Worth It
by Betteroo
The baby products worth buying, month by month. And the ones to skip.
Worth It is Betteroo’s short list for every stage from newborn to toddler: a few products chosen for what your baby is actually doing, the free version, and what we’d leave on the shelf. The weekly email runs from month 4 to month 24.
- Picked for an age
- Sources linked
- Includes the $0 option
Independent picks. If you buy through our Amazon links we may earn a commission; as an Amazon Associate, Betteroo earns from qualifying purchases. How we choose
What makes a Worth It list
Fewer, better, and honest about both
Browse by age
What’s worth it, stage by stage
Months 0 to 3
The newborn weeks
Sleep, bath time and the very first toys.
Months 4 to 6
Rolling and sitting
Out of the swaddle, first foods, first teeth.
Months 7 to 12
On the move
Crawling, pulling up, the first birthday.
Months 13 to 24
Toddler time
Walking, the big bed, the potty.
New on Worth It
The latest lists
Toys for 1-year-olds
Six toys for building, pushing, banging and first puzzles, and four to skip.
See the list
High chairs
Two everyday chairs, an optional seat for eating out, and what comes after.
See the list
Toys for 6-month-olds
Six toys for the four things a six-month-old actually does, and four to skip.
See the listThe skip list
Things we would never buy
Every Worth It list ends with what to leave on the shelf. A few that come up again and again:
Weighted sleep sacks and weighted swaddles
They’re marketed at exactly the parent who has just lost the swaddle. The CPSC has warned that weighted infant sleep products are unsafe for sleep, and Target, Walmart, Nordstrom and Babylist committed to stop selling them, with Amazon telling sellers it would no longer allow them. A plain sleep sack in the right size is the answer.
Amber teething necklaces and bracelets
There is no mechanism by which a necklace eases teething, and the US Food and Drug Administration has warned about strangulation and choking risks. Nothing goes around a baby’s neck, and nothing with small beads goes near a mouth.
Add-on seat pads and cushion inserts
The extra pads sold separately to make a high chair cozier. Every seam is somewhere food goes and doesn’t come out, and an add-on can change how the harness fits. Keep any padding that came with the chair. Just skip the extras.
Seated activity centers and jumpers, at six months
They hold a baby upright in one spot, and we’d rather put the money into a mat. Awake, supervised floor time is where babies build the strength to sit and crawl (NIH).
This page, every week, for your baby’s exact age.
Tell us your baby’s birthday and every issue matches their age, from month 4 to month 24: what changes that week, the few things worth buying for it, the free version, and what to skip.
- Two or three picks for what changes that week, from month 4 to month 24
- The free version and the skip list, every time
- Free, one email a week, unsubscribe in one click
Expecting? Add your due date, and Worth It starts when your baby turns four months. It runs until month 24.
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Why trust Worth It
How we choose
We don’t run a product lab, and we won’t pretend we do. Worth It picks are researched from makers’ instructions, retailer listings and official safety guidance, not lab-tested. Each is chosen for a specific age and a specific job, the way a friend a couple of years ahead of you would choose: a few products, each with a reason, and an honest note on what could go wrong.
We check every listing on amazon.com for a live US offer and sort it into a price band: Budget (under $30), Mid-range ($30 to $100) or Premium (over $100). We don’t print exact prices because they change daily. If you buy through our links we may earn a commission. That pays for this, and it never decides what makes the list.
For safety, we search the CPSC recall database by product name, and we note the US safety standard the maker says a product meets. Where the maker doesn’t say, we tell you what the law requires for that kind of product. The JPMA’s certification list (now run by the Baby Safety Alliance) isn’t publicly searchable, so we only mention certification when the maker states it. Specs come from the maker first, and the Amazon listing second.
Sources for this page