Hello mamas! This is my last post in the baby essentials series, where I share all my must-have items for babies of different ages. Of course, these items apply to where my son was at developmentally at these ages, so it’s not a cookie cutter list for all babies. But, it should give you a pretty good idea of what you will truly need (coming from someone who considers themself a minimalist) around the 9-12 month mark.
This is also my shortest list in this series because a lot of items from past stages still apply now — and these are just the new products we’ve introduced recently. If you want even more ideas, check out my essentials lists for 0-3, 3-6 and 6-9 months. We still use a whole bunch of items from all of those lists.
For my son, months 9-12 were all about eating new foods (through baby led weaning) and perfecting his walking skills. He was basically already the size of a toddler, which is great because all of these things that worked at 9 months will continue to work for the next few years!
Convertible Carseat:
At about 9 months, Leo was moved into his big boy carseat because he was just too heavy to carry and hated being tied down if we went somewhere. After lots and lots of research, I went with the Graco 4Ever so I’d never have to buy him another one again. This one will last til he’s 10 years old or until he’s done with carseats altogether. They have the [DLX model and the side-crash safety model,] and I went with the safety model. We got into a car accident when he was 3 days old, and I’ll never risk car safety with him.
Straw Sippy Cups:
Stop what you’re doing and order these cups. I’m not joking. I’ve tried 9 different sippy cups for Leo and these are the only ones that DO NOT LEAK at all. Leo got the hang of a straw using the Munchkin weighted straw cups, but they would leak every time it was dropped and were awful to clean. But these Nuby ones are big enough to grow with older babies, have a silicone straw, ARE EASY TO CLEAN (no issues with giving milk in these), are picky-baby proof, and don’t leak, like I said. Number 1 baby product for 9-12 months and beyond, hands down.
Replay Utensils:
There’s probably thousands of options out there for baby utensils, but once you introduce a fork and spoon to your baby to use on their own, I don’t think there’s a better option than Replay utensils. They’re a little larger than utensils advertised for babies, but these toddler utensils are perfect. They’re sturdy, actually function well (food stays on the fork and the spoon is deep enough!), and are made of recycled materials. I love that he can use these for the next few years and that they’re cheaper than many other options. (And they also come in every color imaginable, so if you wanna be extra AF for holidays, thats a win for mom.)
Snack Cups:
If you don’t want your baby making a mess with his Cheerios and puffs, you need these. The silicone lid has slits cut into the top so your baby can reach a little hand into it and pull out his snacks. But if he throws it, snacks wont go flying. In our case, Leo would rather slam it on the ground a few times til some eventually fall out, but that’s just our aggressive baby lol. Either way, it’s so much cleaner than handing him a normal bowl.
Sleeved Bibs:
I’ve tried four brands of sleeved bibs now, and by far the best ones are these on Amazon. They’re longer, thicker material, wash amazingly, and have better velcro around the back of the neck — plus they’re cheaper! We don’t use these for every meal (cleaner meals we’ll use the OXO bibs) but for any meal where his sleeves could get dirty, he’s wearing one of these. We’ve got three patterns now and I wouldn’t even consider buying another brand.
Silicone Placemats:
You can use these at home if you’d like, but I got them for when we would go out to eat. We’ve done baby led weaning with Leo, so he isn’t the cleanest guest at a restaurant. These give us a clean place to lay out his food and make cleaning up much easier. I got these ones from Amazon solely for their neutral colors.
Bath Mat:
By this age you’ve probably moved bath time out of the kitchen sink and into the bathtub. But holy crap it’s slippery for a wiggling baby. For some reason, this is one of those things where I read more reviews than just about anything else. I wanted one that was very soft, had great suction, didn’t have issues with growing mold, and was a neutral color. That led me to this Ubbi one. No complaints so far!
Cabinet Locks:
Once your baby is on the move, they’ll be able to open cabinet doors and drawers — and they’ll be curious enough to do it. We actually didn’t have any cabinet locks until Leo pulled the Thanksgiving turkey platter out and it shattered all over the floor. After learning our lesson, we now have a lock on every door or drawer he can reach. Even if there isn’t anything obviously dangerous in them. It also keeps everything much cleaner when your baby can’t spread spatulas all over your house.
Corner Bumpers:
Leo started walking before he was 10 months old, which came with a lot of falls, bumps and bruises. No matter how closely you watch your baby, he will find a way to bonk his head on furniture. But 9 times out of 10, it didn’t bother Leo because we’ve had bumpers on all the corners of our sharp furniture since he could pull himself up. He’ll still hit himself, but at least he’ll just bounce right off. I wouldn’t want to imagine our house without these.
Books:
I think books are a necessity at all ages, but 9-12 months is when babies really start to interact with books and have their favorite stories. Leo loves all books, especially ones where he can lift a flap. And for some reason, he LOVES these little ones that come in a set. They’re all Eric Carle and go over different words, colors, numbers and animals. Plus they’re perfect for his little hands.
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