Product Spotlight 02/24: Toys

wanderlustsoul

Hello! Today's discussion is a pretty big one: TOYS! We're unlikely to come up with a complete overview of every toy our kids wind up with, and certainly we can't always control the tornado of toys we all somehow accumulate, but it would be great to share some favorites, maybe aiming for the first 6-12 months or so to give FTMs some guidance on a few items to have on hand as our babies start to interact with the world.

When did your babies start to notice little baby toys? Which were the first favorites? Which toys did you have scattered on the floor, which did you have stashed in your diaper bag for emergency distraction, which did you have in the car? Any brands you love? Or particular style of toy? Is there something super special worth splurging on? Do you begrudgingly deal with a thousand blinking lights and loud plastic noises, or are you strict about only accepting organic wood blocks? Did you use a Baby Einstein? Did you babies have a lovey or comfort item to adore and drool on? On the flip side, is there anything you absolutely HATE and want to warn other moms about (or just vent)? And how do you store your toys? Any cute storage products to help with organization? Please share!

Prior and Upcoming Product Spotlight

wanderlustsoul

To no one's surprise, I am also a minimalist with toys. 

For the baby/infant stage (but like from 3+ months - they don't anything before this really), the ones we had and loved were:
- Banana teether (not really a toy but the best thing you'll ever spend money on)
- Fisher price stacking cubes (still a favourite 1 year later - I bought it when he was 5 months and he still uses it at 17 months). 
- Fisher price stacking rings (this and the above came in a set)
- Manhattan atom toy - I loved this thing and it really entertained him plus he could chew on it
- Fisher price kick n play piano mat - Get it. Just get it now. 
- Crinkly books 

For the older infant/early toddler stage: 
- Pikler triangle 
- Wooden blocks (I love the lovevery block set)
- Tons of books - you can NEVER have too many books (the 'never touch a...' series is great and Marion Billet musical books)
- We have building blocks as well - it was a present - mega blocks I think? 

These are really all the toys we had/have and I don't own any super small toys YET. I love the lovevery play kits but they're not available here in Europe yet (though should be for this baby!). I did a toy rental service for a bit with DS and every month you got a new round of toys. I liked that. I prefer toys that have longevity and can be used for a while so the baby toys were mostly that. We also had the skip hop activity center and I love that because he could sit in it, then play with the toys at the end, and now he uses it as a table for arts and crafts. I absolutely hate loud toys but the piano mat is the one place I caved on this and went for it. That thing saved my sanity for months. 

bntfroggie

Okay I have way too many toys but for the littles I loved this one

https://www.manhattantoy.com/collections/winkel/products/winkel

DuchessOfCambridge

So...we have a LOT of toys. I do toy rotation, and the majority of our toys live in our basement playroom and every week I change out what’s on our upstairs playroom shelves, usually 6-9 toys/games. I’m a little weirdly obsessed with children’s toys 😂 I do like having all the options we do because it lets me do interesting rotations but I buy toys with intention. They need to serve a purpose, not just light up and make noise. If I started over, I’d do a Lovevery subscription. We’ve gotten three of their boxes designed for older babies/toddlers but the younger stuff is unnecessary even for new baby because we have similar toys already. 

Things we have out all the time: play kitchen, pikler triangle with ramp, wobble board. 

Adding two photos in the spoiler

daisy528

@DuchessOfCambridge your playroom is def #playroomgoals. Ours looks like a bomb went off. I really should consider you rotations. 

Toys we loved for babies: anything safe for them to chew (munchmit was a fave here), stacking cups, soft/fabric blocks, and the kick and play piano.

DuchessOfCambridge

@daisy528 my kids constantly dumping out bins and throwing the contents around while not actually playing with anything is what made me start. I was so sick of cleaning up so many toys! They still throw them everywhere lol but they also play with them more and it’s not as many to clean up

becks_726

We signed up for the lovevery subscription boxes as of 10ish months I think and have been getting them ever since. The toys are exactly what I’d be looking for, the quality is fabulous and it takes all the work out of it. We’ll sign up for the first few boxes we didn’t get for this babe. 

I highly recommend toy rotations. I can’t compare to anything else as we’ve done them since DD first took an interest in toys but it’s amazing to see her re-fall in love with forgotten toys and it really keeps the mess manageable. 

Manhattan Toy co makes good baby toys - the atom and winkel notably. 

A standing mirror is great for tummy time. 

When teething toys become interesting, definitely make sure you have one that they can gag themselves on. It’s fabulous practice before any food is involved. We used the zoli bunny for this. 

DuchessOfCambridge

Fat Brain toys are great too. They even have suggestions for kids with special needs, broken down by diagnosis/ability. I’m eyeing the Innybin for my 3 yo CP baby. Little Dutch makes adorable wooden toys that are actually affordable