Baby Toys

Best Baby Product – Toys

(Source: Best Baby Products by Sandra Gordon)

Your baby may look like he’s simply having fun when he coos at his rattle or tries his hand at stacking “donuts.” But make no mistake – what looks like playtime to us is work to babies, and baby toys are the tools for getting the job done.

Playing helps develop a baby’s social, emotional, language, intellectual, and problem-solving skills, says Marilyn Segal, Ph.D., dean emeritus and director of the professional development program at Mailman Segal Institute for Early Babyhood Studies at Nova South Eastern University in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Batting at a mobile, giving a musical ball a shove, or transferring a rattle from one hand to another helps babies learn about the world. Such play also helps them connect sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell to objects; to recognize shapes, patterns, and colors; develop hand-eye coordination and memory; and to bond with you and others. “It’s how your baby learns, and so much more,” Segal says.

When you choose toys and activities that enhance your baby’s development, you’re speaking your baby’s language and helping him foster cognitive and social skills he can build on. But don’t give toys all the credit. You’re a key player. “The most important toy is the parent and other caregivers because babies crave one-no-one social interaction and need the security it provides,” says Segal. The right toy, though, can make key developmental stages more fun- for your baby and for you. Here are some ideas about age-appropriate toys for your baby- and what you can do to play up their important lessons.

Newborn and up: Shake, Rattle, and Manipulate

Babies are born with natural curiosity and gather information about the world through their senses. “The more of the fives senses a particular toy commands, the more rewarding and appealing it is,” says Sally Goldberg, Ph.D., program developer/director of the Centre for Successful Babies in Scottsdale, Ariz., and author of “Baby and Toddler Learning Fun.” Babies enjoy looking at the world around them- lights, shapes, patterns, and colors. At around 3 months, they begin to swipe at objects and may try to reach for them.

Suggested Toys: Rattles and play keys with high-contrast colors that make interesting noises, and musical crib mobiles with bright, primary-color objects or patterns that stimulate your baby’s sense of sight. Keep toys out of the crib. However, mobiles can be suspended near or above the crib as long as they’re safely mounted. Remove the mobile when your baby can push up on his hands and knees, at about 6 months.

Babies can see bright colors and shapes of rattles and play keys (for babies under 4 months, the toy should be any combination of red, black and white- the colors this age group sees best), feel their smooth or nubby texture, hear their rattling or clinking sound, and mouth them, which stimulates brain development. In the best rattles, the sources of noise are visible so your baby can see the beads inside and link sound with sight. That helps babies learn about cause and effect- if they shake a rattle or keys, they make a sound.

Game Plan: Mold your newborn’s fingers around a rattle or key ring and have him shake it or help him make the sound. Play is parent-driven for up to 6 months; after that, your baby takes over. Shake a rattle or toy keys at various points in your baby’s sight lines so he’ll enjoy the surprise of hearing the toy’s sound from different angles. Have your baby grab for toys with either hand to help develop both sides of his brain; sometimes present toys on his right side, sometimes on his left. While some babies may start reaching for items at 3 months, the norm is more like 4 to 6 months. However, your baby probably won’t show true hand dominance until about 18 months to 2 years, and many babies remain ambidextrous until 3 to 5 years old.

You can also try tracking: hold a toy 6 to 12 inches from your baby’s face, which is where babies 4 months and under see it best, with your baby sitting in your lap or lying down, and move it side to side slowly. This technique helps visual development and later hand-eye coordination. Later on, you can take turns playing with the rattle to install the ideas of taking turns and sharing, which your baby will understand at about age 3.

4 to 10 Months: Gym Time

By now, babies can now reach for and grasp objects, move them from one hand to the other, and play with their feet. They’ll search for the source of sounds.

Suggested Toys: A take-off on overhead mobiles, activities gyms, feature charming, brightly colored floor and hanging detachable toys that make sounds, play music, and have tantalizing textures; some may include unbreakable, embedded mirrors, a definite plus. “Babies love to look at their own image,” says Goldberg. Like rattles and play keys, activity gyms help babies explore their environment through their senses of sound, touch, sight, and taste. Their fine-motor skills get a tune-up when they bat, reach, and grab for toys. And if you place your baby in a gym on his tummy, you will help develop his posture and neck strength, a prerequisite for crawling and other physical skills. Babies of this age also tend to enjoy soft balls with sounds inside, musical toys, washable soft baby books, and toys with flaps or lids that can be opened and closed. They’ll still be fascinated with rattles, and the more their pick-up skills develop, the more they’ll reach for and play with them.

Game Plan: If your baby doesn’t like tummy time, distract him with the gym’s lights, music, and crinkle toys until he gets used to it. Take turns scrunching the crinkle toys and helping him squeeze the toys that beep. Detach his favourite toys and have him reach for them, either when he’s lying down or supported by you or a Boppy, a horseshoe- shaped infant-support pillow. At first, your baby might just make general movements in the direction of a specific object, but eventually, he’ll be able to reach out and pull objects to him.

9 months and Up: The Nesting (and Stacking) Instinct Kicks In

Starting at about 9 months, babies play by shaking, banging, throwing, and dropping toys. They enjoy searching for hidden objects, taking objects out of containers, and poking their fingers into holes. Your baby will be able to grasp objects with her fingers and put one object on top of or into another, such as a ball into a box. At around age 1, he’ll also start trying to put shapes through their designated slots on a shape sorter and by 15 to 18 months, he’ll have the hand-eye coordination to ace the feat.

Stacking and nesting are another way babies develop eye-hand coordination and learn about spatial relationships – how things fit inside and on top of one another. Stacking and nesting also help babies develop the fine-motor skills of grasping and releasing, and the visual ability to align one object with another. Sorting helps babies understand the relationship among objects- how they fit together and spatially relate to one another and how they differ in size and shape. “It lays the groundwork for organizing and categorizing, which are basic mathematical concepts,” says Goldberg.

Suggested Toys: lightweight balls; nesting and stacking blocks or cups with rounded edges; pop- up toys that require sliding, toggling, pulling, and turning; squeeze and bath toys; soft dolls, puppets, and baby books; musical toys; toys telephones and push-pull playthings.

Game Plan: play with your baby with shape-sorting toys and puzzles and hide another toy inside a nesting block to see if your baby can find it. “That adds the elements of surprise and builds on the concept of object permanence,” says Goldberg. You can enrich the experience by helping balance the block creation when it gets too high or even just commenting, “Oh, what a big tower!”

“Talking to young babies as you’re playing helps them assimilate words and concepts,” says Jay Cerio, Ph.D., professor and chair of the division of school psychology at Alfred University in Alfred, N.Y., Even though your baby may not say his first words until 12 to 18 months, he’s taking it all in.

Ages 1 to 2: Babies Get Their Fill

Play time can get messy starting at age 1, when baby begin to take an interest in emptying, transferring, and rearranging their environment. Turn your back and you’re likely to find your toddler emptying the salt shaker, overturning the dog’s dish, or upending the baby wipes. Filling and dumping are organizing skills that help your toddler experience how things work and relate to each other. They also enhance hand-eye coordination and teach basic spatial concepts like “in” and “out.” Starting around 12 months, your baby may also begin walking.

Suggested Toys: Those that encourage your baby’s budding ambulatory skills.

Game Plan: Encourage your baby’s cruising confidence with plenty of praise as he pushes his way across carpeted or hardwood floors. Bath time is a good time to encourage filling and dumping by adding spoons, a plastic pitcher, measuring cups, and bath toys to the mix so your baby can dill and pour without a mess.

Tips for Toy Safety

Keep toys intended for older babies away from your baby.

¨          Look for warning labels on a toy’s package. If the label suggests that the toy may pose a choking hazard, don’t give that toy to a baby under 3.

¨          Only buy toys deemed appropriate for the age of your baby. Don’t assume your little Einstein is ahead of the curve or that buying more advanced toys will enhance your baby’s development. Age grading relates to the safety of the toy as well as its play value.

¨          Check all toys for breakage and potential hazards each time you give them to your baby. If they can’t be repaired, throw them away.

¨          Keep all balloons and broken balloon pieces away from your baby; they’re a major choking hazard.

¨          Keep toys out of your baby’s crib, and when your baby can begin to push up on his hands and knees (about 6 months), remove all mobiles.

¨          Never place an activity gym in a crib or playpen. Never add strings or ties to the gym.

¨          Keep all small round or oval objects, including coins, balls, and marbles, away from your baby. Use a common cardboard tube from a roll of toilet paper to screen out choking hazards. Any part small enough to pass easily through the tube is hazard.

Safety Standards

The Consumer Product Safety Commission regulates toys sold in the U.S., and toys must meet certain federal safety standards. For example, they must have acceptable low levels of lead in paint. They must not have sharp surfaces or points. Toys meant for baby under 3 years may not have small parts, such as small balls or marbles, that could pose a choking, ingestion, or inhalation hazard. Other items on the safety checklist: no pinching parts; no small wires that could poke through; no strings, cords, or necklaces that could trap a baby’s neck. Toys must not exceed flammability limits and they must contain no hazardous chemicals.

Teethers and squeeze toys must be large enough not to pose choking hazards. The same goes for rattles, which also must be designed so they can’t separate into small pieces. Labels on crib gyms and mobiles must warn parents to remove them when a baby can push up on his hands and knees (about 6 months).

In recent years, the CPSC has recalled numerous toys for various reasons- rattles with seams that opened during use, releasing a bell or small beads (choking hazards), as well as toy phones with push buttons and antenna that could detach (also a choking hazard). If you’ve had a bad experience with a toy, call the CPSC at 800-638-2772 or log on to www.cpsc.gov/talk.html. your call may lead to a recall.

The Buzz on High- Tech Toys

Step into any baby store and you’ll see that a generation of microchip- based toys is beeping, jingling, vibrating, flashing, and wailing its way into the nursery.

Stimulating, tech-driven kid products aren’t new, of course. What’s newsworthy is the range of such offerings for babies- from an infant-size “interactive play centre” that entertains with microchip-powered songs, sounds, and flashing lights to stuffed animals that sing and vibrate when you press their paws.

High- tech baby products can stimulate and entertain the older diaper crowd, but the chips inside aren’t likely to add value for very young babies. As for those electronic toys that claim to stimulate infant development or creativity, researchers say there’s no credible supporting evidence regarding their long-term effects. “If it’s a new toy, then for an hour or so, they’re a little more alert and involved,” says Jerome Kagan, a research professor emeritus of psychology at Harvard University. “But you wouldn’t want to make profound predictions,” such as , “If my baby plays with electronic toys, he’ll smarter.”

Says Kagan, the typical American household already provides enough sensory stimulation to make such toys unnecessary. “We should view the toys like an ice cream cone,” he says. “It’s a brief source of pleasure that vanishes quickly”.

Baby will get far more meaningful stimulation from the sounds of the people, animals, and objects around them, notes Jane M. Healy, an educational psychologist in Vail, Colo., and author of “Your Baby’s Growing Mind.” There’s also a need for quiet time, when the brain consolidates what it has learned. “If there’s nothing that’s entertaining, it gives the brain time and space to learn to manage itself,” Healy says.

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