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0-36 Months Milestone Checklist
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January 6, 2025
Jordyn Koveleski Gorman
Last Updated on January 8, 2026 by Jordyn Koveleski Gorman
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Valentine’s Day will be here soon! I love these little holidays because who doesn’t like something to celebrate? But since Christmas was just a few weeks ago, this is the perfect time to keep things fun and simple.
Here are some fun, functional, and LOW COST Valentine’s Day gift ideas your kids will love. It’s the perfect time to grab a teether, a cup, or a new developmental toy if your little one is nearing their next milestone. Check out the lists below!
Nuby Teether: The best first teether for your little one! Easy to grasp, doesn’t go too far back in the mouth, easy to wash (hello top rack dishwasher), and it has bristles to lightly introduce some texture. Start offering around 3 months of age to support oral and sensory development!
Fruit Teethers: A great bang for your buck! Each one of these has a different sensory component (bumpy, bristly, etc), so this is a great combination of teethers. Use the included finger brush as a toothbrush BEFORE your little one pops their first tooth. It gets them comfortable with bristles in the mouth and helps you establish a brushing routine, too.
O-Ball: A classic gift for a little one under 6 months. It supports grasping (a skill we expect to emerge between 3-4 months of age and refine closer to 6 months), and its colorful design is great for a little one’s eyesight. For just a few bucks, it’s a great toy!
Hollow Tubes: These are great for a baby who is just grasping and bringing items to their mouth! No, they cannot choke themselves with this teether, as choking occurs at the level of the windpipe (which is way farther than baby can push back), but it may elicit some gagging as these sticks can go pretty far back. However, the best way to move a gag reflex back is to elicit it and work through it while strengthening the jaw! These can come in handy as baby wishes to bite further back in their mouth, and you get several teethers for a low price.
The Crinkle Fish: This doubles as a book AND a toy! I love that it has little flaps to encourage reaching and grasping, a teether, a squeaker, AND a mirror. It’s a great toy for the car, tummy time, and while sitting on your lap!
Ankle & Sock Rattles: Ankle rattles and socks with cute little animals on the end that rattle when baby kicks and moves their arms. Great for working on grabbing feet and bringing them to their mouth! A simple and engaging toy for baby as they become more aware of their surroundings.
Silicone Teether w/Wooden Ring: Made with silicone and beech wood, this teether is easy for baby to grasp and each silicone nub has a different texture for them to chew and explore! Jenna had this one for her daughter!
Musical Caterpillar: A fun toy for tummy time! Encourage baby to reach out and touch the caterpillar and hear the crinkle sounds. Shake the caterpillar to make him rattle and get baby’s attention. He plays music, too!
Baby Finger Brush: Use a finger brush as a toothbrush BEFORE your little one pops their first tooth. It gets them comfortable with bristles in the mouth and helps you establish a brushing routine, too.
Tummy Time Water Mat: A fun way to keep tummy time interesting. Movement causes the objects inside to move around and encourage baby to move their hands and look around!
Strawberry Teether: Another fun teether to encourage grasping and introduce baby to different textures.
Soft Maracas: Grasp, shake, and let baby discover some music with these maracas – they’re soft on one side so baby can’t hurt themselves!
EZPZ Tiny Cup: This is a perfect sized cup for teaching open cup drinking! Little hands can hold it and it has a nice weight to the bottom. My favorite trick to teach parents is to fill it to the brim with a familiar PUREE that they have eaten on a spoon, and bring it to baby’s lips so they immediately get a taste of what is inside! And you don’t have to tilt it too much to give them some. Over time you can add some water to it so it’s not so thick and you work towards drinking plain water, but that skill takes time and isn’t expected to be done independently until 18 months. So starting at 6 months gives baby plenty of time to practice!
Zutano Booties: My favorite booties! They’re 100% cotton and never fall off! We love these. Perfect as baby gets to moving too, as they have little grippies on the bottom. So many colors, too!
Fill & Spill: The perfect soft toys to practice functional play now and then pretend play down the line. Dump and fill now and have a picnic later.
Mushie Silicone Bib: Practical items make great Valentine’s Day gift ideas! This bib has a nice and structured bucket to catch bites of food (and then you can re-offer or baby can go digging in their bib for pieces!) and the prints are adorable!
ARK Grabber: This teether is very tough– making it great for babies who have recently started solids and are starting to chew more! The resistance helps strengthen baby’s jaw, and the shape of this teether makes it easy to hold! It’s a little longer, so it goes further back in baby’s mouth, making it a great teether to help push the gag reflex back and practice chewing in the back of the mouth. Great for 6 months + and into toddlerhood!
The Honey Bear Straw Cup: This cup has a simple design that is easy to clean! Just squeeze the bear’s tummy and the liquid goes up! Baby can then take sips by themselves or you can continue to squeeze as they need assistance. Start using 6 months + to teach straw drinking and you can continue to use into toddlerhood as your little one becomes independent!
Stacking Cups: These stacking cups are an affordable Valentine’s Day gift idea for little ones. Tap them together, stack them, knock them down, and nest them. You can play a lot with these in the first few years.
Comotomo: This “octopus” teether is my all-time favorite teether! It is easy to hold and has finger-like stubs that are great for baby to chomp on, without them going too far back to constantly gag! I recommend introducing this one around 4-5 months of age and continue to offer in play as baby nears 1.
Spinning Suction Toys: We love these! Fun for the bath, or suctioning on a window or the high chair. Good for busy hands!
The Olababy Cup: This is #1 because it’s my all time favorite cup! I love that it’s made from silicone, has a straw stopper so baby can’t pull the straw out, has a weighted bottom so it’s harder to knock over, is a great size for little hands, and doubles as an open cup. My FAVORITE part is that it teaches straw drinking! Plug the hole in the lid with your finger and gently squeeze the cup so liquid goes up the straw and into baby’s mouth. They quickly learn that if they suck on the straw, liquid will come up and BAM, they just learned how to drink from a straw. Great for water, smoothies, and milk!
Tiny Spoons: A great option for baby’s first bites! They have a nice short and stubby handle that makes them great for self-feeding, and the bowl of the spoon is nice and flat, making it easy for baby to get the puree off. Baby can also use these as teethers before solids so they are comfortable with them and practicing bringing them to their mouth!
Farmyard Activity Cube: My daughter really liked this one! Baby can do hands-on play with crinkle pages, mirrors, and listen to melodies.
Lollaland Straw Cup: This cup is my favorite weighted straw because it does not have a valve. A valve is a piece of material in the straw itself that is a spill proof feature BUT it requires babies to suck extremely hard to get liquid out, since a lot of force is needed to get the valve open. This cup is not 100% spill proof when the top is down, but when the top is pulled over and the straw is pinched down instead, it is. The handles are also removable so it easily fits in the side pocket of a diaper bag for travel! This is one of my favorite cups for milk since it’s easiest to clean and there aren’t a lot of nooks and crannies.
Bumkins Smock Bib: My all-time favorite bib! You can throw in the washer (a little baking soda helps get the stains out!), and the wrists have elastic to help protect baby’s clothes from food. And it’s a great bang for your buck!
Zutano Booties: My favorite booties! They’re 100% cotton and never fall off! We love these. Perfect as baby gets to moving too, as they have little grippies on the bottom. So many colors, too!
Xylophone: Another fun musical toy! Model words like “bang, boom, tap.” As your little one grows into toddlerhood they will continue to play, too!
Sensory Balls: A variety of small balls with different sensory elements that can be used for rolling, switching between hands, and bringing to mouth.
Toothbrushes: We love these toothbrushes! With soft bristles, a simple design, and fun colors – they get the job done!
Thermos Funtainer: This is my favorite travel cup for littles 10 months and older since it’s very easy to open and shut and the straw is skinnier, so not as much liquid can be sucked through! It also comes in lots of sizes and colors so if your little one likes it, you have options for a long while! Great for water and milk!
EZPZ Utensils: Perfect small stick shape utensils for babies and toddlers to hold and self-feed. This fork is a favorite “first fork” for littles
Snack Container: How cute is this little strawberry snack container?! A great option to hold snacks and easy to clean.
Giant Spinning Stacker: This is a really fun toy for baby who is sitting, crawling, standing and walking! Help baby put the spinning rings on the top and watch them spin alllll the way to the bottom! Model “go, top, spin, fast, slow, more, all done.”
EZPZ Mini Mat: This suction mat sticks really well to most high chairs! It’s a great size and it divides food so baby can clearly see their choices. Plus, it’s great for toddlers, so you’ll get a lot of use out of it!
Elk & Friends Utensils: This stainless steel set is ideal for 18 months or older, as spoon and fork use become independent. We love this brand and the color combinations are so fun, too!
Honeysticks: These short, safe, and chunky crayons are great for first coloring activities. Work on holding the crayons with thumb towards the paper and making 1-2 scribbles on the paper.
What Should I Wear? Soft Book: We love this book and it’s one of our favorite travel toys, too! It comes with a removable doll you can dress on every page.
Melissa + Doug Slice and Bake Set: Practice serving cookies to family members, cooling them off by blowing on them, dunking them in a pretend cup of milk and so on! Any pretend play food item comes with endless opportunities to play.
Mr. Potato Head: One of my favorite toys for labeling body parts and using nouns with verbs. It’s super fun and affordable!
Thermos Funtainer: This is my favorite travel cup for littles 10 months and older since it’s very easy to open and shut and the straw is skinnier, so not as much liquid can be sucked through! It also comes in lots of sizes and colors so if your little one likes it, you have options for a long while! Great for water and milk!
Munchkin Utensils: These stainless steel forks and spoons are great for transitioning off of using silicone utensils. They are still short and easy to self-feed, but are better for piercing harder foods that your toddler is likely starting to eat more of!
Pop Tubes: These are always such a hit with little ones and they are super cost effective! They make the funniest sounds, you can blow through them, make a long train of them, focus on functional words like “push, pull, go, stop, again, all done, more.” The best toys don’t have to cost much!
Coffee Maker: I love this for acting out routines and taking turns. Paul and Penelope love to make my coffee in the morning! This toy will last for years!
Toothbrushes: We love these toothbrushes! With soft bristles, a simple design, and fun colors – they get the job done!
Heart Pop-It: If your little one needs to work on finger isolation (15 month milestone), pop-its are a great idea!
The Olababy Cup: This is #1 because it’s my all time favorite cup! I love that it’s made from silicone, has a straw stopper so baby can’t pull the straw out, has a weighted bottom so it’s harder to knock over, is a great size for little hands, and doubles as an open cup. My FAVORITE part is that it teaches straw drinking! Plug the hole in the lid with your finger and gently squeeze the cup so liquid goes up the straw and into baby’s mouth. They quickly learn that if they suck on the straw, liquid will come up and BAM, they just learned how to drink from a straw. Great for water, smoothies, and milk!
Lalo Snack Cup: A plastic-free snack cup with a flip-top lid to keep snacks fresh! It’s the perfect little Valentine’s Day gift for snack-loving toddlers.
The Electricity Board: Both my littles love this one! It has several switches and buttons that help with fine motor development, and can keep your little one entertained for a bit. Best for about 18 months and up!
Green Toys Tea Set: This has been one of Paul’s favorite toys. I love Green Toys because they’re so well made! A great set for pretend play!
Weesprout Utensils: Another great set of stainless steel utensils for your toddler to use as they are more independent eaters! A functional gift with fun color combinations.
Ice Cream Magnetic Puzzle: A sweet toy to work on puzzle skills and engage in imaginative pretend play! Use the magnetic “scoop” to choose ice cream flavors and make a sundae!
Snack Spinner: This one is so much fun for travel and even for daily use! It’s a great way to offer choices for your toddler and take foods on the go. If your little one is in a food rut, try to spice it up with a snack spinner – a little change can really help!
Tender Leaf Twist Toy: A wooden twistable toy that’s great for working on fine motor skills. We have this and it’s the perfect size for little hands.
Learning Puzzle: Put the puzzle together, stack, sort by shape, and build with this toy! It’s great for working on hand-eye coordination and fine motor control, too.
Klean Kanteen Bottle: A favorite stainless steel and silicone cup for older toddlers! The cap twists to close making it spill-proof and the design is easy to clean. It requires some good fine motor skills for littles to open and close by themselves so it’s best for about 2.5 years and older.
Rocket-Shaped Crayons: New coloring supplies make great Valentine’s Day gifts for kids. They’re affordable and functional. These rocket-shaped crayons are easy to grasp and make coloring even more fun.
Cut & Learn Activity Book: I love this scissor skills activity book. It’s an affordable and functional Valentine’s Day gift idea. The scissors it comes with are perfect for 2 year olds to learn how to cut.
Elk & Friends Stainless Steel Cups: We love these stainless steel + silicone cups! They’re great for toddlers who already drink from a straw very well! Perfect for milk or smoothies, the straw is a little bigger in diameter, so bigger sips come out. Also very easy to clean and plastic-free!
Bentgo Stainless Steel Utensils: This is another great set for older toddlers who use stainless steel at home! The carrying case is also great and washable – so you can put dirty utensils back in after use and just wash when you get home!
Melissa & Doug Felt Pizza: Mix and match the toppings together as you play! Melissa & Doug’s felt play food is some of the best.
Play-Doh Starter Set: A great first Play-Doh kit for your toddler with a little bit of everything. Work on scissor skills as you practice rolling out the Play-Doh to make a snake, then use the scissors to cut the snake in half!
Melissa & Doug Birthday Cake: This is one of our most played with toys at home. What’s better than a sweet treat on Valentine’s Day? Decorate the cake, sing, blow out the candles, and practice serving it.
Owala Straw Cup: This stainless steel cup also has a pretty strong valve that requires biting to break the seal and suck liquid up. I don’t recommend for littles under 18 months- 2 years or so who are learning how to drink because we don’t want them to learn how to drink by biting! But once your little one can drink from a straw normally and is competent with drinking, using a valve is not a big issue!
Suction Bath Toys: Have fun and bring some heavy work to the bath while increasing hand strength, fine motor coordination, and bilateral coordination skills. Push together and pull apart the suction toys to build directly onto the side of the bathtub!
Kid’s Cotton Cross-Back Apron: Get your toddler involved in some food prep, or use it for dressing up like a chef! It’s 100% cotton and durable.
Sticker Book: These are our favorite sticker books for kids. They come in so many fun themes and make great Valentine’s Day gifts for kids!
Bath Crayons: Work on writing skills and holding a writing utensil while taking a bath. These wash-away crayons are great for practicing writing skills and coloring! They make baths more fun.
Lalo Bento Box: I love these plastic-free bento boxes so much. They are great quality and keep foods cold in the cooler so much longer. Also, they are huge! You can fit so much food into these.
Magnet Men: These silicone men stick together and are so much fun. Use them for pretend play, or to make fun shapes and lines. Easy to clean and transport (for 3 years+ and supervise).
Melissa & Doug Toolbox: Practice using functional tools as your little one increases hand eye coordination, twisting and turning wrist, and using fingertips to manipulate and align nails into the toolbox.
The Elk and Friends Stainless Cup: This cup is great for toddlers who already drink from a straw very well! Perfect for milk or smoothies, the straw is a little bigger in diameter, so bigger sips come out. Also very easy to clean and plastic free!
Love from Llama Llama: The Llama Llama books are great for collecting across the holidays! Then when baby sees the llamas, they will be familiar to them, and we all know that repetition is key for learning! Plus, “llama” is a great word to model as it’s easy to say. Your little one may imitate “mama” or “lala/wawa” when trying to interact with you! This book is perfect for little one approaching their first birthday and beyond.
Little Blue Truck’s Valentine: If your toddler is a Little Blue Truck fan, this one is for you! Pages are beautifully illustrated, but can be wordy. So, make sure your little one has the attention span to sit through this book! Perfect for around 18+ months.
LOVE from The Very Hungry Caterpillar: Another great book for the Hungry Caterpillar collection! Vibrant colors with minimal wording make this book great from a speech-language standpoint. Point out what you see on the page and prompt your little one to turn the pages with you. Perfect for 6+ months.
You’re My Little Cuddle Bug: This book is part of a larger set of books as well. With textured pictures that prompt baby to touch and feel, they are great to sit and read. The pages can be a little wordy sometimes, so make it short and sweet for your baby and young toddler. Start reading the entire page around 18+ months.
Where is Baby’s Valentine: This is SUCH a cute flap book. It’s short and sweet and keeps baby entertained as they look for the Valentine heart all over the place. Perfect for 6 months and older! My toddler still loves this book and asks to read it when it’s out.
I Love You, Spot: The perfect simple flap book for Valentine’s Day! It’s short and sweet and flaps are big so little hands don’t have difficulty looking behind them! Perfect for 6+ months.
Llama, Llama I Love You: Another Valentine’s Day option from the Llama Llama collection! Short and sweet with rhyming pages. Your little one can fill in the blank as you read each page. Perfect for 12+ months.
Happy Valentine’s Day, Mouse: If your little one loves Give a Mouse a Cookie, this book will be a great addition to the collection! Also a little wordy for infants, this is better suited for toddlers. Look out for these books across the holidays and you can make a whole set!
I Love You, Little Pookie: Little Pookie books are very cute for toddlers. They are silly, and a little on the longer and wordier side, so make sure your little one can sit for a book before opening! No touch and feel or flaps, but toddlers 18 months+ will get a kick out of the silliness.
Bananas For You: This book is the CUTEST! It is funny for the adult, rhymes for the little one, and is such a good time to read. Hands down my favorite Valentine’s Day book. Perfect for 12 months +.
Peekaboo Love: With something to pull or spin on every page, this book is interactive with minimal words. Jenna’s daughter got it shortly before her first birthday and loved it. This one can be read outside of Valentine’s Day, too!
ABCs of Love: We have the other book, too, called ABCs of Kindness, and it’s very cute! It focuses a bit on the letters and it’s a little long, so it’s likely better for 18-24+ months. The sentiment behind the book is very cute and it teaches all the ways people can show love to one another.
Bare Baked Apples: A wholesome snack with one ingredient? Yes, please! They’re really crunchy and sweet.
HU Chocolate: MOUTH-WATERING GOOD. The Vanilla Crunch, Hazelnut Butter, Cashew Butter, and Almond Butter are my fave! They are made with organic ingredients that are allergy friendly (no soy, gluten) and have NO refined sugar or seed oils. And they actually taste GOOD.
Solely Organic Fruit Gummies: These gummies have just two ingredients and are so delicious! No added sugar. Pop them in the fridge for a nice cool snack.
Bear Fruit Snack Minis: I love the shape of these because they are flat! Great for parents introducing gummy textures for the first time. Made from all fruit!
Enjoy Life Mega Chunks: If you want to snack on pure chocolate, these offer a great bang for your buck! Meant for baking, they are sweet to the taste. I like to dip them in peanut butter and make my own Reese’s cup! No additives and allergy friendly, these are a great chocolate swap.
Skout Organic Bars – Variety Pack: These are a staple in my home! Seven ingredients or less, gluten free, vegan, and sweetened with dates, these organic bars are soft, yummy and packed with nutrients. Code “JORDYN” saves 20%
Simple Mills Chocolate Sweet Thins: Made from seed and nuts, Simple Mills Sweet Thins are delicious without any unwanted fillers – your chocolate craving will be satisfied! Or, if you want a better-for-you graham cracker, the Simple Mills Honey Cinnamon Sweet Thins will do the trick!
That’s It Fruit Bars: Some of my favorite fruit bars, made with ONLY fruit – just two ingredients – these bars are great to have on hand. For new chewers, offer small pieces for them to pinch and chew. The Mango Apple flavor is the squishiest!
Emmy’s Organic Cookies: Chewy and filling, you only need a few to satisfy sweet cravings. They’re made with organic coconut!
Siete Churro Strips: They’re sweet, crunchy, light and SO good. Made with avocado oil!
Skout Organics Cookies: Sweetened with coconut sugar and date syrup, these cookies are gluten free and so yummy! The peanut butter is my fave! Code “JORDYN” saves 20%!
Unreal Dark Chocolate Coconut Bars: We love these! They’re great to satisfy a sweet craving and made with 3 ingredients: organic coconut, organic cassava syrup, and dark chocolate.
Here’s a round-up of cute Valentine’s Day outfits for toddler girls! With great reviews, the majority of the clothing is 100% cotton. We love the different styles and festive colors to celebrate the holiday.
Valentine’s Day outfits aren’t limited to girls! Check out these cute styles for toddler boys. Most of the pieces are 100% cotton!
Happy Valentine’s Day from Eat Play Say! We hope it’s filled with lots of love!
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You can't fully understand feeding without input from both a dietitian and a feeding specialist. You can't properly address milestones without OT, PT, and SLP perspectives working together. That's why every Eat Play Say resource is created collaboratively by our entire team — giving you the most comprehensive guidance possible, all in one place.
MS, SLP
SPECIALIZES IN: Infant and toddler speech-language, play, and feeding development, and curating a team that provides expert help that feels like a reassuring text from that one mom friend
EDUCATION: Jordyn received her BS in Speech-Language Pathology from Bloomsburg University and her MS in Speech-Language Pathology from Towson University
FAVE PARENTING FIRST: “The first true smile, it’s the sweetest!”
MS, CCC-SLP, CBS, IBCLC
SPECIALIZES IN: Breast and bottle feeding, tongue ties, oral motor dysfunction, starting solids, infant and toddler speech, treating oral motor disorders
EDUCATION: Jessica received her BS in Communication Sciences and Disorders from Pennsylvania State University in 2015 and her MS in Speech-Language Pathology from Towson University in 2017
FAVE PARENTING FIRST: “Baby’s first wave! What a fun first communication gesture!”
MA, CCC-SLP, CLC
SPECIALIZES IN: Breast and bottle feeding, tongue ties, starting solids, infant and toddler speech development
EDUCATION: She received her BS in Speech-Language Pathology from Ball State in 2014 and a MA in Speech-Language Pathology from Ball State in 2016.
FAVE PARENTING FIRST: “My favorite baby’s first is their first true smile that just warms your soul knowing they are smiling at you. My other favorite is their first word. I love watching their language explode!”
MS, CCC-SLP
SPECIALIZES IN: Bilingual development (Spanish-English), supporting multilingual families, infant and toddler speech
EDUCATION: She received her BA in Communication Sciences and Disorders and in Spanish from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2014 and her MS in Speech-Language Pathology with an English-Spanish Specialization from Marquette University in 2016.
FAVE PARENTING FIRST: “It’s the first slobbery kisses for me!”
RDN, LD
SPECIALIZES IN: Infant and pediatric nutrition including breastfeeding, formula feeding, and starting solids. She also specializes in prenatal and postpartum nutrition.
EDUCATION: She received her BSc in Biology in 2014 from Life University, and her BSc in Dietetics from Life University in 2019.
FAVE PARENTING FIRST: ”The first time they say ‘mama!’”
From products to developmental toys – we round up all the best products for baby, toddler, preschoolers, & caregivers!
This checklist was created with input from a Speech-Language Pathologist, Occupational Therapist and Physical Therapist and has been downloaded over 20,000 times by parents worldwide. Learn the important milestones to pay attention to, and keep it in your digital back pocket during the baby + toddler years!



