Babies don't need a lot of toys, but there are all kind of toys out there. Here are my daughter's eight favorite toys from when she was 0-3 months. And each of them are under $20! Score!
1. A ball rattle. Our Learning Curve spinning ball rattle (~$6) is perfect for little hands to grip and shake to make noise. It also has a cute face and the bumpy shaker is also good for little teething mouths.
2. That fancy French giraffe teether. The fact that it is a fancy French giraffe teether made me want to hate it. But Vulli Sophie the Giraffe (~$20) got such high marks on Amazon that I had to buy one. I'm glad I did. The thing must have magical powers or something because she loves it. It's grippy so it's easier to hold, it makes squeaking noises, and it's awesome to chew on. And I'll admit that there's nothing cuter than a baby staring off into space while she repeatedly bends the head down and snaps its neck to make it squeak over and over.
3. Rings. Rings are a must! They are awesome. They are toys by themselves and they attach toys to other things. We have three sets of rings and the Bright Starts Lots of Links (~$9.50) rings are our favorite. Not thick so they are easy to link (and for baby to un-link) but sturdy to hold up to pulling and chewing. And these have different textures on each ring and are very colorful.
4. Something shiny. Babies have like a 2 second attention span. Ah! I'm crying! Hey look! Something shiny! Wait, why was I crying? We bought the Sassy Three Pack Book Set (~$9.75) because they looked cute at Target. It was an impulse buy during our "spend our baby shower gift cards" shopping spree. To be honest, the books suck. There are three of them: colors, vehicles, and the fish book. The colors book is confusing as hell because the color they label on the page is NOT the main color on the picture. It would have been much better to just call it the animal book and put the animal names. At least that wouldn't be confusing. The vehicle book has two pages and a handle. But it does have a squeaker in one of the pages. I feel like by the time they get to naming cars and trucks, they are going to be past the plastic book phase. And then there's the fish book. Little Fish is nearly the same size as Big Fish (notice a theme of confusion?) but what I do like about the books is Shiny Fish on the back of the book. Shiny Fish has saved our ass many times. Whining for no reason? Hey, look! Shiny Fish!! Works like a charm. She likes Shiny Fish so much she mauls the book. I do like that since it's a plastic book it's washable. So I suggest something shiny to distract, whether it be Shiny Fish or something else.
5. A ball little fingers can hold. The o-ball rattle (~$8) was basically the first toy our little one could pick up herself. It's pretty awesome. Lots of holes to get fingers (and tongues) in and it rattles when you shake it. It also sort of bounces on the carpet and rolls quite nicely.
6. Sensory stuffed animal. We got the Bright Starts giraffe (~$7.50) because shaking it around in the store reminded us of one of our cats. But our little girl loves it. It has a lot of black and white, which is good for the first few weeks/months. Then after that, the other feet can be teethers. And babies can also put the head into their mouth and scream into the animal. Not that our kid does that to stuffed animals or anything...
7. Light up color-changing music-playing doll. Our babysitter has a Belly Brite doll (pictured) and our kiddo loves it. The belly lights up and pulses different colors and it plays music. It's very soothing to her. But, of course, they don't make them anymore. They do make a Heart Glow Baby (~$14) but it is a lot different. Glo-Worms and the Fisher Price seahorse are similar in that they light up and play music, but there's something about the color changing that is much more soothing and fun to stare at.
8. Carseat toys. Because you look like a crappy parent if you drag your carseat around everywhere and don't have things hanging off the handle. And your babies like to look at stuff. These Sassy Go Go bugs (~$6) are pretty cute.
There's the list! Enjoy!
Happy Shopping,
Me
Note: I have not been given anything in exchange for writing this, blah blah blah, disclaimer...
