Robert asks…
Baby toys?
Since my baby was born I’m looking at baby toys and thinking of what I should buy him. But I can’t help noticing that so many toys seem like they are designed to be ‘replacement parents’
You get toys that ‘read stories’ that light up to ‘soothe the child to sleep’ and I can’t help feeling that that is the mum or dads work! Not some battery operated toy! My husband and I are not rich, but even if we were I’d like to think that the job of reading stories and teaching ABC or numbers are OUR job and our baby will be much happier to have our attention to him rather than buying expensive bits of plastic while we devote our attention elsewhere!
Maybe I’m being old fashioned here, but I can’t help thinking that it’s MY job to teach my son to read and count and soothe him to sleep.
What are your opinions on this?
thank you
The Expert answers:
Your instincts are correct.
Go for, where possible, non light show, traditional toys. There is nothing wrong with the occasional ‘light up toy’ but they musn’t be a mainstay of your childs education.
Incidentally. I bought Early Learning Centre magnetic letters – the type you put on the fridge, in little letters when my daughter was 1 year old. She now knows almost all of her alphabet – I would say… M for mummy, d for daddy, p for peter (a friend she loves) ect… They are tactile and maluable – (before you all start abusing me for spelling I can’t bloody remember how to spell that.)
Best of luck
Ps remember not to get to caught up in the organic parenting thing. You can be bullied into spending FAR too much money…
Chris asks…
baby toys?
hi im lookng for a toy that will stimulate my baby with lights and sounds while she is in her bouncer chair but i want a setting which will allow constant stimulation as she is not old enough to set it off herself
sorry kat kat my mouse is so dodgey i didnt mean to hide ur answer!! xx
The Expert answers:
Hi! I too have tons of toys that provide constant stimulation for my baby, he loves them. However, I read an article in an article in a well respected psychological journal a little while back that concerned me. The article was about a study that showed that another reason for the higher rate of ADD and ADHD was the constant stimulation we provide for our children. Even as babies we teach them they have to be stimulated by outside sources constantly, which leads to them learning to look for outside stimulation all the time. I don’t know if it would worry you, but it did me, and I just thought I’d pass off the information. Now, I do still use toys and stimulation for my son, but I also allow him “quite” time to just kind of hang out in his bumbo chair. Good luck!
Maria asks…
How do I know which baby toys I should buy so I don’t poison my child with lead?
I wanted to buy my newborn some toys recently but notice that all baby toys are made in china. As we all know there was a scare with increased lead levels in baby toys from china a couple years ago. How do I find out which toys have lead levels so I can avoid buying them? I haven’t found a good user-friendly website for this yet. Also any hints for alternative toys not made in china? Seems like there are none.
The Expert answers:
!!!! 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… 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.
Linda asks…
How do I teach my dog the difference between dog toys and baby toys?
I never realized until I was pregnant how similar they are! One of my three dogs is a toy monger. The best toy is a toy another dog is playing with. The other two could care less (probably because they never get a chance to play with them).
Since we have a baby on the way, how do I teach the dog which toys are not his?
The Expert answers:
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.
Lisa asks…
What is the safest way to clean baby toys?
My baby is 7 months and she puts ebrything in her mouth. I want to clean her toys with Lysol or Clorox wipes, is that safe? or should I clean them with soap.
The Expert answers:
Soap and water would be best, but soak them in Clorox during cold and flu season to kill off germs that could make her sick. If you have a dishwasher and these aren’t toys with noisy parts or mechanics, put the toys in the top rack and wash them that way. Both the soap and the hot water will sanitize her toys. All in all, though, unless your house is filthy from top to bottom, or she’s dropped her toy into something gross, it’s unnecessary to wash her toys all the time (once a week = good. Once a day = overkill and tedious). It’s good for her to be exposed to some germs so that her immune system can build up immunity to it. 🙂
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