Toys for a newborn

[spannermary]

So when responding to another thread it occurred to me that, whilst fairly organised on the nappy/clothing/pram front, my DH and I have practically nothing for our newborn child to play with.

Now, I know that they will spend the majority of their time nursing and sleeping, but I'd like to encourage those early instincts towards independent and co-playing, whilst not overstimulating them.

Whistles and bells are definitely not our thing!

So, a couple of questions:

1.) At what age would a child usually begin to use a playmat (love them!) Any favourite playmats out there? (I'm thinking colourful, engaging, washable and likely to be used for a longer time)
2.) Does anyone have any recommendations for a particularly good, colourful mobile (not sure the ecru style will really intrigue them). I'm more into animals etc rather than gender specific toys.
3.) Are there any activities/toys that a very young child will respond to?

...someone mentioned something about a giraffe once...not sure what that was about.

Thanks!

...I know this may be more appropriate in the parenting section, but I'm a bit scared of being flamed for my naivety, so have decided to stick with the safe, warm hand-holding of the pregnancy section. Hope you don't mind!

ilea play gym

My DS liked looking at his baby mirror pretty much from birth (I'm trapped on the sofa feeding him or I'd check the brand...I think its Manhattan Toys) and started enjoying his playmat from around one month old. We got him a few Lamaze soft toys which he liked from reasonably early on. He's also beginning to get into soft books (Lamaze do nice ones)...he'll happily bat the pages with his hands to turn them. We also got him some tiny stuffed animals from Ikea which he now likes because they're very light and easy for him to hold / stuff in his mouth.

Only thing DD had any intrest in was the link rings.

But what she loved and saved my sanity from when she was about 3 months old was the jumperoo.

She loved it, and it was something I could put her in while I got a shower or ate my lunch. As a baby she wouldn't lie down on a play mat or sit in her bouncer chair. But she was upright in the jumperoo so perfectly happy, and had plenty of gizmos to play with on it.

I can't recomend them highly enough - and I just looked on Amazon or the link, and the new style is £75 atm, they are usually about £100.

mobile to stare at, bouncy chair so you can have a shower, playmat - absolutely.

The moment DS actually reached for and held things, the Lamaaze firefly or peacock is v.gd (crinkly wings, bits to mouth on, different textures and colours) - but frankly, not v. interesting to them before 10-12 weeks.

The Whoozit is brilliant - I think it was one of our longest-lasting toys in terms of value, it entertained him from 3 months to about a year, off and on.

Def. Agree with seeker about 'real things' - a whisk, a shaker - absolutely brilliant. My DS has always loved anything that makes a noise (such a joy ) and so we have a lot of rattles and other 'musical instruments' in the house, and now a cheapo ukulele too. Budding Paul Macartney, obv.

Oh god I forgot to mention the Jumperoo! It was the only "big ticket" item we got for him (second hand - there are LOTS second hand, buy all this kind of crap second hand and sell it on! I think we got all but ten quid's worth of ours back when we sold it on) - he was in it from about 4-5 months old (passionately loved being held 'standing') and the day when, around 9 months, he was simply too big for it, was a very sad day indeed. (I should add that DS is 18 months and the size of a 3 year old, so most babies will actually be in their jumperoo for ages longer than that)

We went to a friend's place that had one for her (much smaller) DD and he toddled up to it and bounced it up and down eagerly and loudly demanded to be put in it, eventually tantrumming madly. Which actually wasn't as funny as I now recall, but wow, he loved that thing.

Definitely not a before-birth purchase, though.

Newborns don't really need anything IMO - they just stare at you with an expression of bemusement for about 3 weeks and then they wake up :)

After that, a playmat with dangly bits is great. Don't spend too much on it, my DS loved both the £60 Mothercare one and the £1 charity shop one equally! Charity shops are an underpraised resource by the way - I got 2 Lamaze toys in ours for 40p!! I just put anything made of fabric in the washing machine and throughly clean anything plastic with antibac spray, then water. Job's a good 'un and you save a FORTUNE. Put the spare pennies towards that Jumperoo (and even then, use ebay/Gumtree)

An abacus is essential, apparently everyone these days is shit at maths. Start em early.

Lamaze toys are brilliant. DD has loved the dragonfly that my sister got for her as a gift when she was born. She also loves her exersaucer and jumperoo. As others have said I would suggest you buy everything 2nd hand.

For pram toys, instead of getting an arch, we bought this instead. It's much more interesting then the arches I've seen. I hang them on the handle on the car seat with velcro cable ties. (Or you can just hook it up to the handle like in the picture shown).

Basically you don't need to buy specific 'pram toys'. Anything that hangs will do.

weevilswobble haha. But abacus has nothing to do with maths. Maths is a way of thinking and you can be quite rubbish at mental arithmetics and still be very good at maths. These days we have calculators and matlab/mathematica. BTW, mum told me she trained us doing additions and subtractions with coins when we were little. Along the lines of if you buy a snickers bar for 70p, and you give the shop owner a pound, what should you get in change.

PS. I have a PhD in engineering and is, I assume, pretty good at maths. I always use a calculator at work. And ofc the news item really is really refering to arithmetics.

What happened to your grammar terror? You is good at maths? Lol

Just don't buy the ELC car seat toy because the bugger doesn't fit on a maxi cosi seat, or indeed any other judging by comments I've read.

I'd say don't buy anything until your baby has arrived, they don't need anything when they are really little and you can take your time to work out what works for them (or just steal other people's ideas :-)).
I think my best buy was some cheap linking rings from asda, they can be played with but are also useful for attaching other things to the pram etc.

BTW - the giraffe thing is a rubber giraffe called Sophie. DD has one and I will admit that she enjoys chewing on it. It is a PITA as we have a dog and it is really hard to get the dog hair off the thing would giving it a full wash every 2mins. I have hidden it since finding dog hair in DD's poop.

And it's squeak is BLOODY LOUD

Have a look in ikea

We bought a very plain mobile of animals hanging out of a bright red hot air balloon. It was very cheap, less than a tenner, but my lo, now 1yr, was fascinated with it from birth. We say ' good morning' to each off the animals by name now she is older and it is still her most treasured thing.

We also bought a massive playmat in there. Machine washable and £25. She was 5mth by the time we bought it, so I don't know the suitability for a newborn, but it ticks all the boxes for textures, colours etc.

Maursh we also have the Ikea mobile, DD 4 months loves it, she's absolutely fascinated by it, the animals were the first things she reached out for. It's designed so the animals look downwards so babies can see their faces.

Also recommend the rainforest jumperoo, it was a lifesaver for DS, we need to get another for DD pretty soon. The Fisher Price Rainforest gym has been really popular with my two as well, they've been intrigued by the flashing lights.

For newborns, a battery powered baby swing was useful. It's somewhere to put the baby down for a bit if they are the type that always like to be held. They are pretty expensive new but can often be found second hand.

Got to say it, trite as it will sound: your baby's first and best toy is you.

When your baby is really tiny, try sticking out your tongue at them, opening your mouth, moving your tongue from side to side. They will try to copy almost from birth. When they are overstimulated, they will look to the side and you can take a break.

They will grab your fingers, obsess about the patterning on your clothes if it is bright and bold, stare at lights and mirrors.

Singing and vocal play, where you mimic their noises...

Read to your baby - start now, baby can hear you. Read something rhythmical like Dr Seuss's Cat in the Hat, when your baby is born s/he will recognise the cadences.

Black and white board books were our first purchase, and we had loads of baby things which seemed to amass as the months went on.. but they can't do much for a few months and you will get presents. Comforters like a cuskiboo and maybe a playmat are about the only pre-birth purchases you really need. You don't need them to be ready and I certainly whiled away a good bit of my mat leave time on Amazon buying stuff I'd noticed my boy enjoy at other's houses or (later) playgroups etc. Sometimes the coolest looking stuff just doesn't interest them. Ds never really enjoyed those tummy time toys, for example - other babies love them.

A Baby Bjorn bouncy chair with those wooden balls on them - I didn't get one but every friend who did seemed to adore it.

DS is now 9mo and I noticed at 6mo he only then started paying attention to the myriad of toys he had been bought. Love the Treasure Box idea - we were introduced to it at a baby group and so a friend and I spent £12 between us on tons of stuff from the Range including felt, crinkly wrapping paper, sponges balloons etc which provided loads of fun for him from about 4mo, when he could use his hands.

Before that? Links were good, black and white stuff and faces ripped from magazines pegged into the side of his moses basket. The playmat (a bit like this one, with turny-uppy sides)was also helpful to tie treasure basket stuff to over him to bat before he could properly hold things. But it was overwhelming and made him cry until we realised we hat to take off most of the stuff first!

Haven't read all the other replies but linking rings have been a big favourite with both my children (they still play with them now & the youngest is 2)

we had the Sassy ones
www.amazon.co.uk/East-Coast-Nursery-Links-Teethers/dp/B002L3T9YM

stacking cups for when they are a bit older

soft bricks - ELC did some with black & white geometric patterns

My youngest was given a little board book of geometric black & white patterns as a present - he was mesmerised from an early age & still liked to look at them aged 1 or so
www.amazon.co.uk/Hearts-Stars-Baby-Sees-Picthall/dp/1904618928

Tiny babies don't really need toys though, and they all like different things, my eldest hated the bouncy chair (especially the vibrating option), hated having things attached to his hands & feet (like those wrist rattle things), & neither of my 2 have ever liked soft toys (we got given SOOOO many as presents)

The Fisher Price kick and play chair is great. Brilliant angle (not too reclined) and good chunky toys.

DD2 (5.5m) is now really into her Firefly Lamaze crinkly thing. DD1 loved the ELC caterpillar - she used to wrestle it!

The "that's not my" books are good from about 3/4 m.

Sophie the Giraffe says from nb but really it's a teething toy.

Ooooh how could I have forgotten? What you "need" from really quite early is a Jelly Kitten Hoopy Loopy monkey. They are primary coloured and little for little hands. Both mine love(d) them and I have bought for many friends too.

Sorry I forgot to convert the links

linking rings

black & white board book

A nice bubble bath. Simply being in the tub, and having water splashed over her was great entertainment for my LO from birth.

Dd1 loved the playgym from fisher price rainforest. The toucan off it was her favourite. Dd2 loves her little blanky/rabbit cuddly toy thingy. They both LOVED the jumperoo and it allowed me to run into the shower or quickly cook up something in those early days! Jumperoo is expensive but a lifesaver and worth it!!!!