Top 10 Baby Items for Months 5 & 6: Teething & Feeding

As I was looking through my old photographs of Charlotte when she was five and six months old, my heart almost exploded with joy at how much she was doing in that time. Looking back is so sweet. Five and six months old is when she rolled over from front to back and back to front like a rock star, learned how to sleep through the night in twelve hour stretches, ate her first solid foods, learned how to sit up unassisted, and sat in a high chair for the first time at a restaurant. Little Miss was also a little drool monster during those months as the perpetual teething began. She still loved every single thing from the Top 15 Baby Items for Months 3 & 4 (except for the Rock N’ Play Sleeper…after learning to sit up, she was too wiggly to be contained by that little rocker), but we did add a few additional things to our baby items love list during months 5 & 6, especially when it came to the teething and feeding department. Here’s what made the list…

1. Best Ever Baby Mat
This mat was drooled on, rolled on, and chewed on. There are plenty of animal options to choose from for this mat. We have the owl version. And at almost two years old, it’s still a favorite.

2. Amber Teething Necklace
Although we never used this, all of my mommy friends swear by this little necklace. The amber is said to rub into the skin releasing succinic acid which is a natural anti-inflamatory. I would have used it, but I never got around to buying one. Let me know if you have any experience with it. (It has five stars on Amazon, which in my opinion, means it works.)

3. Hyland’s Homeopathic Teething Tablets
We did use these little teething tablets, and they seemed to help a bit. They’re another all natural option to help ease the pain and discomfort of teething. When Charlotte actually cut her first teeth at seven months, we did give her Tylenol, too, as she experiences a low-grade fever every time she cuts a tooth.

4. Fisher-Price Booster Seat Portable High Chair
Another favorite that is still in use! Before we took the plunge with a big-girl high chair, we used this portable one by Fisher-Price. She outgrew the Bumbo because her chunky baby legs became a little too big for it. So on to the next step of this portable high chair it was. We used this to introduce her to solids, just like we did when using the Bumbo. Even though she was still learning how to sit up on her own, she became stronger every day. It was only weeks before she was loving this chair, sitting up on her own as strong as ever. I have many pictures of her sitting in this thing, eating all of her first foods. We still use this seat as our travel high chair.

5. Munchkin Soft-Tip Infant Spoons
Since five and six months is when most parents begin introducing solids, you’ll need a few baby spoons. You’ll want something small, soft, and easy to grip. These Munchkin spoons fit the bill. I had two sets.

6. OXO Tot Divided Feeding Bowl
Feeding will be all the rage, so you’ll also need some bowls. I preferred the divided bowls to see how much baby food I was feeding her. After nursing her, I would put her homemade baby food in this little bowl, and feed her two ice cubes of defrosted homemade purees.


7. Bumkins Waterproof SuperBib
If your baby was anything like mine, when you’re introducing the new foods, you’ll have a huge baby food mess. That means you’ll want a good bib. These bibs by Bumkins are my absolute favorite because you can rinse them then hang them dry. No need to send them through the laundry because you have enough of that anyway.

8. Omega Juicer
Speaking of baby food, we chose to make our own. It really wasn’t hard at all. We would take about an hour or so of our weekend, steam some organic vegetables and fruits, then send them through the juicer. You can also use a food processor if a juicer isn’t in your budget. After you have your puree ready to go, you can freeze it by sectioning it out in an ordinary ice tray. Once the puree is frozen, pop the ice cubes out and put them in a Ziploc bag for easy transport. When feeding Charlotte, I would defrost the cubes in the microwave for a few seconds, then mash it up. Easy peasy. If you’re on-the-go, just take the frozen cubes with you in a separate sandwich bag, and they should be thawed by the time you get to your destination.

9. Itzy Ritzy High Chair Cover
After Little Miss was sitting up on her own, it was time to put her in a real high chair at restaurants. She no longer needed to sit in her baby carrier, and I was so excited to have her join us at the table. She was too. I love this Itzy Ritzy cover, because it’s like a huge pillow covering the chair. I still use this for shopping carts and restaurant outings. Charlotte loves it!

10. Bugaboo Cameleon 3 Stroller
Since sitting up was such a big deal, she was now able to sit properly in the standard version of the stroller, meaning we no longer needed the adapter to attach the infant carseat. She was now sitting in the stroller’s seat. I cried a little bit when this transition took place, but little lady was too excited to be seeing things from a different angle on our walks. I love our stroller.

Now a note about baby feeding: 
As with all things in regards to your baby’s health and nutrition, please talk it over with your pediatrician. We love ours, and she was our go-to resource when starting our journey into solid foods. Like I said before, we introduced solids at four months. We began with rice cereal and mixed that with expressed breast milk. Once she took that like a champ, we transitioned to oatmeal cereal right around five months. At five months, we were introducing a different solid a week, one vegetable or fruit at a time. We started with apples, then sweet potatoes, then bananas, and expanded the options from there. You start with one food at a time and feed that for 3-4 days (or a week if you’re like me) to make sure your baby isn’t allergic. Here is a chart from The Baby Bullet Blog to help you see what foods to introduce.