Baby Toys and Baby Gifts For Every Little One in Your Life
It is a well established fact that toddlers go crazy for plush toys. I know it from personal experiences, and whenever I have to choose a gift for a toddler, I narrow down my choice to a plush soft toy, more often than not.
Choosing a plush toy in particular can be a brainstorming experience though. How would you know the preferences of a two year old child? To be frank, I mostly go in for the toy that looks the cutest and the most inviting. Still, there are a few pointers you can take care of. For example, if you are choosing a dog, make sure that the child is not afraid of dogs. Again, you need to be sure that the toy you are giving is adorable, say for example, a bugs bunny might be an adorable gift on the face of it, but it the material it is made out of is rough and the toy doesn’t feel good while holding it, then you might face difficulties with the child accepting it.
One thing that we must understand is that for toddlers their teddy bear is the most important friend of their lives. It accompanies them to the dining table, to the bathroom and even to their beds. So, the one most important thing while choosing a plush toy is that it should feel soft. If you are unsure about a child’ preferences and are dubious about your toy’s chances of being appreciated, then it is suggested that you go for a toy that is the softest. The softer the toy, the better are your chances of ripping it off to a child and getting him excited.
One final inspection regarding the toy’s stitching, eyes, nose and loose parts needs to be done before going in for the buy. Toddlers are most prone to swallowing anything they come across, and therefore, it is a must that there are no hanging or loose parts with the plush toy you choose.
Apart from plush toys, I prefer wooden toys for toddlers. There are certain qualities that wooden toys have, and these are particularly why I choose wooden toys over plastic or toys made out of other materials. Three most important reasons for my choosing wooden toys are as follows.
Firstly, wooden toys have a lot of variety to offer, from puzzles to pedal cars, they cover the whole gamut of toy ideas and being environmental friendly, they definitely score over plastic. Secondly, wooden toys are especially useful for pretend play games. Pretend play games and other developmental games help in increasing your child’s motor sensing abilities. Besides, wooden toys are good for building blocks and such educational games, boosting your child’s appetite for knowledge. Thirdly, wooden toys are a collector’s love. They are good for preserving over the years, and act as lovely souvenirs. They look good with your interiors and sometimes, have a sentimental value attached to them, which makes them indispensable.
Overall, there are a lot of other toy categories to choose from while gifting, but plush toys and wooden toys definitely top my list of candidates.
Watch the video related to toys for baby
The baby reaches for his toys. Five months old.
Help answer the question about toys for baby
What is the best way to sanitize baby toys?my baby has a lot of toys that he keeps chewing on, throwing on the floor,etc so I want to clean them as often as I can. His plastic toys are easy to clean. I just wash with soap and warm water but don't know how to clean his soft toys that come with a label of surface cleaning only. What is the best way to clean such toys?
About Author
This author lives in Hampton, NJ with her husband and 5 month old daughter and is an expert contributing author for a luxury baby gifts boutique offering variety of baby shower favors, baby gifts wholesale, handprint footprint kits and more.
!!!! WAIT !!!!! ANSWER #1 IS 100% INCORRECT !!!
He states
"Stick with wooden or cloth/plush toys for a baby – that's one option. "
The wooden toys from China are the ones that are painted and have the biggest chance of having lead based paint (LBP). Cloth/plush items will (can) collect lead dust from floors. And then pass it to the kids if they are not cleaned / washed often.
There was a web site for recalled toys but I can't find it right now. But even this site may not list all the toys effected with lead. Its a good start but I would test each wooden OR PLASTIC toy I bought. There can be lead in plastic or vinyl.
edit: found the web site… http://www.babycenter.com
The easiest way to test is with a product call "Lead Check". They are small white tubes that deliver a chemical (sodium rodizinate) to the surface. If there is leach-able lead it will turn color (pink or red). Call around to your local paint stores to find them. There are many types of these chemical test kits but my opinion is Lead Check is the best / easiest.
HINT: They cost about $3.00 each BUT !!! (Lead Check hates me to teach this) … There are 5 to 7 drops in each tube. If you use a clean dry cotton swab on each item, you can get 5 to 7 tests.
(no I don't work for or own stock in this co.) …
For more info plese read http://home.mindspring.com/~wrltc/lswp.pdf A book I wrote for parents doing re-modeling or having it done. And lead issues in general. It was paid for by a fed/state grant. Which means its your book as much as mine. I am NOT trying to sell you anything. Education about this subject is my job.
One Step Ahead is definitely a great one for baby gear. They have some really neat stuff that you can't find other places. I think you will find that if you get on the mailing list for one of the catalogs, you will get several others that are similar.
The ABC catalog has some toys in it pretty cheap and sometimes they are older, wooden style toys.
As for clothes, a great website is BabyThreads Resale. They have new and used clothes at great prices!
I agree with hot soapy water but you could also use a 50/50 solution of water and peroxide. If you are looking for a non toxic/healthy way to clean.
I used to work in an infant room in a daycare center and DHS regulations had us spray the toys with diluted bleach…take a clean spray bottle and fill it full of water then add one table spoon of bleach to it. Spray the toys over the sink and let air dry. If there are stains on them you are trying to remove, you can simply take a little bit of laundry detergent and rub it on the stain and then rinse it.
I love disinfectant spray! I think it is awesome. Obviously you don't want to give it to your child while it is wet and you just freshly sprayed it, but I use it on my sons toys while he is napping or after he goes to bed and put then run them under hot water and let them dry. It just makes me feel better. But also hot, soapy water works great too.
My dog has "HIS" toybox
My Baby has "HER" toybox
Toys are kept separate.
Baby is only allowed to play with her toys.. if she has a dog toy, I remove it from her and give her one of HER toys
Dog is only allowed to play with his toys.. if he has a baby toy, I remove it and give him one of HIS toys.
Eventually the toys will have their individual scent and your dog should be able to recognize which are his and which belong to the baby.
Baby toys are also put away when she's done playing.. they are not left laying anywhere. Most of her toys are kept in the living room, which is baby gated off- the dog has limited access to that room.
The best solution is to just supervise, and make sure that baby toys are put away when the baby is not playing with them. Your child can learn at a young age to keep her toys picked up, or they may become chewed up.
You may be surprised how many of those toys can actually survive the washer and some even the dryer. I've washed many stuffed toys and they come out of the washer clean and in good shape. Use the gentle cycle and air dry them if you're concerned about the heat of dryer. You might try it first with something you're not really attached to and see how it works for you.
toys r us
No, most of the toys you will find at regular commercial toy stores do contain pthalates. The FDA and other regulatory agencies do now acknowledge any dangers in pthalates, parabens, dioxins, SLS, sodium polyacrylate, etc., so the manufacturers don't see a need to change to more expensive materials. If you want non-toxic toys, shop at natural baby stores. Some good online stores are:
http://www.cottonbabies.com
http://www.wilddill.com
http://www.melissaanddoug.com