What toys did your baby play with in the first year?

[Sparksi]

Would like to pick up a few things for our baby but not sure what to get.

For the newborn stage we have: black and white sensory cards, Baby Einstein sensory water filled tummy time mat, kick and play piano, a couple of rattles and a grippy plastic ball.

What else might be useful for the early months?

Not really toys but mine loved a helium balloon tied to their ankles, they'd spend hours. And pegs (clothes pegs). And my car keys.

The Lamaze toys are lovely with lots of different sensory things to play with, and squishy books are fun too. Don't spend loads though as you may get given some as gifts and they really don't need too much!

They aren't really bothered, just looking around the world is fun enough

I did get my daughter some second hand Lamaze toys and a sensory box from Etsy, you can get fabric books and a playmat perhaps

Not very much. We had one wicker basket filled with odds and ends that came into play around the 4 month mark: Wooden spoons, bits and bobs from the kitchen, silk scarves, stacking cups, soft hairbrush, rattle, various textured balls, crinkly fabric and so on.

We also had a soft play mat and frame you hang little toys and bits and bobs on. Star projector was lovely in the evening to project on the ceiling. By about 6 months onwards he had board books he could manipulate himself and look at the pages.

On his first birthday he got his first actual toys. Things like Duplo and toy vehicles.

A bouncer then a jumparoo are the two best possible things I ever had.

Teething toys and baby books are also good, but tbh a baby will also happily play with an empty tupperware, a spatula, a flannel.

But having somewhere to pop them, so you can (eg) do some cooking or have a shower, is gold.

The Tomy eggs have been a hit with both mine.
Lamaze dragon fly
Soft baby gym
Stacking cups
Sensory balls

Then can't coordinate their arms to play until about 4/5 months though

Those nesting and stacking cups were favourite, and doubled as bath toys for years.

A crinkly book which we read over and over again.

And one of the toys from his playmat.

Savour this stage, before your house gets overrun with toys for the next 15 years.

The Lamaze Freddie the firefly. Every baby I've ever come across that has it loves it.

Otherwise I think your list is plenty.

The first toys I remember my babies playing with were a baby gym (mat under arches with dangling toys), stacking cups, bath toys (my son’s first sentence was “Mummy squirted me with a fish,”) teethers and rattles of various descriptions, crinkly books and board books, skwish toy, stacking rings, pop up wooden peg men toy, Tomy eggs.

A basket of odd socks
Pegs
A basket of jar lids
Tomy eggs

Had baby gym for DS1 not for DS2.
They don't really "play" for the first few months they just like stuff to look at. Baby safe mirror always good to look at themselves. 6 months onwards they like simple things they can shake or things that have silly faces.
Cannot have enough teething toys.
Agree re household objects- babies seem to love kitchen utensils and socks!
Remember EVERYTHING goes in their mouth so nothing chokeable or that could go round their neck but beyond that all kinds of random household objects.
Not a toy as such but totter and tumble mat was probably the best thing I ever bought.

My DD is 8 months. She loves the fisher price picnic basket. Bought for oldest DD at the same age. Had so much wear.

We also have a ball pit. Only useful for 6 months plus when they can sit but it contains her and she enjoys it x

The Oball easy grip ball was a hit with mine and you can stuff it with silk scarves for them to pull out.
We also liked sound books - Usborne do a great range like Farm Sounds and Woodland Sounds - babies like them and they stimulate a first interest in books

I wouldn't bother really with proper toys for the first few months, they prefer things like water bottles filled with rice.

I remember my daughter at about 8m+ really liking the felt flap books they do with a mirror at the end, and the usbourne 'that's not my ...' ones.

you will probably be given lots of toys, half of them unsuitable.

the things that were useful

babygym / playmat on the floor. mainly so you have somewhere safe to put baby down when you want to do something.
baby bouncer - same reason as above.

baby books - pick ones that you like to read aloud because you will be reading them A LOT. anything with a rhyme to it is often good.

from 6+ months, baby can sit up and do stuff so then toys like stacking cups / things with wheels etc.

The Tomy eggs in a light blue plastic egg box. No idea why - I was when I was given some by another Mum whose dc loved them, but mine did too.

Plastic rings that stack on a pole

Stacking cups

The cause and effect thingemee where an animal pops out the top when they master which button to slide / press / turn

Different textured balls

Foil blanket (same kind you get in first aid kits etc) - my little one's favourite activity for a long time when they were a baby! Had a whole one which they would lie on, kick around on etc, also had one ripped up which they would shake around etc - the pieces were really handy for out and about! Highly recommend!

At about 4 months, DS had a set of three velour balls about the size of grapefruit. One contained sleigh bells, one contained a squeaky element (like a dog toy) and one made a rustley noise. As a baby he would push them or roll on them, and then eventually crawl after them when they rolled away.

And he had a little toy that looked like a wooden knuckleduster but had more sleigh bells on. He would grip that, bang his hand on the floor and laugh a lot.

You don’t need any toys for the first few months so no need to rush out and buy stuff unless you have plenty of storage space for it.

After a few months we used a baby gym a lot, Lamaze toys and teethers. One of the first toys she liked gripping was a thing with interlocked rings from Manhattan toys.

From 6 months stacking cups, soft blocks from Galt (I stacked them and she knocked them over), Fisher Price talking puppy, stacking rings.

Remember you will probably like to buy presents for their first Xmas (and be given stuff by relatives) even if they don’t understand Xmas yet so no need to buy stuff too far ahead.

Agree with others.

Sensory books and mat is fine from birth.

Once they start sitting, crawling and walking then stacking cups, bricks etc. but all babies develop differently and some will sit at 5 months and want high chair toys and some not until 9/10 months. And the thing with sitting and moving at different ages is the things appropriate for them when they do also changes. (If that makes sense?).

The Lamaze cuddly toys with crinkly bits, rings to hold etc were my kids first favourite toys. You might well get some as presents though.

I was just coming on to say the Oball range are great too.
Don't buy too many very young things as it's a waste of money.

A survival blanket!
Seriously - v large, v light, silver, shiny (esp with a torch shining on it), scrunchy/crinkly .
Baby can lie on it - any movement produces visual, tactile and sound reward.
Cut smaller pieces off to play with in hands.
Most babies love them.
£6 from Go Outdoors/outdoor shops/online.

My 9 month old has just completely ignored a MASSIVE bag of toys for current favourite- an empty water bottle 😂