@donkeybuyer Since about 7 months (now 10 months) our baby has loved anything to make music. We have the baby Einstein/Hape piano and drum set. I like them because they aren’t like big plastic buttons they’re more delicate like a real instrument? Hard to explain. The sound is also much less jarring. But there’s also a blue button she can press that plays music and once she figured it out she loves to press it and dance! It’s so cute. She also has other instruments like a tambourine and baby ukulele. I think you just follow what your baby likes. One of my friends saw how much our baby loves these and bought them and her son just likes to chuck them across the room lol.
@donkeybuyer We've had the v tech tummy time pillow since our wee lass was about 2 months. As much as I hate the electronic toy that comes with it, she lights up when she hears the songs. So much so, that I can sing "here we go 'round the mulberry bush" now without it and she smiles because she recognizes the song.
@donkeybuyer Our son is still technically a little too young for it (4.5 months) but we introduced the pull and play puppy to him. I’m usually the one that presses the buttons for him or pulls it along but he seems to love to listen to the sounds and gets wide eyed at the light up nose. Just this week he started interacting with it more on his own. He seems equally as interested in it as non light up items though so I’m not seeing a preference yet.
@donkeybuyer OP, where did you purchase your wooden, rubber and cloth toys? New mom here to a 6 week old and just realized I have no idea where to get non-active toys.
@donkeybuyer No opinions developmentally (we use a mix) but v-tech toys are super obnoxiously needy. Switch it on and they go 'play with me, love me' every 10 mins.
@jzhanglsw I prefer the Baby Einstein music station and pianos, personally. My son thinks it's amazing that I can hum the songs before they comes on, the songs are seared into my brain.
I agree, VTech toys are obnoxious. And those animals that interact with each other are creepy.
@donkeybuyer At about 7 months (baby is now 8 months) we got a v tech pull to stand. We got it though because the way it has lights and buttons high up encouraged our LO to reach up to play and in part build his core muscles (he was struggling with the some independent sitting and muscle asymmetry due to torticollis). The songs are annoying af, but my baby could be entertained with that thing for hours lol
@donkeybuyer I hate Vtech! My kids are young so the moment the offending toy enters our house from a well meaning relative, I donate it and they don’t notice. My personal philosophy is that the child should do the playing, not the toy. Maybe I come across a little strong but I really hate Vtech. I have a 19 month old and an 8 month old and they mostly play with sensory toys, musical instruments, stacking toys and a couple well loved stuffed animals. Like you, we don’t do screen time. We also have a play kitchen and I put water in the sink. My oldest started playing with that around 1 year.
@sajikr Thanks for this. I read that vtech should be limited to 20% of the toys/play, but I wondered if it should BE 20% or up to 20%, where 0% is OK?
My 6 month old is really great at entertaining herself. We do lots of music, singing, and play on her little piano and drums. But we also just make sounds together. I swear yesterday I was singing her a song we sing all the time from her music class (i know.. I’m probably a bit extra) but I SWEAR she was making the same sounds and trying to sing with me. My husband was shocked.
@donkeybuyer We keep a small box of them and bring them out very sparingly - eg, our 10M old will not stay out for diaper changes anymore, so we use a tech toys during those to entertain him. In his playspace he has only non light up toys.
@donkeybuyer We limit them but our 18 month old has loved this ball toy since he could crawl. It's definitely loud but it does require him to practice moving around as well as fine motor controls.
@donkeybuyer I thought I wouldn't use them but we have a few and I don't find them annoying, they help hold LO's attention for awhile as they explore all the different sounds and songs. I wouldn't get a ton of them (we just pick them up at the thrift store if they seem interesting) but I like having them in the toy rotation. I choose ones mainly that play songs or have a dual function, like vehicles that make noise.
Edit: LO is 17 mo, I would say these toys mostly started being engaging for them when they were over a year old
