Six months! We’re back on the road, and enjoying the ability to travel again with our new family member.
Fitting a new small person and all his belongings into our space required quite a bit of thought and experimentation. Here’s what worked best for ages three to six months.
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Sleeping
Our portable bassinet worked great up to three months, but now that he’s rolling over and pushing up, it’s time for an upgrade.
Travel Crib
The Guava Lotus travel crib is a great fit for our space. It lives on the floor in front of the couch overnight, and on the bed during the day.
The Guava crib is particularly attractive for us, since it’s essentially a Montessori floor bed with a zip up side. Unfortunately, we can’t make our entire space safe for free roaming, but we can unzip the crib when it’s safe.
It folds up into a pretty manageable size if it ever needs stowed, though we haven’t ever stowed it.
It’s not practical to completely block out light from the Airstream windows, so we have a piece of blackout fabric that we drape over the crib when he’s sleeping.
White Noise Machine
White noise is great for helping a baby to sleep, as well as to mask the sounds of awake parents and click-clacking dogs in a small space. Our air conditioner fan is a great white noise machine when we have hookups, but it’s too much of a power hog to run off-grid.
We went through a couple of battery powered white noise machines before we found a good one.
The first we got was the Matone White Noise Machine, battery operated and rechargeable by a USB-C cable. It seemed good at first, but after listening to it for a few hours, it plays a 2 second loop of white noise, which has an obvious pattern to it. Drove me a little crazy, but I put up with it. Then, at 3:30 in the morning, the battery was about to die and it started beeping! What were they thinking?! Finally, the charge cable plug broke off the circuit board, and I happily went shopping for a replacement.
We replaced our noise machine with the Lectrofan Micro2, which so far seems to be a winner. There’s no discernible looping, and when the battery runs out, it just turns off. It has a surprising amount of bass notes for such a little speaker, so it doesn’t sound tinny at all. The speaker on top swivels, so you can point the noise in a particular direction if you want. It’s also a Bluetooth speaker, though I don’t expect to ever use that functionality.
Diapers
I admit defeat. We absolutely loved using cloth diapers when we had access to a washing machine, but washing them on the road is simply too water- and time-consuming. Bucket washing takes around an hour a day, and a couple of gallons of water, and then you have to hope for enough sun to get everything dry.
We’re planning to switch back to cloth diapers any time we have ready access to a washing machine. But for now, it just doesn’t work with our dry camping lifestyle.
Meals
Most of our child’s nutrition is still coming from milk, and we’re still loving the Kiinde Twist bottle system. There’s very little stuff to wash, and you pump right into the same bag you use for feeding. Heating up a bottle just requires swirling it in some hot water for a few minutes. But we’re so excited to be able to share solid food.
Low Chair with Table
We’re using the Hiccapop Omniboost Travel Booster Seat for meals. It’s a super compact “lawn chair” with a strap to help hold baby in place, and includes a snap-on tray table.
The booster seat includes straps, and is meant to be strapped onto a chair. But we mostly sit it directly on the floor for feeding.
We’ll also use it outdoors as a lawn chair, since it’s the perfect size for a small person to get in and out of.
The Best Baby Spoon
The Olababy Silicone Spoon is our favorite first utensil. It’s shallow, so it works great for baby sized portions of soft food. It’s easy to grip, and the tip is soft, so no worries about hurting sensitive gums. And the bottom of the spoon is a suction cup, so you can stick it to the table between feedings. It’s also a great thing for a teething baby to chew on.
Portable High Chair
We carry an Inglesina Dining Table Chair behind the back seat in the truck. It securely clamps to the table so our little one can sit and eat using the same table as the rest of the family.
We don’t have a table in the Airstream that the chair works with, but it’s great for picnic tables, restaurants, or visiting friends and relatives. Restaurant high chairs are way too big for a 3-6 month old, but this chair brings him right up to the top of the table and straps him in securely.
Teething
With his first teeth starting to come in at around 4 months, our little one needed a lot of new support.
Milk Popsicle
This silicone feeder is designed to help a baby eat soft food or fruit independently by gumming it through the holes in the tip. But what it’s really great for is making a milk popsicle for teething.
When we have just a little bit of milk left after feeding, we throw it in the freezer and use the milk ice cubes for the milk popsicle. Pop them in the silicone feeder, and it’s the perfect balance of cold, firm, and tasty for soothing teething gums.
We also keep a regular teething ring in the freezer, but he much prefers the milk popsicle.
Silicone Teether
Our second favorite teether is a Comotomo Silicone Teether, which we don’t bother putting in the freezer. It’s easy for small hands to grasp and manipulate, stands on its own, and is satisfying to chew. It’s also a generally interesting object to explore.
Activities
From 3-6 months, we don’t need a lot of toys. Just a few small objects are enough to encourage our little one to push up, scoot, and explore.
Yoga Mat
We keep yoga mats around for our own use, but they work great to provide a soft, grippy surface for our little one to explore his mobility.
Simple Toys
MontessoriGifts.com has a good overview of good toys for the 3-6 month age group. We have a couple of grasping toys, and a few that roll away slowly to encourage scooting.
Low Mirror
A child-height mirror is a great tool for exploration. We use a small acrylic mirror sheet, temporarily attached to the dishwasher at baby height with command strips. The acrylic mirror weighs next to nothing and is unbreakable, so it’s a great choice for a child’s mirror.
Board Books
We keep a small basket of board books by the bed. Books are heavy and bulky to carry, but there’s just no substitute for a physical book. Leanne finds great childrens’ books at thrift stores, so it doesn’t cost much to get new ones and donate them back when we’re done.
Our favorite books right now are Love Monster by Rachel Bright, The House in the Night by Susan Marie Swanson, and Snuggle Puppy by Sandra Boynton.
Out and About
The key to living in a small space is to incorporate the outside into your home. We might have a small house, but we have a HUGE, every-changing back yard.
Baby Carrier
We’re still loving the Ergo Omni baby carrier. It’s adjustable from newborn to toddler, with front, back, and side carry options, so it’s going to last us a long time.
Sun Protection
Aside from baby sunscreen and a wide-brimmed sun hat, our favorite sun protection accessory are Baby Bans. Real, UV 400, polarized sunglasses for babies.
Yes, they are super cute, but they also provide real protection for our little one’s eyes.
They’re reasonably comfortable when adjusted properly. He doesn’t like getting them put on, but once they’re on, he’ll mostly leave them in place.
Picnic Blanket
It’s nice to have a clean, dry, bug-free space to lie down on the ground. We keep a waterproof picnic blanket with us when we’re out and about so we can have a comfortable spot for lounging just about anywhere.
