An important question for the new parents.. Are there toy to help babies get sleep? And then related questions like – Is it safe? Anything which can help the baby sleep will probably be the best gift for the new moms and pops!
While looking through certain articles, I have come across the term “sleep friendly” toys and that intrigued me. I tired to read more and more on this. Not sure if I heard about it when I was growing up neither did I thought about it before as a parent. So I was curious to know more about it.
In places like US, Europe it is customary for parent to get a crib for their babies. Cribs are beds designed for infants. Hence there are toys which are crib friendly and then their are toys which are crib friendly and can also help positively in inducing sleep.
Now this is a good point. In India as well, slowly the usage of Crib’s is picking up. Actually it’s not really new. We used to have this in our houses as well with various name like “Palna” or “Jhoola” which was used to place kids (infants) to sleep or play. But they did not used to be as big and grand as we see in the western world.
But coming back to our point. Are there toys which can help to make babies sleep? Whether it is in the crib or near them on the bed. We as parents want the babies to be comfortable while going to sleep. Any toy which distracts them and takes away the sleep is not really good, on the other hand if an toy can calm the baby down will help him/her to sleep.
Note: We all know that the toys need to safe, soft, round edged etc. This is the primary consideration for any toy. We should not put any toy which can cover babies face and adds the risk of choking.
What toys to give to babies during sleep
I feel that giving toys to babies at bed time is not a bad idea. Below is my experience
- Toys which are generally not so flashy and does not make lot of sounds are good to give babies at the time of sleep.
- I used to give my son a one of his favorite small toy car (of course the ones which I felt safe) and he will just keep playing with it for some time and then will drift into sleep.
- Another toy which I gave to him was his favorite soft toy which he will cuddle with and sleep along. Once he has gone to sleep, will remove it from him. So simple toys like stuffed animals which they cuddle along may give them a sense of security and they sleep.
- Another thing which I noticed is that if I gave him lot of toys, the his time taken to sleep increased. He then kept on shifting between one toy to another
- Giving too much thinking toys – ie toys which stimulates imagination is also not good at the time of sleep.
- Parents using cribs may use some small hanging (soft) toys which your kid will try to hit /catch and get tired and sleep.
One last point, as a parent you know more about your baby needs hence decide accordingly. Do your research. If possible discuss with your pediatrician on this topic as well. We generally do not discuss this with our kids doctors, but remember doctors are not only for giving medicines. They are a good mentor as well. Always the safety of baby comes first. Any toy which dosent seems to be safe, should not be given.
Any comments?
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So congratulations on being a proud parent. We hope that the tips provided are really helpful. If you have any comments do write back or leave your feedback in the comment box below. And yes there are sleep friendly toys which can help the baby sleep. Do check them out!
Have a good day!