Tis the season for gift giving! So, I thought I’d do a quick round-up of some of our favorite items from the last couple of months to inspire anyone looking for gift ideas for kids in the 3-6 month age range.
Introducing: Maeve’s Faves!
Manhattan Toys Sqwish: Hands-down, Maeve’s favorite toy for chewing, shaking, banging, and even cuddling. I nearly laughed myself off the couch when I saw her lay her head on it like it was a cozy pillow. It’s my favorite toy for her, because it’s made of wood, not plastic, and offers so many open-ended play opportunities. In a sea of toys that are only fun for a short time frame, this one definitely has staying power.
Baby Bling Bows: It’s no secret that my daughter is large of noggin, and finding bows that don’t strangle her poor noodle with overly tight elastic was a tall order. Baby Bling’s bows are super stretchy and wide to accommodate heads of all sizes comfortably and come in all shades of the rainbow. They’re just darling. I have a bit of a compulsion with these, so Maeve is rarely seen without one!
Rags to Raches Rompers: These adorable rompers have my heart. They’re ridiculously soft, cozy, cute and stylish. They slip on and off easily through the stretchy neck-hole, so there are no annoying snaps to mess with. And they’re a good investment because they can be worn snug or loose, so one pair can last you 6 months of growth or more! I went a little crazy on Black Friday and now they seem to make up most of Maeve’s winter wardrobe. And I’m not even sorry about it.
Kickee Pants Pajamas: We discovered Kickee Pants and their incredibly well-made, adorable jammies when my nephew Grayson was a baby, and they immediately became family favorites for all babies who’ve come since. They’re made of viscose bamboo and spandex, which makes them extra soft and stretchy and they come in a ton of adorable patterns and styles with features like butt ruffles that I can’t get enough of. Maeve’s PJ collection is easily 95% Kickee. Caution: they make babies even more huggable than usual. It’s a bit dangerous.
Angel Dear Lovies: Hi, my name is Dana, I’m almost 38 years old, and I still sleep with my childhood lovie. No shame. So I took finding Maeve her own lovies very seriously. Enter Angel Dear. So soft, so snuggable. But most important, breathable. Two of Maevie’s four lovies are by Angel Dear, and she takes them everywhere she goes. I fully credit an early attachment to lovies as part of Maeve’s magical self-soothing powers, and will forever be grateful for so many peaceful night’s sleep as a result.
Fisher Price Snail: We got this toy as a hand-me-down from my nephew, and it’s a big hit with Miss M. She loves looking at herself in the mirror, swinging her Sqwish and hitting the snail to activate its song and lights, making it a great toy for cause-and-effect learning. And when she starts crawling, it can roll along with her, so it’s not just great for one stage of her life, but can evolve with her.
Chewbeads: These necklaces, toys, and stroller attachments are such high-quality teething toys. Made from silicone, they’re super chompable and soothing to a teething baby’s gums. Maeve gives tons of love to the one we keep hooked onto her carseat handle.
Cheeky Chompers Neckerchew: Clever as they are for marrying a bib and a teething toy, I love these most for being the most absorbent bibs we own. Our drooly monster goes through multiple bibs daily, except when she wears these, which somehow last all day without saturating through to her clothes. And they come in an adorable array of colors and prints. But yes, the teething tip is also a seriously awesome feature, and Maeve happily chomps hers whenever they’re around her neck.
Fisher-Price Infant Bouncer: Maeve loves to bounce and bat at dangling toys, and once she learned to roll from back to belly, there were few ways we could entertain her on her back. But contained in this recliner, she would happily lay back, bouncing herself and swiping at the toys, and enjoying the calming vibrations while I got some work done in the kitchen or jumped into the shower. I got it for free from a neighbor in my Buy Nothing community, and she’s just now outgrowing it, but it was great while it lasted!
And if you want a splurgey gift idea, look no further…
Dyson Humidifier: I love this humidifier so much! When Dyson offered me one for review, I jumped at the chance, because we’ve had one of their vacuums and loved it, I know their quality is top notch. It is whisper-quiet, easy-to-use, and very sleek looking. Living in the desert, it’s hard to achieve the perfect indoor humidity year-round. The Dyson Humidifier is the perfect solution for my baby’s nursery because we can set our desired humidity level and it will run automatically, keeping it at the perfect humidity for her space! Other, unprogrammable humidifiers either over-humidified or under-humidified her room, and now we don’t have to worry about that being a problem anymore. It also kills 99.9% of bacteria using Ultraviolet Cleanse technology to kill bacteria before the mist projected into the room, and boasts features like a sleep timer, intelligent climate control, and a handy remote so you can change settings from the comfort of your own bed (or the hallway outside your baby’s room, so you don’t disrupt their slumber). Its absolutely wonderful and gives us great peace of mind.*
Hope this list gives you some fun ideas for how to keep a 3-6-month-old in your life entertained, well-dressed, and comfortable! I’d love to hear your faves too!
*Disclosure: Dyson provided me a humidifier for free in exchange for an honest review of my experience with it. Thanks, Dyson!
: I had about 6 weeks of general nausea early on in my pregnancy, but worse was the motion sickness that started at 3 weeks! Whether I was the passenger in a car, or just scrolling through facebook – I was miserably queasy. But it was made much more bearable once I got a pair of Sea-Bands acupressure bracelets. They apply consistent pressure to localized points in your wrists that help abate nausea – whether from motion sickness, morning sickness, chemo side effects, and other causes. It’s great drug-free relief from queasiness, whether you suffer only in the morning hours or all day, every day.
and then supplement it with a solid DHA pill like this one from 
, which afforded me the best ratios of the vitamins I needed for pregnancy. With the bonus that they weren’t giant horse pills, which I loathe.
: Even before your belly pops, your body is going through some serious adjustments as your baby begins to grow, and finding comfortable positions for sleeping gets increasingly challenging, early. Plus, you’ll want training for side-sleeping because shortly after your first trimester ends, sleeping on your back is not recommended. The Snoogle will seem absurd when you unpackage it, but once you discover it’s 
which is easily removable for washing and as soft as your favorite t-shirt.
: The only protection we women have against stretch marks is prevention. Genetics plays a large part, and given my family history, I know the odds are stacked against me. So I moisturized early and often with various stretch mark creams – and Palmer’s is a fave. It’s natural, it smells great, and it’s super affordable. And, it seems to work. Knock on wood, 23 weeks and no stretch marks yet!
: If you’re a bath person, the tub can be a sweet retreat throughout your pregnancy. But for safety’s sake, you must keep the temperature at or below your body temperature – you don’t want to boil that baby! A corded digital thermometer like mine, by Polder, is a great way to monitor the temperature and have the peace of mind necessary to allow that bath to be truly relaxing.
: At about 8 weeks, my skin turned into a straight-up oil slick y’all. It was so greasy, all the time. I always had combination-to-dry skin, and this was unknown territory for me. But blotting papers saved the day. They gently remove oil without adding product build-up, and have a plain side or powdered side in case you need extra mattifying power. Thankfully, the grease blast only lasted about 6 weeks before clearing up, but I still use the blotting papers for maintenance, as needed.
: Ah, the ubiquitous Bellaband. A mainstay on everyone’s pregnancy survival lists. In early pregnancy, they work as elastic safety-nets, holding up your unbuttoned pants so you can wear them longer before having to shell out the dough for new maternity wear. Later in pregnancy, they’ll provide support and coverage to your belly as it grows, acting as a sort of belly-bra and providing modesty as your shirts begin riding further up your tummy. Truth be told, the way I bloated in early days made even my unbuttoned pants too tight, so I didn’t get much use from my Bellabands then. But as I near the 3rd trimester, I can see how they’ll become more useful very soon.
: The first hint that I was knocked up came in the form of major bewbage. My funbags grew quite considerably in the early days of my pregnancy, and while my bra cups could handle the overflow, my bra strap started cutting into my back quite quickly. This 17-pack of multi-colored bra extenders work with all my bras, and add a few inches of relief as easy as pie, for a fraction of the price of a new bra.
