Archive for the ‘Infant Toys’ Category

The Around Town Baby Driver is a fun dashboard with some pretty cute bells and whistles. It turns on with an attached ignition key and has a soft steering wheel that spins around and around with the simple bat of a hand.

A singing voice goes through abc’s, a little counting, and what each of the lights on a stoplight means (”Red means stop,” “Green means go,” “Yellow means slow down”). The voice can get a little annoying after a while, but my baby’s big brother literally learned the function of the various traffic light colors by listening to this.

There are buttons to push, a horn to honk, and a gear shift that moves up and down. The traffic lights flash in beat to the various tunes - great motivation for an infant to scoot or crawl close. My baby boy enjoys watching the lights and touching the buttons and steering wheel while on his tummy.

Other phrases recorded on this toy include “Fasten your seat belts!” and “Let’s go for a drive!” Good features include an automatic shutoff and slight volume control.

I recommend this toy for its ability to capture the interest of both infants and toddlers and the multiple fine motor challenges.

• VTech Kids Website

Buy Around Town Baby Driver Online:

• at Amazon.com

Small Person #3 has the dubious privilege of inheriting most of her toys from her older brothers. This means that much of what she has is fairly gross - chewed-on, faded, mucked up in general. So, for Christmas she got a few new toys of her own to enjoy. One of the more promising was the Sassy Harmonization Fascination Station Suction toy (whew, that’s a mouthful!).

Similar to the toy that came with her bebePod, this handy little toy is similar to a windmill, with different toys that spin around. However, unlike the bebePod toy, this one attaches to a suction cup and includes a musical feature. The music plays whenever baby moves the toy, and the sounds itself are actually quite pleasant without being too loud. The toy was an immediate hit!

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What to get for the baby who has everything this holiday season? Their very own little chair to allow even the littlest (well, as little as 3 months) sit up like a big kid!

After her pediatrician recommended a baby chair (actually, he recommended the Bumbo, but after reading the reviews, we decided to get the bebePod instead), we ordered a bebePod for Small Person #3, who is almost 4 months. As an incredibly spoiled member of the human race, we figured it would be good to get her something that might keep her entertained without requiring somebody to hold her. Both the Bumbo and bebePod are basically squishy, thick foam seats that allow young babies to sit up unassisted. Their butts are lower than their legs, so they stay upright, and their heads are completely unsupported, which aids in muscle development. Of course, if your baby can’t hold their head up on their own yet, they’re not yet ready for the seat. Every baby is different, but generally they’re ready for the seat at around 3 months.

This seat also features a strap, but I’m not sure what the point of it is, other than perhaps to make overprotective Moms feel better and annoy the crap out of me. It’s not going to keep baby in the seat any better than the tray will, and it gets in the way when I’m trying to get her into the seat. Plus, since you’re never supposed to use the seat on a raised surface where baby can throw her weight backwards and tip over from a height sufficient to hurt herself, they’re again pretty silly. If I can, I’m going to figure out a way to rip them out pretty soon. In other words, get the model that doesn’t have the strap!

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One of the best toys for older infants I’ve found is this wonderfully simple, yet thrillingly exciting (for 9 month olds - you’ll be ready to scratch your eyes out well before they tire of it) pop up toy. It consists of five different little animals that can pop up when their switch is activated. The different switches encourage fine-motor skills by encouraging baby to twist, push, slide and otherwise manipulate.

If there’s one thing I can’t stand these days, it’s the over-proliferation of loud, annoying electronic toys for kids and infants. The wonderful, beautiful thing about this toy is that it doesn’t scream music, make animal sounds, or light up. Baby isn’t being entertained, she’s entertaining herself. Note that there are different versions of this toy that do require batteries and do all of the previously mentioned annoying things - avoid them. Find this one (it also comes in white) and watch your baby learn to have fun without electricity.

Buy Busy Poppin Pals Online:

• at Amazon.com
• at Toys R Us

In my List of Top 5 Toys for Infants 0-6 Months, I listed an infant gym as #3 on the list. There are a lot of options out there, but one of the newer (and better) versions is Tiny Love’s ActiviTot Tropic Isle. We got this when we saw what a sorry shape our old gym was in, after having weathered two little boys. At $74, it’s a bit (ok, a LOT) pricey, but the fun it provides for little ones definitely makes it worth the dough.

Tiny Love pioneered the infant gym movement, and one of the most popular versions is their Gymini, which we had for the older guys. However, the music feature on that was always annoying, it was kind of hard to store, and the arches were a royal pain the butt. Still, the boys loved using it, and it saw quite a bit of action. When we decided to get something new, I did a lot of research and finally settled on Tiny Love’s ActiviTot model.

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A while back I wrote a Top 5 Toys For Infants list and on it I mentioned how great infant gyms are for little ones. Well, to make them even better, add in these cute and lovely-sounding chimes.

By using the included plastic loop attachment thing, these can be hung from most brands of infant gyms out there. Even if they dangle on the ground, they’ll still make a lovely sound when baby kicks; Small Person #3, currently 6 weeks old, has really enjoyed them. The best thing is that they make an incredibly soft sound - easily audible, but not jarring.

There’s some concern that they’re too heavy for some of the gyms out there; with the first two little ones we had the Gymini and it was just fine. With #3, we have the ActiviTot and it holds up just fine as well, though we do let it dangle partway on the ground and we’ve only ever used the arches crossed over (like a typical gym).

If you’re looking to add another toy and increase the novelty for your baby, you won’t go wrong with these. Without batteries, lights or electronics, she’ll be able to make lovely, soft music. How refreshing.

• Tiny Love Website

Buy Tiny Love Wind Chimes Online:

• at Tiny Love Baby Wind Chimes
• at Amazon.com

Another of the toys Small People 1 and 2 got for Small Person #3 (I sound like a Dr. Seuss book, don’t I?) on the occasion of her birth was this crib mirror made by Leapfrog. Basically, it’s a shatterproof mirror surrounded by padding with various interactive features. It’s suitable for use from birth, so we figured it would be a good choice for the boys to share with their sister.

One thing almost all babies seem to enjoy is the chance to look at themselves in a mirror. It’s almost as if they see their reflection and think, “Finally, someone who understand what I’m going through!”

The mirror can be positioned in a variety of ways and is pretty well padded, which makes it great for use on the floor during tummy time. The little tail-like things on the bottom can be pressed to hear a description of the color and animal above as well as an animal sound. The little character in the middle (Tad for the LeapFrog uninitiated) can be pressed to trigger a series of three little songs. I like the fact that the toy has several colors to teach, though personally I’ve never really heard of a purple elephant. Even the older boys like playing the sounds and music, so hopefully the toy will still be popular as the baby grows. The songs from the middle button are fine, but make me feel a little insecure because I know I can’t sing as well (ok, I can’t sing at all) as the recorded voice.

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When Small Person #3 was about to be born (she arrived yesterday), we wanted to be prepared with small gifts for the older Small People to give her. But, since there’s not much you can really get for a newborn, we were somewhat limited in our options. Ultimately, the boys picked out some wrist rattles and sock rattles to present her with at the hospital. So, how did she like them?

Well, let’s face it folks, she’s a newborn. She eats. She poops. Occasionally, if we’re really lucky, she sleeps for more than five minutes at a time. So needless to say, we didn’t get much of a reaction out of her. Still, she did open her eyes (slightly) when the boys held them up in front of her face, and that seemed to satisfy them, so all in all I’d have to say they were a success. We can velcro them onto her wrists and the boys will feel like they’ve contributed to her care, so all is good. As she grows I’m sure she’ll appreciate them more, but for now they’ve served their purpose. Plus, you can’t beat the price ($4.99 at Babies R Us), and they certainly feel like they’ll hold up to a few months of drooly chewing.

The good news is that she got some even nicer gifts to surprise her older brothers with when she comes home from the hospital tomorrow….

Buy Infantino’s Monkey and Elephant Wrist Rattles Online:

• at Amazon.com

It’s actually hard to express how much I hate this toy. Oh, sure, the kids both loved it when they were little, but come on, this is all about me now. Whoever came up with the bright idea that this thing should make the exact same noise every time one of the rings is put on the shaft (or, for that matter, whenever the two buttons at the top are pressed - over and over and over and over and over) should be put in a clean room with nothing else and forced to listen to that noise for a minimum of 6 hours. Seriously. Annoying.

That said, yeah, the kids really loved this. Each time they put one of the stars/rings on, it made the annoying noise and lit up. Put the star on the top and it played a little tune. While I’d much prefer something that doesn’t require batteries or earmuffs, I guess it does help teach fine motor skills. Another bonus was that the boys always put the stars back on in the wrong order, which drove their (slightly obsessive compulsive) mother crazy! I always got a good laugh out of that.

Overall, I guess if you have the patience for it, your infant will probably enjoy it. Ok, they’ll probably adore it. But I still plan on finding whoever it was who chose that sound effect… and if I do, watch out!

Buy the Fisher Price Classical Stacker Online:

• at Amazon.com

Expecting your first baby? Or maybe you’re trying to think of an appropriate gift for a friend or family member who’s expecting. With all the toys out there marketed for infants, you might be overwhelmed; after all, you may wonder what exactly a small person who can barely do more than eat, sleep and poop could possibly find entertaining. Well, I’m here to help. After taking care of more infants than I can count, I’ve come up with a short list of the best must-have toys for ages newborn to 6 months.

An often overlooked but well-loved toy among infants, these slip onto their feet, providing them with limitless (well, until they manage to yank them off) entertainment as well as keeping their cold-prone feet warm. The perfect gift if you’re looking for something small with a high cute factor which will actually get some decent use by the baby.

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