Help Your Baby Discover Life: First Toys

By Joy Cagil

A classic sitcom may show an expectant father bringing home an enormous plush teddy bear, an electric-train set, or even, a computer. We chuckle at the screen, because we realize babies that do not require highly complicated toys during their first few months.

We have to remember that newborns are getting acquainted with their bodies, themselves, the people around them, the shapes of things, and the motions they may produce. Inside the baby's brain, everything is new knowledge and a lot of filing, classifying, and cataloging goes on.

During the first months, baby's basic five senses develop; therefore, opting for toys with varied shapes, textures, and colors that the baby can later reach out and explore safely is sound practice. Babies may be equally stimulated with household objects and multicolored, bright toys. One of my children loved to watch me turn a mechanical egg-beater, and at the same time, he enjoyed his colorful hanging music mobile.

Parents may spend a lot of money on toys with the baby's arrival, thinking more toys will help develop their baby's mind. This may be true, but new babies do not require too many toys.

Having toys in the nursery, however, even before the baby is brought home will help him develop his skills earlier and will give him a head start in his adaptation to daily life. Newborns and infants of 3-8 months old enjoy toys they can feel with their hands or put in their mouths to suck, they can listen to, and they can watch.

Toys with simple shapes are the best, and all toys should conform to safety standards. Although baby's first toys can be bought very cheaply second hand, I would not recommend doing that unless the toys are thoroughly cleaned and sanitized. Used or new, all toys the baby may handle have to be washable.

First toys can be small stuffed toys without removable parts and with hygienic components like plastic colored keys on key rings, rattles, cloth toys, soft dolls, unbreakable mirrors and plastic spoons, hanging toys, teethers, play gyms, and plastic squeeze toys. Babies also like to watch everyday items, kitchen utensils, and lots of other things around the house.

If a parent feels that the baby is getting frustrated or overwhelmed by too many toys around him, it may be a wise idea to limit the count to a few toys at a time to keep the baby interested without scattering his attention.

The fastest way a baby will develop his skills still depends more on parent participation than the amount of toys. A parent's face provides a great curiosity for a two or three-month old. Many babies reach out for noses, thinking they are oddities to be explored.

Audio lullaby CD's played by the mother or hand puppets that move with the father's hand engage and refine a baby's senses and help make him eager to learn, happy, and satisfied. In addition, when parents play with the baby, the bonding inside the family unit will be stronger. The main thing to remember is that everything fascinates a baby and parents do not have to spend all their savings to keep him interested.

This article has been submitted in affiliation with http://www.BabyNameVote.Com/ which is a site for Baby Names. Joy Cagil is an author in http://www.Writing.Com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joy_Cagil

Posted by ummu, Tuesday, February 6, 2007 6:27 PM

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