A list of my top 9-12 month baby must haves and essentials! Baby basics to add to your wishlist – from books to feeding essentials and more! What to splurge on and what’s worth the hype as a first-time mom with a growing little!

My previous newborn must haves and essentials post, my 3-6 month baby must haves and essentials post and my 6-9 month baby must haves and essentials post got so much love from you guys, that I thought it would be fun to share another edition now Sage is almost a year old! Babies change so much every month, and I find these kinds of videos and blog posts super helpful for knowing what’s worth purchasing, so I hope this helps you too!

Toys for a 9-12 month baby

Sage is now crawling and cruising everywhere. She’s a busy baby, that’s for sure, so her toys have really changed as of late. These are the ones she’s currently obsessed with!

Megablocks

Sage loves these megablock legos! My toes love them less when I’m constantly stepping on them haha, but it’s totally worth it for the amount of enjoyment it brings to Sage! This big bag is super affordable, and Sage is now at the stage where she’ll try to build them up and piece them together. They’re also great for teaching colour matching!

Stuffed animals

Sage started getting really cuddly with stuffed animals around the 9 month mark, and she’s really gravitated towards her teddy. He’s been through the ringer a little bit – he’s been chewed on and dropped more times than I can count – and she actually knows the word teddy now if you say it!

Subscription toy boxes

If you saw my 6-9 month must haves video, you’ll know we love subscription toy boxes (use code “NIKOLE” for 50% off your first month!) They’re great for taking the guesswork out of figuring out what to buy for your baby toy wise. The boxes are specifically designed for your baby’s specific developmental stage.

Activity saucer

We put Sage in this activity saucer in the morning and it totally saves us! It allows us to brush our teeth, use the bathroom, shower, you know… be humans. We’ll also allow her to watch ten minutes of Cocomelon while she’s in her activity saucer while I make her breakfast. 

Stacking cups

I’ve mentioned these stacking cups before, but they’re still a firm favourite! She’s actually starting to use them the way they’re meant to be used, and loves stacking them up and putting them inside each other. I really enjoy toys that allow me to interact with her like this.

Wooden wagon

Sage loves this pink wooden wagon. Sometimes she’ll sit in it and we’ll wheel her around the house, and sometimes she’ll practice walking with it (with our supervision of course). It’s really well made and the wheels don’t move too quickly, so you don’t have to worry about it slipping out from underneath your little one.

Food items for a 9-12 month baby

Sage is an eating machine! She absolutely loves her food, long may it continue! You can see the baby food resources I love right here, but here are the products that we’ve been specifically loving over these past 3 months. 

Playmat

You might think this belongs in the ‘toys’ section, but this playmat is totally multifunctional! We used to use it a lot when we went to parks so that Sage would have a clean place to play and crawl around on, but what I love about it now is we can place it under her highchair! It catches any food that she drops and then it’s super easy to clean.

Snack containers

These containers are no-spill and they’re going to be so amazing for travel! They have a plastic top that your little one can reach through to grab their snacks, but it still stops any food from spilling out. Genius!

Sippy cup

This sippy cup is also no-spill, so great for on the go. It’s also better for their teeth and mouth development than the sippy cups with the spout. 

Tiny cup

Sage has been doing so well with this tiny cup! It’s the perfect size for her little hands, and it has a weighted bottom to it to help stop it from spilling. 

Books for a 9-12 month baby

We’ve been reading to Sage since she was a newborn. A lot of people suggested doing this to get her into reading right from the get-go, and she definitely does love her books! Here are some of our favourites…

• Monster Meditation
• You Are My Happy
• Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?
• The Pout Pout Fish line
• I Like Myself
• Sweet Child of Mine

Other things we’re loving

Footless onesies

Now that Sage is learning to stand and cruise around, it’s really important that she can feel her feet on the ground. The onesies that came in super handy when she was younger that had the feet attached are no good now because she’ll be slipping and sliding around when she’s trying to stand. We tend to use those footed onesies for sleep more now, and these footless onesies are great for during the day. 

Baby toothbrush

Sage now has 4 teeth up top and 2 on the bottom. My dentist said now that she’s starting to get her teeth, we could get her a little baby toothbrush, just to get her used to the motions and sensation of brushing them. We’re not super diligent with it just yet, but she’s getting used to it which is the main thing!

Baby gate

Once they start crawling and cruising, it’s so important to make sure your home is baby proofed. This is the gate we have on our stairs, and you can see all the things we did to babyproof our home right here. 

Baby carrier

We’ve had this carrier for a while, but she wasn’t big enough for it until recently. It’s built so that their legs are always at the correct 90 degree angle. I like it because Sage can be facing me or facing outward, and you can also wear it on your back, though we haven’t tried that yet. 

Things around the house

Honestly, the things Sage is loving the most right now are just the everyday items around the house that you might think of as mundane. Light switches are endlessly entertaining to her. She loves looking at family photos. She also loves feeling different textures. We have a shaggy rug in our living room and she’ll often just go and lay down on it. Exploring the house is definitely a favourite activity!

What are your 9-12 month baby essentials? Let me know in the comments below!

If you want to see more of the products I use for Sage, check out my 6-9 Month Baby Must Haves & Essentials and my 3-6 Month Baby Must Haves & Essentials.