Finally, your baby has reached 4 months! Your kiddos are now trying to get around and touch new things. They are growing new teeth. They are experiencing new foods. You get to see them become more aware of you and their surroundings. I love to walk into my baby girl’s room and see her just smiling at me from her crib. My son was not this way. He hated waking up. That made me laugh too. I started sleep training my kiddos around 3 months. I think it worked because they have allowed me to sleep almost 8 hours straight at about 5 months.
Now that you have started to sleep, you now get to prepare for what comes next. Crawling! So while you are getting your home ready with outlet plugs and moving all your breakables to higher places, take a look some of these items I found particularly helpful:
Bumbo Multi Seat – Portable 3-in-1 Baby Booster – Once your kiddo can start sitting up on their own, usually between 7-9 months, you can sit them up in the Bumbo. I put mine on the kitchen counter (it’s a pretty wide counter) and I feed them in that. It has a wide base, so it is sturdy. My kiddo would reach all the way to the side and the Bumbo did not move. You can also set it wherever you need to on the floor and give them snacks or if you need them to stay in one place for a minute.
Safety 1st Ready, Set, Walker – Sometimes your little one just wants to stretch out and chill. Once their feet can touch the ground, they can start sitting in the walker. The first direction they learn to move is backward. This walker is simple and it gives them toys to play with as they safely learn to cruise the house.
Ninja blender – I found that making my own baby food was not as scary as I thought it would be. I much prefer it because I know exactly what’s in their blends. I had a ninja blender, but any blender will do. You can do full purees to chunky foods. I did the math once, and saved me about 80 cents a jar and that was before this massive inflation we are currently experiencing. I just buy fresh or frozen veggies, cook them, and blend them up with some water to make it a paste.
Fruits can be a little more expensive and not really worth the work, but if you want to expand your kiddo’s food palate, you can do fruits too. I have not worked up the nerve to do meats with it, but it is also something to try if you want. Plus, you can use for a million other kitchen things.
Bibs – Babies drool. Oh, man, do they drool! The bibs help with keeping their little chests dry and you can easily switch them out instead of changing their whole outfit. I like the bandana look of these bibs, but it’s not really an important feature other than aesthetics.
Hudson Baby Unisex Fleece Booties – I love these little booties. I wish they had grown-up sizes. It keeps their feet warm and they are easy to put on.
Safety 1st Easy Install Baby Gate – As your kiddo starts to crawl around, be sure to block off your stairs or utility rooms. This gate was easy to install and it includes extensions to fit your halls or door frames.
Wink Well Baby Teething Gel – My oldest really liked this gel. When he was teething, he would hand me his binky so that I could put this stuff on it to help with his gums.
Nose Frida – I should have mentioned this in the newborn article, but this thing is a necessity! The bulb suction is okay, but the Nose Frida gets all the gunk out without having to worry about going too far up the nose. Yes, you have to manually suck it out (there is a filter) but they do offer a mechanical one as well. When your kid’s noses are running for a month straight, this suction keeps their poor noses from getting raw. Don’t forget to get the saline spray, not the drops.
Enjoy this time in your life. I know that people say it all the time, but contrary to their beliefs, it does not go by fast. It feels like it drags on…and on…until it doesn’t.