10 Products We Regularly Used for Jack (9-12 Months)

This is a list of some of the products that we found useful for Jack during the 9-12 month stage. These items are in addition to things I have written about previously. See 0-3 months, 3-6 months and 6-9 months for more info on products we have used over the past year.

1. Jack really loves his Lillabo wooden toy car set from IKEA. He has learned how to push cars around – which quickly became a favorite pastime. His cousin, Izzy, also introduced him to smashing cars together which he thinks is great fun.

2. We picked up the Fisher Price Rock 'N Go Pony at a consignment sale and Jack seems to like it. He will stand next to it and rock it. Since turning 12 months, he now likes to sit on it and is more inclined to push it around.

3. I am a big fan of footie pajamas at this time of year. He hates to keep socks on, so I know he will stay warm in his footies.

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4. The bulb syringe aspirator has been with us since the beginning, but with the onset of cold season, we have used this sucker more times than I can count. Jack hates it, but it does help to clear the mucus from his nose.

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5. Likewise, in relationship to sickness, we are very fond of our Safety 1st Fever Light Ear Thermometer. I have learned that I can typically determine a fever by kissing Jack's forehead, but I like confirmation from the thermometer.

6. Instagram has been great for uploading photos of what Jack is up to "right now." I love being able to share day-to-day things with our loved ones.

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7. Tommy Tippee Explora 9 Training Sippy Cups from Target -- Jack has never had a bottle and as he ate more, we introduced him to a training sippy cup. Thanks to Jack's Aunt Emily for picking out a good cup.

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8. Chick-fil-a turned us on to disposable placemats, but instead of stealing extras any time we visited this fastfood establishment, we decided to order some online. The Neat Solutions disposable placemats have been a welcome addition to our eating out arsenal. This particular brand has adhesive on four sides so Jack can't really pull it off the table... at least not easily.

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9. Gerber Puffs -- Jack basically eats what we eat. Since we have followed the baby led weaning approach, we have never purchased baby food, with the exception of Gerber Puffs. They feed the toddlers this as a snack at church and he really likes them. We have found that they are great for on-the-go, especially as a pre-meal snack when we are at a restaurant.

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10. We still are huge fans of our cloth diapers, but for nighttime we ended up upgrading to the BumGenius One-Snap Closure 4.0. We love our other cloth diapers, but found that they leaked at night. The BumGenius diapers NEVER leak.

 That wraps up our year of products that we have found useful for Jack. He continues to love books and toys and I will post again later this year with a list of his favorite toys as a toddler. What are some of your favorite baby products at this age?

Thursday Things: 10 Products We Regularly Used for Jack (6-9 Months)

As a follow up to our favorite baby products at 0-3 months and 3-6 months, this list details the products we found to be the most useful at 6-9 months.

We continue to love and use some products (like the cloth diapers, crib, bibs, burp cloths, iPhone Nursing app, books, BOB, Kelty diaper bag, our Angelcare baby monitor and sound machine) while Jack has outgrown other items (Fisher Price Rock 'N Play, play gym and Baby Bjorn). The following list includes new products we began using on a regular basis once Jack turned 6 months.

1. Baby Einstein Musical Motion Activity Jumper – a gift that we introduced this around 5 months, but Jack didn't really love it until after 6 months.

2. Toys and Books – in general, Jack has become more interested in toys and he continues to love his books. Though his favorite thing is anything that he can put in his mouth {i.e. everything} and he has a special affinity for remote controls and cords.

3. Fisher Price Space Saver High Chair – at six months we started introducing food. His high chair has been the biggest help with this process. We are following the Baby Led Weaning approach, so he eats regular food, we just make sure it is soft and small enough for his hands. We love this high chair. We can easily move it from our breakfast area to our back porch dining area. We removed the pad that covers the chair because it gets too messy, especially with baby led weaning.

4. The Deuter Kid Comfort Carrier II – we actually have this on loan from my sister and brother-in-law. We love it though. It is great for hiking. The only negative is that the torso adjustments aren't quite long enough for Daniel's torso, so I get the pleasure of carrying our little man.

5. Recaro ProRide Carseat – at seven months, we went ahead and upgraded from the baby carrier to a full-blown carseat. We haven't looked back. We like the Recaro and are happy with our purchase, but we really wanted to buy the Diono Radian... maybe once we get a bigger car, we will swap.

6. Graco Pack 'N Play – we finally purchased a pack 'n play when we had friends visit in July. We let them use our nursery for their baby and put Jack in our room. Also, we knew we would need one for traveling, so we bit the bullet and went with the cheapest one that had the best reviews. It has worked great. We took it with us to Charlotte and Jack did fine. It folds up fairly small and I am sure we will use it the next time we travel.

7. Umbrella Stroller – just before Jack turned 9 months old, we made the decision to get a cheap umbrella stroller for our trip to Charlotte. Since we were staying in a downtown, urban area, I knew that trying to take our BOB stroller into cafes and shops might be a problem. The umbrella stroller served its purpose. The wheels were a bit of a hassle, they didn't always go the direction I wanted and the handles seemed a little low, but overall, definitely worth the $15 we spent. We still use our BOB revolution stroller a majority of the time.

8. Neat Solutions Waterproof Bib with pouch – this little food trough of a bib is definitely our favorite. It catches all of the food that would otherwise land in Jack's lap or the floor. We especially love it when eating out.

9. Footless pajamas – we love these for summer months and also Jack can wear them a little longer than the footie pajamas. He grows so fast that anything that will last a couple of extra months is a plus in our books.

10. Evenflo Johnny Jump Up Up – this swing hangs in a door frame has been a big hit. He likes that he can swing and try to walk. I like that I can keep him contained if I am trying to get something done.

Honorable Mention: Tinted Windows in our Subaru. With the extra hot summer, we are so glad we went ahead and had our windows tinted. This has helped tremendously on making the car less hot whenever we get inside. It also seems to cool down faster. A must for living in the south. Our next vehicle will have rear vents for the heat and air.

We are still trying to keep the toys and books from overrunning our house. I know that there will come a day when that is more of a challenge. Right now we are thankful that the stuff we do have is all pretty manageable. 

By choosing to use cloth diapers, continuing to nurse and deciding to do baby led weaning, we have been able to eliminate or reduce purchases that we might be making otherwise. I realize that these choices wouldn't work for everyone, but we are really happy with where we are at and it is working for us.

I would love to hear what your favorite baby products are.