First toys - what worked for you?

[Southwestwhippet]

I've been given a £50 mothercare voucher . I thought initially I could spend it on useful things like nursing bras/breast pads etc but I've decided that is far too dull and I might get some nice things for DD instead.

Obviously at 4 weeks she is not going to be interested in any toys but I can see that within a relatively short time she is going to like holding/looking at things and it would be nice to get her some bits and bobs to play with. We've been given lots of second hands clothes etc (her wardrobe is now better than mine!) but have virtually no toys at all at the moment and TBH I'm at a bit of a loss as to what babies like. Don't want to waste my lovely present on a load of tat that is marketed towards the parents rather than the child IYKWIM.

What recomendations do you have (toys or general stuff) that your small babies enjoyed?

I'd start with a baby gym, hours of use;
cloth books and plastic bath books;
rattles/maracas;
Mine loved a mirror when they got a wee bit older;
Avoid anything with batteries!!!

baby gym was a fab buy anything with a mirror on or that is safe to go in mouth

Rattles like this are good. These ( or these) will be in use for ages. They have many incarnations!

Stacking cups for later, always a favourite

Soft books that make a crinkly rustle and / or have textures are always a hit too.

Do you have a mobile? Both of mine spent many happy hours under a second hand Tiny Love Symphony mobile. I could have kissed it some days . Mothercare don't have it, this looks good but it'd take up almost all of the budget. TBH you'd be better off looking second hand.

Ooops! These = these...

Now, neither of mine was happy in a baby gym before about 4 months, DD always hated it TBH. Well, actually, now DS is enjoying using it she loves it

Manhattan toys 'Skwish' got a lot of playtime with my two. And surprisingly enough those plastic links that are used to attach toys to a gym or buggy, they got more attention than the toys themselves.

Board books from a very early age. Yes and those crinkly books.

Even a wooden spoon has great play value

I'd got for a soft baby gym which folds up as they double as a mat when you go round to visit relatives (keeps baby sick off their carpets )

Ours also had some large soft blocks which they still love and you can spend hours building towers for them to knock down.

Baby gym but I didn't like the mothercare one - you have to blow it up and mine kept getting punctures they were good about taking it back and refunding though. I have the blossom farm one which has been brilliant (ELC) or any good boot fair!

Second stacking cups and books books books - ones with touchy feely anything or holes and lift the flap are brilliant when they get older.

The BEST baby book in the world is baby boo by amazing baby - has a mirror at the end and my 18 month old still gets excited when the baby goes missing and jumps out boo! - I am sad...I have brought a new one of these for each of my 3 ds' as they get so worn out! Mothercare sell this.

happy shopping

another vote for plastic linking rings. Big hit. Fabric books - meh, according to dd

Thanks everyone, some brilliant ideas.

My DD already has quite a library as I love reading and started buying my childhood favourites for her when I was about 4 months pregnant

Any excuse to buy more though!

Hide n Squeak Eggs are by far the best toy we have ever owned. They have been played with from the first moment my dd could grip something, and my 4-year-old still sometimes plays with them now. They have been everywhere with us. They pack up neatly so a great travel toy too.

This is the toy I buy for every friend who has a first baby.

Those plastic links were fantastic, great toy and for attaching things to the pushchair.

Fleece blanket for the baby to lie on when at friends etc. Both ds and dd love their blankets now 5 and 2.

The books that can be attached to the pushchair definate winner.

Activity mat, worked for us rather than a baby gym.

Yes to stacking cups, they are still being used after four years.

Children's cd's for the car (keeps mine nice and quiet) also good, chose good sing along songs and you can even join in!

Other than that I can't really think what babies do anymore! We had a baby gym but it was a gift and not sure it would have been worth buying ourselves - a blanket for them to lie on is probably just as worth while.

Oh, a mobile to hang over the changing table. Priceless.

First toys I bought/ used were the baby gym and some simple black and white rattles from ELC (I think you can get them in Mcare as well) and some plastic chewy teethy linky things. The thing she loved at 4 weeks was the vile and insidious Fisher Price baby gym with the lights and music that my lovely friend passed on to her and that she absolutely LOVED, but I wouldn't recommend spending your vouchers on a new one because they seem to have limited appeal in time (she's 6 months and finds it too boring now).

My DS loved those Lamaze big brightly coloured animals when he was little. We had the butterfly - which rattled and had scrunchy bits and mirrors. And stacking cups once they are big enough. Get a sturdy baby gym - our's kept falling over and was completely useless!

finda big mothercare that has an integral ELC - the range of toys is way better

def the linky rings

Playmat.
Stacking rings.
Soft books.
Bath toys.
Teether (I liked the Mam one)
Cot toy.
Twisty rattles.
Jiggler (pull and it vibrates)
Rain maker.
Toys attached to pushchair.
Alphabet cubes (soft).

• maracas and bells are the best :D
• baby gym a hit here, dd still uses it at 8mo. It has a mirror on it she still loves that too.
• we have had a fisher price dog which barks and sings for months and it's one of her favorites.
• "in the night garden" puppets, I take them out as soon as dd is upset and she brightens up straight away
• soft cloth books and bath books are good.

things that I maybe shouldn't have bothered with: - a bumbo chair (was very useful but for a very short period of time, she still uses it from time to time but not very much.)

• I bought a whole bunch of teethers and she was not interested in any of them, she chews on her shoes mostly!! (also a waste of money unless you use them as teethers ;))

MaMight - yes! hide n squeak eggs! How could I not mention these? DD1 had them as a present way back and initially i thought mmm not sure about these, but dd3 is playing with those original eggs and are usually the first thing she pulls out of the toy box. And only a fiver. Bargain.

You can use your mothercare vouchers in ELC as they're the same company. Check your vouchers and they should have an ELC mark on them somewhere we did that at the weekend and bought the Blossom Farm baby nest - on sale at the moment for £30, Newborns can lie in it and then it turns into a sitting support thing for older ones. Comes with rattly toys and a mirror

My two children liked different toys.

But both never liked the Lamaze colourful soft toys I bought.

Both liked crinkly books.

Both like soft letters that stick to the side of the bath.

• Baby gym (Fisher Price Rain Forest) was a god send from about 6 weeks onwards, and DD still loves it now at 7 months.
• Lamaze 'creatures' for wrists and feet - think they're called Garden Bugs.
• Taf multi-coloured link thingies.
• Baby Einstein take along tunes, which is a hand-held music & light show thing. Kept DD entertained on a fairly long flight when she was tiny.
• Anything that rattled.

Mmmm. yes. The most useful thing I bought for the DC is the Baby Bjorn bouncy chair. It is an utter miracle and if I had to have another baby tomorrow it's one of a very few thing I would have to have in the house. I would happily pay double the asking price

It got a solid year of use with DD and DS still uses it every day at 9 months. It's great in all the ways that bouncy chairs are but most importantly it's excellent for rocking babies to sleep. 1000 x better than this sort and much better than any other apparently similarly made chair I've tried.

I think when DS has finished with it DD will want to keep it out for reading in. She hated it as soon as she was properly crawling but has had a lot of enjoyment from it since I brought it out again for DS. She was 19 months when he was born BTW.

With 50 quid to spend, I'd go for a baby gym every time. Mine LOVED it, even by about 6 weeks,my big one was in his a lot. We did get one that sang etc and he always really liked the music. The batteries seemed to last for ages.

If you don't want to splurge the whole lot on one thing, get yourself some linkies and board books and a couple of pretty outfits if there's something you love.

Or could you get something really really sensible like the next stage car seat - or a good chunk of it, anyway?

I second the tiny love mobile, it's mesmerizing for my 7 week old, she loves everything about it, can remove the mobile bit and just have music if you don't want to overstimulate them.
I also havethe fisher price rainforest bouncer, she really seems to like it.
I got a lot of use out of a black and White fabric book which crinkled and also like the Lamaze stuff, we have freddy firefly which has black and White on one side and very colourful on the other, at the moment she much prefers the black and White side.
I'll be watching with interest too as one of my new mum worries is whether I'm stimulating her enough/ too much!!