Toys for newborns to 1 month olds:
I know
new parents, especially first-time parents, feel over the moon about showering
their newborn with toys. If not parents, then usually friends and
families coming over to meet a newborn child gift toys and rattles and what
nots. To be honest, in the first month the baby sleeps so much, sees far distances
mostly blurred, doesn’t understand colors, does not have the grip to hold any
toy, the mother is so sleep-deprived, both the parents try to adapt to this new
life and new routine, there’s so much feeding and laundry and cleaning and all
other tasks to be done – that the first month flies by the fastest before you
realize it. And with that, once your kid grows a month or two old, that’s
when I feel getting him/her toys is worth it. There are toys that say
Birth+ or 0 months+ that you can start giving to your 1 month old child.
If you
really want to give something to your newborn, I’d suggest rattles that you shake
in front of them. Newborns shake their
hands so much in all directions (they gradually figure out they have hands and
fingers and legs and toes) that giving a rattle in their hand can make them
hurt themselves. There were some
squeaky-sounding toys and rattles that I used a few times the first month my
twins were born – especially moving the toys from left to right and
squeezing/shaking the toy to make noise on the left and right – only to test
their eyesight and hearing!
Toys for 2-5 month olds:
Babies
begin to see clearer and they like musical toys with lights. They also
like crinkly and sensory toys with different textures. I don’t always go by the manufacturer’s
recommended age for a toy. If I felt
like under my supervision my children could enjoy a toy before the age given, I
did that. If I felt like my children were
not ready for a particular toy and I knew they would not show interest, I introduced
it to them at a later month. Go with
your instinct!
Here’s
the format of what you will see in the rest of this post:
1.
2.
Manufacturer recommended age in brackets
3.
What I like about it
1. Baby Care Pingko & Friends (0-7 years)
- baby playmat with lots of
illustrations, colorful, great to learn alphabets and words two-sided,
reversible, easy to clean
- soft surface whether infant
wants tummy time, toddler wants to jump, or adult wants to sit
2. Fisher-Price Soothe and Glow Seahorse (0 months+)
- Soft cuddly toy that plays music, lullabies, and soothing ocean sounds and has a gentle light that dims on its own
3. Lamaze Clip & Go Firefly Freddie (0
months+)
- I like newborn toys that have soft and various textures to touch, some crinkly noise, a rattle for sound when shaking, a ring to hold to learn to grip, a mirror, different colors and patterns to look at, lights and music, a teether (because infants put toys in their mouth until even 9 months of age or beyond!), and a link to attach to bouncer/rocker, car seat handle, stroller, or crib. These #3 Lamaze and #4 Bright Starts toys have all of it except lights and music because there are no batteries required in these.
5. Tiny Love Take Along Mobile, Animal Friends (0 months+)
- This works as a
crib mobile as well as goes on the child car seat bars or stroller
handles.
- Has 30 minutes of
continuous music and rotates. Child
gets soothed and enjoys watching these while lying down in the crib or on
the move.
6. PlayGro Amazing Garden Twirly Whirly (0
months+)
- Wrap around car seat handle,
stroller bar, or side of crib
- Different colors, animals, patterns, and textures to look at and touch
7. Manhattan Toy Winkel Rattle and Sensory Teether (0 months+)
- Colorful, easy to hold, soft for teething, middle piece has a rattle sound
8. VTech Baby Rattle and Sing Puppy (3
months+)
- crinkly ears, shake to rattle,
cheeks light up, good stimulating toy
- press button to play 30+ songs, melodies, sounds, and phrases
9. Baby's My First Photo Album of Family & Friends (0 months+)
- In addition to reading boardbooks and story books and soft fabric books, this is a nice addition - an album with 15 photos in size 4x6" of family and friends that child can flip through and look at (and later recognize as the child grows up). Great gift idea!!
10. Tiny Love Gymini Super Deluxe Lights & Music Play Mat (1 month - 1 year)
- lots of colors, flashing
lights, music, crinkle sounds, flap, several soft animal figures with
different textures, rattles
- baby can try to reach and kick
animals dangling from top, move around safely on soft mat, look in the
mirror
- foldable mat easy to take
around
- great for tummy time and lot of learning, motor skills, and developmental skills
There
are many other play gyms aka activity gyms aka baby
gym aka baby playmats available if you prefer a
different brand or a different color or different style or different purpose.
They all pretty much have starting age 0 months+ (aka birth) upto 2-3
years of age. It is very highly unlikely for kids over 2 years of age to
still play with the activity gym because kids at this age are too active, move
a lot, and have many more interactive and fun options to play with. I haven't used any of the following play gyms except A1 but they are quite popular and I have compiled these for you to take a quick
look on the different types of playgyms available:
+ has
piano like keys so if your child likes to kick (good exercise for legs) then
kicking the keys will proudce sound (good for kid to understand cause and
effect)
+ can
turn into a ball pit and 40 balls can be stored inside the turtle's head
+
gender neutral colors and patterns if you don't want too loud and bright colors
or animal kingdom kind of prints
+
teepee style--pricey but if you want a classy, different (since the
rectangle ones are most common) activity gym or if a teepee style suits
your child's room décor
11. Baby Einstein Bendy Ball (3 months+)
- Coloful, easy to grip, ball with a rattle sound inside
- lots of colors, textures,
patterns, peekaboo mirror, soft ball
- baby can learn to lift flap, stuff the ball inside the case, squeeze, and develop motor and sensory skills
13. Fisher-Price Rattle and Rock Maracas (3 months+)
- Child learns to grip and hold and shake and listen to rattle and enjoys the cause (shake) and effect (sound)
14. Bright Starts Teethe and Read Teether Book (3 months+)
- fabric pages that crinkle, lots
of colors, point out objects/animals to teach, 2 teether tabs
- learn to grip plastic bar and
turn pages
- parent can make their own stories looking at the scene on each page
15. Playgro Playtime 10-piece Gift Pack for Baby (3 months+)
- lots of colors, crinkle sounds, teethers, rattle, stroller accessory, different faces, different toys in one package
- like #3 and #4
17. VTech Baby Lil' Critters Moosical Beads (Birth+)
- A newborn or even a
1 month old who is still developing vision and adjusting with all the
sound and lights and colors is not going to be fascinated by all the tunes
and lights or interested in learning numbers, shapes, letters, and colors
on this moosical (cow=moo + musical = moosical...get it? haha) toy. I think this is good for 3 month+ olds.
