Five must have toys for newborn babies

Five must have toys for newborn babies

As a new mum I struggled to know what to buy for a baby that was not there yet. I spent quite a lot of time watching videos of mums on YouTube (Yes, there is a huge community of mums sharing their experiences on YouTube, me included) so that I could get an idea of what to buy. I did get an idea, however it seemed that the list was endless and I was overwhelmed to the idea of having to buy so many products. I live in the center of Europe, where the story is quite different. Baby products are very expensive here! Moreover, the space in European houses tent to be small to hold a lot of bulky baby stuff.

Looking back now I did not needed a lot of things to begin with. If you are a parent to be and reading this please know that a newborn baby needs very little to begin with. He/she will prefer your comfort. Nevertheless here is 5 items that I would buy in case I was to have a newborn again:

•  Baby Activity Gym: This was our best buy. It worked well for us. I could place my daughter for tummy time in the mat and she was happy to stay there. In the mat she started interacting with the hanging toys, rolling over and then one day she was out of it so we knew...she was growing up so fast! Here is the review of the one we choose, I clearly am attached to this toy and 2 years later still have it in her room :).

• Swing: At the time I decided to get a portable swing that would fit in my small living room. My daughter turned up to be a bit colicky, so, at first she did not like it as much as I thought she would. As time went by, she became more and more interested in it and I could have some time free handed. In case you are wondering, here is a review I did on the portable swing that I bought.

• Bouncer: I wish we had bought one! I would buy it a second time around because bouncing is different to swinging and some babies just like it more. I found that she likes it very much at about 5 months when she started going to day care. I would rock her to sleep so they used a bouncer to put her to sleep and it worked wonders. Why did not I get a bouncer and spent so much time to rock her? No idea...but now I know what to do if another baby was in the way.

• Mobile: This is not as essential but it was useful. I would recommend to not spend a lot on it because it is not an item that you overuse in those few months that your baby newborn baby.

• A lullaby doll or white noise teddy-bear: A good toy with soothing sounds. White noise is known to calm the baby, so probably I would go for a white noise making toy such as a teddy-bear (I have seen it somewhere while I was looking for baby items). I did go for My Pal Violet from Leap Frog which is a lovely toy for over 6 months babies but I think there are better choices when it comes to newborn babies.