Mobiles

Why your baby will enjoy this toy now:

A mobile does more than look nice; it helps your child focus and improve vision. Watching objects move up above stimulates visual tracking, and if your mobile offers music or sounds, that can enhance baby's listening skills. And the soothing rhythm of repetitive sights and sounds can help remind baby that it's time to rest.

What you can do to help your baby learn more:

• Music can be soothing to baby, and not just when he's drifting off to sleep. To extend the benefits offered by a mobile's selection of music, play similar music for baby at other times of the day and in different settings.
• Help music become integral to your child's life by branching out and playing different types of music—it's fun to watch your baby's reactions change!
• Don't be too shy to sing along or hum to the music. You'll find that as you do, your baby becomes more vocal too!
• As the mobile goes around, encourage baby to take notice of his surroundings by pointing out the mobile's features, colors, characters or lights if it has them.
• It helps to see what your baby sees, so try to position yourself so you can see the mobile from baby's point of view. Change the mobile's position every once in a while, or change your baby's position so he gets a new view.
• Right from the start, your baby will listen to and respond to your voice. Use this connection to verbally point things out about the mobile—the colors, the movement, the characters that dangle from it. Watch to see what's appealing to your baby: if he seems to take more delight in one feature, then focus on it a bit more to reinforce his visual interest.

Back to top

Crib music boxes

Why your baby will enjoy this toy now:

Babies have good hearing right from the start, so playing music or recordings of serene sounds from nature is a great way to enhance listening skills as well as to calm and soothe your infant. A toy that combines music with lights can awaken more than one of the senses, providing movement to encourage baby's eye-tracking development.

What you can do to help your baby learn more:

• Support your baby's efforts to self-regulate—to stop crying and calm down—with a crib soother. One that signals with gentle sounds, music and sights tells baby that it's time to wind down and sleep.
• When you first put this toy in the crib, help baby focus on it by pointing out the motion and lights. If your baby's crib toy has sound and/or light features, turn the setting to music and softly glowing lights and let your baby enjoy.
• Switch through the sound settings until you find one that's especially soothing to you and baby, then take 10 minutes for yourself: listening to the soothing sounds as baby drifts off can be a peaceful time for you, too.

Back to top

Soft stuffed toys or dolls

Why your baby will enjoy this toy now:

Babies recognize and respond to faces very early. As they develop the ability to focus, seeing a familiar face is comforting to them. The soft, cushy texture of a stuffed toy is also soothing, especially when babies are not being held and cuddled.

What you can do to help your baby learn more:

• While baby is awake and lying on her back, place the toy or doll within her view at arm's length away. The doll's face will be a source of visual interest, and the soft texture of the fabric interesting to touch. Remember that it's safest to remove all soft toys from your baby's crib while she sleeps, so there's no chance of it covering her mouth.
• Near the end of the first month, demonstrate cuddling and nurturing behavior for your baby. Hug and kiss and coo at her, then cuddle the stuffed animal in close to her so she can feel the soft texture on her cheeks.
• Move the doll up and down in front of your child, then a little to the left and to the right. Watch to see if your baby is able to track it with her eyes. If your baby's doll has a rattle attached or inside, shake it gently and watch for your baby to turn her head toward the sound.

Back to top

Child-safe activity mirrors

Why your baby will enjoy this toy now:

Long before babies realize who's smiling back from the mirror, they love to gaze at their own reflection, fascinated by what they see there. This encourages self-recognition, enhancing emotional development. It also fosters eye-hand coordination as baby reaches to touch the mirror.

What you can do to help your baby learn more:

• As you adjust the mirror to baby's angle, check the view so you can see exactly what he'll be looking at. Demonstrate some of the fun features.
• Initiate baby's sense of self-recognition by pointing to his reflection in the mirror, and then to your own. "Peek-a-boo! I see you. Do you see Mommy? Who else do you see?" Also, point out your facial features. "See my eyes? Do you see your eyes? Here they are!" That's how connections begin for babies.
• Help solidify this idea of reflections by pointing to something on you, like a ring on your hand. Let baby touch it, then point to its reflection. Go to other mirrors in the house and show baby how your reflections show up in those mirrors, too.
• Around this time, you'll probably want to give him some tummy-time play. Position this mirror in front of baby when he's ready to put his face up, so he can look at himself in a new way.

Back to top