Newborn Toys

Playtime For Newborns

Before we look at newborn toys that can be bought, the best newborn toys are the faces of the adults caring for the newborn. So your face, your partner's face the faces of friends and family - these are the most fascinating "toys" for a newborn.

However there are toys you can buy that are beneficial for a newborn's entertainment and development . It's true that a newborn is not going to be able to hold and manipulate a toy that is intended for their entertainment like an older child would do. However there are different things that you can buy for your newborn that are going to be toys and also going to help them in their development.



The best toys you can buy for newborns are simple. They are not actually able to play with the toys with their hands, but they can follow them with their eyes when you hold them in front of a baby. Rattles and brightly colored toys are good for newborns because they can hear them and see them. If a toy is brightly colored, rattles and makes other noises, this is going to help with baby's brain development regarding seeing objects and hearing sounds. If it is something that your newborn can hold in his or her hands, eventually as time goes by your baby's hands and feet will get stronger and able to grasp things better. You will see positive motor development if you give your baby toys to hold and move.

There is a lot of research that shows positive brain development is happening in babies who have things to look at. If your baby has a mobile or another object to look at while they are in their crib or while they are sitting in a seat, they are going to be able to focus on objects and watch them. This is where they will get stimulation and will have better brain development. Without interesting things to look at and listen to, newborns will get bored and cry.

Remember that there are many sides to this topic. There has been a lot of research done that says that stimulation is important. However a baby can easily get over stimulated. This is why it is important to keep it simple and not have too many things going on all at the same time or too quickly one after the other. Keeping the nursery in a few prominent colors is important because colors have been shown to encourage brain growth and development in newborns.

Keep the number of mobiles, hanging toys and noisy toys within reason so as not to stress your baby out with too much stimulation. You will know you are creating sensory overload if your baby starts to turn his head from side to side and cry for no reason at all. Use the same toy every day for a week, then add another toy and switch between them.  Keep it simple and make sure that you are grabbing their attention. If they can look at it and can follow it with thier eyes, your newborn is going to have better brain development and grow stronger and smarter all the time.

To get back to the "best newborn toy", your face, make sure you talk to your baby as much as you can during the day. Hold your face about 12 inches ( 24 cm) from baby's face so that you are within the distance where a newborn's eyes can focus. Look into your newborn's eyes and talk. Exaggerate your mouth movements when you talk. Open your eyes wide, smile, raise your eyebrows and stick out your tongue! In this way you will encourage baby's speech development and you will be on your way to teaching baby to talk