Babies come with A. LOT. OF. STUFF. I never quite understood how true this was until I came home from my baby shower with my first son. I couldn’t believe how much I had to try and fit in our tiny 2 bedroom home. Well, I’m here to tell you that you don’t need it all. However, there are a few specific baby items that I’m very grateful I’ve had with both of my boys.

A couple weeks ago I shared my newborn must-haves for the 0-3 month stage. Well, Ben just turned 6 months old last week (tear) and I have found this past stage to be completely different than the newborn stage.

So today I’m sharing with you my must have list for babies ages 3-6 months.

1. Tula

My number 1, couldn’t live without, must-have item, (do you get the picture), is my Tula. I literally use it every single day. Ben loves it and so do I because it always calms him down when he is fussy. We started using the Tula when Ben was around 3 months old once his head control was a little more stable. 

There are several options for soft structured carriers on the market. We decided to go with the Tula for a few different reasons.

1. Resale Value - These carriers will often sell for substantially more than new ones. This is because Tula retires their prints every so often so an older print becomes hard to find. Tula has a large following and many women will buy multiple carriers collecting certain prints paying hundreds of dollars on each.
2. Fit - Tula carriers promote proper hip placement for baby. They are also a better fit for taller people than some of the other carriers on the market. Since I’m 5’10” and my husband is 6’2″, this was a definite bonus.
3. Accessibility - There is a store about 20 minutes away that sells Tula carriers. I wasn’t keen on ordering such an expensive carrier online. I wanted to see it and try it on. 

Tula carriers retail for $149. I plan to keep the one I own until we are done having babies and then resell it. I really questioned whether or not I should spend so much money on a carrier. I’m a fairly frugal person and handing over $150 for a carrier seemed like an extravagance that wasn’t 100% necessary. However, I was completely wrong. It has been worth every single penny. Even if they cost double this amount, I would still buy one. I love it that much!

2. Sleep Sack

When Ben was a newborn, we swaddled him every time he slept. This worked so well for us, but we worried about what would happen when he started rolling over and couldn’t be swaddled any longer.

Enter the sleep sack!

They don’t provide the same pressure that the swaddles do, but they do add some warmth for chilly nights. Ben is a very cold natured child and will wake up a lot if he is chilly. These sleep sacks have kept him warm all night! 

We have about 3 of these and rotate through them. I think you could probably get by with 2 if you do laundry frequently. However, I wouldn’t want less than 2. There have been times when we had to change sacks in the middle of the night because of a diaper accident or spit up situation.

3. Door Jumper

With Caleb, we had a Jumperoo. They are very nice, but take up so much space! I really don’t like my entire living room to be consumed by baby items, so I really wanted something that was smaller. I also wanted something portable that I could take with me all over the house. 

This door jumper has been so great! I love how easy it is to move and that I can take it down and store it away when not in use. Plus, it’s much more budget-friendly than the larger stand jumpers.

4. Boppy Pillow

Yes, this was an item on my newborn must-have list. However, I still use it 7-8 times a day and wouldn’t have wanted to spend the last 3 months without it. So it made this list as well!

I still use this when I nurse Ben. We are also using it as a support when he practices sitting up or a place to lie down for tummy time. There are so many uses for this magical pillow. It’s so worth the $40.

 *Note: I also have the boppy pillow protective cover. It cost around $10 and has been worth the expense. It keeps any liquids from seeping into the pillow causing it to smell. It has saved our pillow on multiple occasions. I also recommend having 2 covers. One of ours is constantly in the wash. It’s nice to have one as back up.

5. Sound Machine

We registered for this item and received it as a gift at our baby shower. It has been such an awesome addition! I really don’t know how we survived the baby stage with Caleb without it.

For Caleb, we used a fan in his room pointed at the wall as a white noise maker (can you say redneck noise machine?) to mask the creaky floors right outside his bedroom door. We still walked around on pins and needles hoping and praying we wouldn’t wake him up. 

Actually, the only reason we registered for this item is that we didn’t have another fan to use in Ben’s room as a noise maker. Wow, am I ever glad we received this noise machine!

It has 6 sound options, a volume dial and a timer if you wish for it to turn off eventually. We use it every time Ben sleeps. We love this so much, we are planning to purchase a second one for Caleb’s room!

6. Jogging Stroller Travel System

With Caleb we had a very basic stroller. However, before I got pregnant with Ben, I started getting into running. Our basic stroller was very impractical to try and run with and I knew that if I couldn’t take my kids with me, I probably wouldn’t exercise.

We did a ton of research on jogging strollers and found many of them to be astronomically expensive. (The BOB stroller for example!) I wanted one with the car seat that clicked into place so I could use it from birth and so it would serve double duty as my everyday stroller. We found this Graco stroller to be a good fit for us for because…

• it was affordable.
• it was made for taller people.
• it had the click in car seat.
• it was easy to put the stroller up and down.
• it had durable, air-up tires.
• the front wheel is on a pivot.
• it had great reviews on amazon.

We used our 15% registry completion discount as well as a gift card we received from our baby shower to purchase this system. We use it multiple times each week. I’m so glad we have a reliable jogging stroller!

7. Wet Bag

We do cloth diaper our babies, however I think one of these bags would be very handy for anyone with a baby or young child. I use mine for so many things.

• Dirty diapers (Could be an option for disposable diapers when a trashcan isn’t near.)
• Dirty clothes
• Dirty bibs/burp clothes
• Muddy shoes from my preschooler
• Wet swimsuits

I love that I have a place to put dirty items in the diaper bag so they won’t get mixed up with our clean items. These wet bags are easily washable. Just throw them in with your regular laundry (I’ve washed on hot and cold and both are fine) and hang to dry. These are on my “practical items for baby showers” list.

What items would you add to this list?

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