Favourite baby gear roundup: 7-9 months

It's that time again! In this post I'll be listing our picks for top baby items from the 7-9 month age range (inclusive), based on our experiences with S. Yes, I'm aware that this list has 11 items in it. I couldn't decide which one to leave out, and it seemed silly to have a single "honourable mention". So 11 it is! :)

If you're interested, take a look at our 0-3 and 4-6 month roundups as well!

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#11 - "Touchy/feely" books, such as That's Not My Puppy by Usborne Children's Books. At this age, babies are getting much more coordinated and S just loooved exploring the textures in these books - soft fur, shiny collars, bumpy frog skin, etc. Between about 8 and 9 months, however, she started getting a little more aggressive & "rippy", preferring to manhandle the entire book rather than simply feel the textures on the pages. ;)

#10 - Fisher Price Rainforest Jumperoo. This item made the #4 spot on our last list. We continued to use it quite a bit during months 7 and 8, and then its allure tapered off pretty sharply for S once she started crawling. In her 9th month, we just used it sporadically when we needed some quick hands-free time, though she'd generally start grumping at us after a few minutes. :)

#9 - Small soft cooler / lunch pack. (Any brand should do!) Once S began to eat solids (at just before 6 months), we discovered just how many additional items we needed to take with us when out & about! Bib, face cloth, spoon, sippy cup, food containers, snacks. I know that many parents like to pack these items in their diaper bags (and many bags are designed well for this), however we find that our bag is usually pretty stuffed mainly due to S's bulky cloth diapers. Plus, when we go out to eat we like to have her food items accessible without necessarily needing to lug her large bag around. So we started using one of the small soft coolers we got (for free) at the Great Canadian Cheese Festival and it is perfect!

#8 - JJ Cole outdoor blanket. First of all, there's definitely some seasonality involved in this pick, as we wouldn't have been able to take advantage of this item during the Winter. That said, we fell in LOVE with our JJ Cole blanket this past Summer as it was so perfect for S to hang out on during all of our outdoor events - cottage, camping, the beach, parks, BBQs and more! And we believe she was the perfect age for it, especially during the first part of Summer when she was sitting, rolling and just starting to "army" crawl. We'd spread a few of her favourite toys on there and she'd be happy as a clam! As she became more adept at proper crawling we did need to grab her and move her back fairly often (as she'd generally want to go pull out and eat grass at the edge of the blanket :) but this was still way more convenient and less messy than simply setting her down in the grass all the time. Why is the blanket so awesome? Well, it's super-durable, has a wipeable surface and folds up nicely when you're done with it! Plus it comes in some really attractive patterns to boot! This blanket probably would have made the 4-6 month roundup as well (instead?) if this age range coincided with the warmer months, as I can definitely see throwing a soft blanket down on top of it and laying a younger baby down. And I totally see continuing to use this moving forward when our child(ren?) are older for picnics, beach trips, fireworks, etc. All in all, a highly recommended item!

#7 - Fisher Price Healthy Care Booster Seat. We bought one of these seats for feeding on the go, and it is terrific! It is durable, safe, lightweight, portable, easy to clean, simple to use, very affordable and grows with baby. Many parents even claim that they use one of these seats in place of an actual high chair for everyday feeding, as a baby can sit safely in it as soon as he/she is ready for solids. Although most restaurants have high chairs, we find that they are generally very roomy and more appropriate for older/bigger babies, so we would take our Fisher Price booster seat with us when we went out to eat during S's first couple months on solids. The seat features extra long, adjustable straps so that it can be easily attached to virtually any size/type of table chair. We also set it on the ground to feed her when we're eating outside (BBQ, picnic, etc.)

#6 - ERGObaby Carrier. This was our #1 pick for the 4-6 month roundup. Although we still love our ERGO, we haven't used it as much recently as S often prefers being more mobile and closer to the action when we're out & about. So we've been opting for her stroller more often. But it's still my carrier of choice and great for shopping trips, walks in more "rugged" territory, etc.

#5 - Playtex "The First Sipster" sippy cup. When I was pregnant, I spent literally hours and hours researching baby gear for my registry. (Ahhh to have that kind of time again! ;) One of the items I spent a lot of time on was sippy cups, as it seemed that so many cups had negative reviews and that leakage was inevitable. But then I came across this cup and the vast majority of reviews were positively glowing! It seemed like this was the only cup that didn't leak, so I added a set of them to my registry. Fast forward almost a year, and I'm happy to report that after 4 months of daily usage, we have, indeed, had ZERO leaks with this cup! It's the perfect size and shape for little hands learning coordination, therefore ideal for the 7-9 month stage. And it's BPA-free, which is important to us as well! Great li'l cups. :)

#4 - Baby leg warmers (e.g. BabyLegs). Words cannot express how much I heart baby leg warmers! They're utterly adorable, come in sooo many cute patterns and add warmth without hassle (as they can be left on during diaper changes). Finally, they help protect baby's knees from chafing during the crawling period, which makes them particularly awesome during the 7-9 month stage! S has about 8 pairs so far and I totally want more. I think I'm addicted. ;)

#3 - Shape sorter and stacking cups (tie!). We have the Fischer Price Baby's First Blocks set and stacking cups by The First Years, though there are many other brands that create these types of toys as well. I decided to pair them together as S was introduced to both during her 7-9 month period and basically played with them in tandem. She started out by grabbing all the objects, mouthing them and bashing them together, then she enjoyed putting them into the shape sorter container and dumping the container. Finally, at around the 8 1/2 month mark, she began to put small cups and shapes into bigger cups, and attempted to put shapes into the correct holes. (Though we don't expect this skill to fully emerge for at least a few more months!) I love how portable and easy to clean these toys are as well! They're the first ones I grabbed this Summer when heading outside at the cottage or off to the park or beach. The one downside of the particular brands we own? It's not clear whether they are BPA-free, which means they likely aren't. :( That said, although she does mouth the pieces she's not actually ingesting any food or liquid out of them so it doesn't concern me as much as it would if her cups or servingware contained BPA.

#2 - Alphabet puzzle mat. We borrowed one of these puppies from Chris' sister (among many, many, many other things - thanks Tracey! ;) I'm not sure what brand it is, but numerous brands appear to create these mats. Which I get, because they're AWESOME. Particularly if you have non-carpeted floor in your baby's play area, like we do. Let me count the awesomeness: 1) Soft on baby's legs and knees, 2) "Grippy" so that baby's feet doesn't slip when pulling up on things, 3) Provides a designated "area" for baby's stuff, 4) Easy to clean and 5) Fun for baby to rip apart! :) I'm sure that in upcoming months there will be a 6) Fun for baby to put back together, but during the 6-9 month range she's pretty much in pure destruction mode. ;)


#1 - Blending device and baby ice cube trays. Now let me start out here by saying that I understand not all parents are into making their own baby food, and that's cool. That said, I knew from the get-go that I wanted to make food for S (for various reasons that belong in a different post), so I needed a good system. I ended up with The Magic Bullet as my blending device and Baby Cubes for storing her food, and the duo has worked WONDERFULLY! We were lucky enough to inherit the bullet from Chris' grandparents who had one that they didn't use. I have to admit I haven't used it for all its intended purposes, but it certainly purees like a dream. Quick and easy to use, and simple to clean. FTW. I looove our Baby Cubes too, as they are certified baby safe (as I mentioned above, this is important to us when it comes to products which touch her food and drink), space conscious (they stack easily), microwave-safe, come in various sizes and can be frozen for as long as 6 months (depending on the puree). All in all, these two items combined earned the honour of #1 baby gear in the 7-9 month range (according to hubby and me!)

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Well that's that! Hope you enjoyed our latest roundup!

So how about you? Do you have any 7-9 month "must have" items which didn't make our list?