super far) by using my referral link. Happy shopping!

RELATED: An In-Depth Post on What Kidizen Is, + How to Use It

Nuby Brand Teething Gel // I put a tiny bit of this gel on Sophie’s gums if she’s hurting, and it really seems to calm her down and soothe her when her teeth ache. I haven’t had to use any medicine yet for teething woes, so this is the product that has helped us thus far.

The Amazing Make-Ahead Baby Food Book // My friend Jordan introduced me to this book. It’s full of beautiful photos and streamlined plans for making homemade baby food (you basically just need a steamer, food processor/blender, and silicone freezer trays!). The author divides the tasks up into three one-hour food making sessions, which is totally doable. There are useful tips and shopping lists, as well. Sophie has enjoyed frozen pureed blueberries, bananas, and more! (The green beans and peas, not so much – but that’s just how it is right now, haha.) It’s a lovely book and very helpful!

Grabease Self Feeding Utensil Set // Sophie is starting to learn how to hold utensils and feed herself! This is a new thing for us! This Grabease utensil set is amazing! I love it so much! The fork and spoon have short handles and a choke protection barrier (otherwise, Sophie would stick the spoon all the way back and gag). The handles are actually designed “to suit babies’ natural vertical hand grasp and motion,” according to the product description, and these utensils are recommended by occupational therapists because they “strengthen fingers’ muscles and support gentle motor development.” Sophie loves to hold the spoon one and work with me as we “Scooooop!” up her oatmeal. She gets the cutest little pleased grin on her face, and it’s so rewarding for her to feed herself!

Simple Umbrella Stroller // When Bjorn and I traveled with Sophie to Fort Knox this summer, and later to Branson, MO, a simple, small stroller was so useful! We didn’t have the room or the desire to pack up our big stroller on our trips, so that’s where an umbrella stroller came in handy! We literally bought the cheapest one we found at Target. I’ll be honest: in a lot of ways, you get what you pay for. The stroller may be a bit difficult to steer, and obviously doesn’t come with great storage space underneath…but for us, it’s made little errands and outings really workable! Sophie enjoys riding around in it, and it’s been easy to use as we waited in long lines in Branson, etc.

HALO SleepSack // Sophie’s been sleeping in a sleepsack for months by now. Since she likes her arms out, we use the sleeveless ones that go on like a vest, but contain her legs loosely at the bottom. My absolute favorite one we have is the Halo one I linked to. It is cream-colored with little puffy dots, and I just love the texture! Sophie’s in a Medium now (Medium is for babies 16-24 pounds) and has been for a while, because the Small started to feel too short for her legs. I love the wearable blanket concept. It’s all she sleeps with in her crib, besides her WubbaNub, which I’ll talk more about below. A sleepsack also basically prevents her from trying to climb around as much in her crib. She can still stand up somewhat in her sleepsack, but I like how it keeps her from any determined climbing out! (Not that she tries it; I’m just cautious.) Halo sleepsacks go up to size Extra Large (26-36 pounds), and as long as this keeps working for us, I fully intend on having Sophie sleep in a sleepsack in the future. It’s part of her naptime and bedtime routines now and I know it’s comforting to her.

Target’s Up & Up Brand Diapers // I linked to the exact ones we currently get. We’ve used Up & Up brand diapers for a long time now, and we love them! (They’re cheaper than all of the popular brands, too, and honestly, I’ve liked them a lot better than other brands, blowout-wise!) Sophie’s in size 3 and will be for a long time still, since size 3 is for 16 pounds up to 28 pounds. We actually moved her into these size 3 diapers a little before she hit 16 pounds, and they’ve been working wonderfully. Up & Up also makes overnight diapers, which we have, but I’m not as excited about overnight diapers. I haven’t been able to tell much of a difference overnight when Sophie wears the regular diapers versus the overnight ones, but maybe that’s just me. But we’re super sold on the Up & Up brand. Give them a try!

Water Wipes // These are still favorites of ours (I’ve mentioned them in a past post). They can be used on the go, too, for wiping little hands after snacking, etc. I just love how they’re gentle on sensitive skin. We buy ours at Target.

Johnson’s Baby Bath Wash and Shampoo // I seriously love our Johnson’s baby bath products for Sophie! They work well for her skin and hair (she does have a little hair, I promise!), and they rinse off nicely. And then she smells so nice and sweet after her bath! I highly recommend this brand for your baby’s bath stuff.

WubbaNub Pacifier // Sophie’s two WubbaNubs are prized possessions in our household! She’s not attached to a pacifier 24/7, but she has a fox one that comes with us on car rides or errands, and then she has a giraffe one in her crib for naps. Sophie’s at the age where if she wakes up during the night or during a nap, she can reach for her WubbaNub, pop it in her mouth, turn over, and put herself back to sleep. So that’s where these have been quite a blessing! 🙂 Plus, they’re super cute and there are so many different animals you can get!

Soft Books and Touch & Feel Books // Of course, Sophie has many books that aren’t soft, we’ve really gotten good use out of soft books recently. When Sophie is playing independently in her baby gate area (like when I have to leave the room), I make sure she has a couple of these books in there with her. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve peeked in on her and have seen her sitting quietly, turning pages in her soft books, and looking at the pictures (like such a big girl!). She’s still a bit tempted to chew on cardboard or paper books, so that’s why I like the durability of soft books when I can’t be supervising at the moment. And regarding touch & feel books, months 6-9 of Sophie’s life have been the golden time to have these books out!! She giggles so much, and loves to feel the textured or fuzzy pages in her farm animals book, Baby’s First Words book, and her baby Arctic animals book. If you’re looking for a good cloth book to start with, I’d recommend Baby Bear, Baby Bear, What Do You See? If you want a cute touch & feel book, we like Touch and Feel: Farm.

Lots of Little Baby Washcloths // We use these not only for bathtime, but also for post-meal cleanup! 🙂 I keep a bunch of baby washcloths (you know – the soft, thin ones) in a little box in the kitchen, so I can reach for them when it’s time to wipe off Sophie’s hands and face after meals. Then I pop the used washcloths into a little bucket I keep on our clothes dryer, and I make sure I wash them fairly soon! I don’t have a link to the exact ones we own, but these Luvable Friends Washcloths are almost exactly the same thing! They’re so great!

Our LILLEbaby Carrier // I LOVE this thing so much! It’s great for trips and bigger adventures, but also for the everyday errand situation. 🙂 I have a post all about our LILLEbaby if you’re interested. We highly recommend it!! I wear Sophie in the LILLEbaby whenever we grocery shop.

Aveeno Baby Daily Moisture Lotion // This is the lotion we put on Sophie immediately after her bath. I’ve been a fan of Aveeno products for a very long time; since I know they work well with my sensitive skin, I like to use them for my daughter as well! There are some varieties of this lotion – different light scents, one for eczema, etc, but we just use the daily moisture one.

I hope today’s post helped you as you sort through which baby products may be useful to you! Let me know if you have any additional questions! And, looking ahead: if you’ve got little ones yourself, what products have you found to be most helpful around 12 months old?