A 6-Month Report on Favorite Baby Products

When Elise was two months old, I made a list of my favorite baby products so far. I still stand by my list! But it was great for a newborn, and now we have a 6-month old (almost 7, actually!), and the list has changed a tad as a result. Thus, here is my list of current favorite baby products for a 0.5 year old kiddo.

1) Fleece booties: Winter in New England is cold. When cold, humans, babies included, need foot coverings. And babies in particular need ones that aren't easy to take off. These fit the bill, and they look so cozy that I wish they had them in my size. Elise wears them practically every day, and now that she's pulling herself up to a stand on the regular, we added some with grippers to her Christmas list. Be gone, cold feet! Only warm ones for us!

2) Wearable blankets: I don't know if this can count as an official "product" since I made it myself, but a rolling baby (or if I'm honest, a stomach-sleeping baby) made swaddles a thing of the past and we moved on to sleep sacks. There are some great ones out there (Halo! Aden + Anais! Hanna Andersson! Carter's!), but I wanted an especially warm one since we let our house get pretty cool at night, and I wanted one that wouldn't break the bank. Ahem: I'm looking at YOU, Anthropologie. And so I crafted one, lining it with both batting and flannel, with a cotton exterior. We use them every night and they successfully fend off the cold. 

Given enough time and a bit more practice, I might consider selling them on Etsy, but we've got a way to go before we get there. And rest assured...mine will not be $90.

3) Nuk Pacifiers: After a solid five months of refusing any and all pacifiers, Elise finally decided these were ok. I should put a disclaimer here in case anyone is taking my highly subjective word as law. Just because my baby ended up taking these doesn't mean another baby will. But they're going on my favorites list anyway, because they were hugely helpful in getting Elise to go to sleep more easily at night, at least until she discovered her thumb. 

4) Columbia Snowsuit: As previously stated, it's cold in the winter, and thus going outside requires some gear. This snowsuit keeps Elise nice and toasty, so her first snow experience was a great one. We got ours at the end of winter last year (before she was born!), so it was on super sale. I highly recommend going that route if you're particularly adept at forecasting clothes sizes. 

5) AngelCare Movement Monitor: This one is decidedly an investment, but for me it was 100% worth it. SIDS is a terrifying thing, and like a stereotypical first time parent, for the first few months I checked on Elise's breathing multiple times every evening and then every time I woke up at night while she was still asleep. After I started having nightmares about waking up and finding her not breathing, I knew I had to do something. This monitor entirely took away the nightly anxiety for me, and while I might be able to equally attribute that to a rather fantastic reduction in postpartum hormones, I love the peace of mind that it provides. It works even with my little non-wiggly stomach sleeper, so I'd say it's pretty effective. It also helped me feel a LOT more confident about putting Elise in her own room, which has been hugely beneficial for getting consecutive hours of uninterrupted sleep for all three of us. 

6) Baby Boden tights: There's clearly a theme going on here. Yet another thing that keeps a baby warm...these tights are so great. They're thick and wonderful and they, like many other things, periodically go on sale. We have two pairs and they are on regular rotation multiple times per week. I'm hoping they grow with her so that they last forever. Most Boden stuff is out of our regular price range, but these are very, very much worth a little extra.

Here are the tights (in the cream color, obviously) in the wild. 

Exhibit A: 

Exhibit B: 

7) A cardboard box: This one isn't linkable since it is what it is. Elise loves sitting in an empty diapers box, and it's great because she's delightfully stationary. I recommend a box to everyone. And look! She's so pleased!

So there you have my current list. Honorable mentions go to the Bumbo Multi Seat, an Ergo baby carrier, the BundleMe carseat cover, and this extraordinarily baby-entertaining musical octopus toy, as they are used on the daily. Oh, and Elise's own thumb. Her discovery of her thumb as a self-soothing device was a sleeping game changer, but it's not exactly something that's available on the market. And of course, what would a baby product recommendation post BE without yet another nod toward the Solly Baby Wrap. I will proclaim my love for it for all eternity. Anything you think I missed? Tell me your top picks!