Are you looking for a toy adapted to your baby's needs, but you have no idea which one to choose? Perhaps you have already heard of cuddly toys?
Soft toys are soft toys with the particularity of making your child's senses interact in different ways. Very popular in the field of toys for newborns, they are found in different forms and at various prices.
In this article, we will see:
- What is an awakening plush
- At what age can the baby interact with a soft toy
- How to introduce the activity plush to your child
Before making your first purchase of stuffed animals for your child , it is important to find out about the safety rules to follow according to the different age groups of babies.
Let's get started without further ado!
What are cuddly toys?
Unlike regular stuffed animals, which were created simply to keep children company, activity stuffed animals are designed to help them develop and thrive. They are therefore highly recommended for the little ones, because they can help them better understand and understand the world around them.
Thus, it is possible to find a variety of soft toys, and each of them is designed to help the child develop his sensory, cognitive, or motor skills . Here are some interesting examples of cuddly toys:
The awakening soft toy for sensory development
As we have previously indicated, the cuddly toy is much more than a cuddly toy. Here, it is mainly used to develop the baby's different senses. It is generally recommended for the little ones, from the age of six months. Indeed, most soft toys of this type have a variety of textures, to help the baby recognize objects through the sense of touch .
They are also distinguished by their bright colors, which attract the attention of the baby and by the sounds they produce in order to help him develop his hearing. It is the combination of all these elements that makes the child evolve on all levels, in an equitable manner.
The awakening soft toy for the sense of sight
Babies are much smarter than you think. They begin to detect movements, and even to determine their speed from the first months. However, they still have a little trouble distinguishing colors. For this reason, cuddly toys are mostly brightly colored.
This is not due to chance, since these colors manage to attract the attention of babies, and they will be able to notice them much more easily. On the other hand, by playing with his soft toys, the baby will learn to distinguish the different colors and this can greatly help him to better understand the universe around him.
The soft toy for motor and auditory skills
In general, it only takes a baby three or four months to be able to manipulate objects around him. He therefore learns to control his arms and small hands to hold and knock over objects that cross his path. This is therefore an ideal opportunity to introduce him to the cuddly toys. Thanks to these, the baby will be able to develop his motor skills more effectively and will even be able to develop his reflexes, in particular, by reacting to the movements and sounds of the soft toys.
The awakening soft toy for the olfactory sense
This is probably the meaning most neglected by parents. However, the sense of smell is extremely important for babies, especially newborns. Still having great difficulty distinguishing shapes and colors, they rely on their sense of smell to recognize the people who take them in their hands.
Moreover, it often happens that a baby starts crying when a stranger gets too close to him. By the age of six months, when all of their senses are relatively well developed, babies continue to rely on their sense of smell. Thus, in order to help your child develop his sense of smell, you can present him with some cuddly toys that he can distinguish by smell.
How to choose the right cuddly toy for a baby?
To start, it is important to remember that it is not recommended to place anything in the crib of a newborn, as long as the latter is not yet six months old. From this age, the baby should be able to move the soft toy on his own, if ever it starts to choke him.
As far as awakening stuffed animals are concerned, you should know that there are some for almost all age groups. Here are some examples :
Soft toys for newborns (up to six months)
Your baby is considered a newborn until he is ten months old. However, until the age of six months, you should not let him sleep with toys of any kind. That said, during the day, when accompanied by adults, you can let him play with some stuffed animals.
However, these must be suitable for his age. We can take the example of comforters, which are perfect for toddlers. Indeed, before letting your baby play with his new stuffed toy, you must make sure that it has no detachable objects, which could suffocate him if he were to swallow them by accident.
Soft toys for infants (from six months to two years old)
From six months and up to two years, the child will be able to play with a variety of soft toys. Even if the risk of choking never remains zero, you can start offering him soft toys without detachable objects, and that he can recognize easily. You can, for example, offer him a comforter in the image of his favorite cartoon character. At this age, the baby gets to use his hands better, and he begins to manipulate the objects around him for a very specific purpose.
For this reason, it is possible to offer him an awakening plush which can greatly help him to develop his senses and his intellect. Also consider giving him a variety of stuffed animals of this type, because each one comes with its own texture as well as its own challenges. Thus, your baby will be able to access more options and continue to develop on all levels.
Soft toys to offer during early childhood (from two to six years old)
Since with the arrival of the newborn, time is likely to pass very quickly, you can think of the stuffed animals that you are going to offer him when he is two years old. At this level, it becomes important to think about the educational value of the toys you give him. Here again, the cuddly toys are perfectly suited. Having a much more developed mind, children will show ingenuity and will certainly find new ways to have fun with their stuffed animals.
Check the features before offering the activity plush
Not all activity toys are created equal. Indeed, some are much better designed than others and they can be more interesting for the development of your baby. In order to get the best results, please make sure that the one you plan to give your child has all the features you want.
Some of the most coveted features in activity toys are sound effects (music and cues), the use of a variety of textures, movement, and light effects. Note that when it comes to the latter, they should never be too intense.
Never neglect the quality of the awakening plush
As with any other product you buy for your child, it is imperative that you ensure the quality of your soft toys. Indeed, the best stuffed animals are almost always those that pose no risk to your baby's health. They also comply with the requirements of European regulatory bodies and this means that they have undergone rigorous testing.
The tests in question are not limited to the risk of using soft toys as simple objects, but they even touch on their composition. Thus, it is more than unlikely that a quality cuddly toy may contain chemical elements harmful to your child's health. However, the best cuddly toys are usually more expensive than the others. Admittedly, this is totally justified by the quality of the products and their long-term reliability, but it is still important to note it, in order to avoid unpleasant surprises.
How to present the soft toys to your baby?
It is generally advisable to introduce educational stuffed animals in turn, in order to allow the baby to continue to have fun playing with them, and this, in the long term. This approach consists of presenting the child with another soft toy as soon as you feel that he is starting to get bored with the previous one. It turns out that the appearance of the second soft toy has a high chance of distracting the baby from boredom, and there is a good chance that his interest in the first will be renewed. Of course, in this case, the child will live new experiences and these can help him develop his cognitive abilities.
As we indicated above, it is possible to present the soft toys to your child as soon as he is six months old, and you can let him sleep with them from the age of two. Observe your child's behavior and help him hug the soft toy better, so he can have a peaceful night. If your baby is not really cuddly, you can place the soft toy under his head, like a pillow. Moreover, it is not uncommon for the child to spend a little time playing with his stuffed animal before going to sleep. Remember to place him in his crib a few moments before bedtime. This way he won't risk losing those precious few minutes of sleep. On the other hand, this routine has the effect of conditioning him and he will be able to sleep on his own, much more quickly.
When you offer a new soft toy to your baby, we advise you to start by playing with him by using it. Your child is very intelligent and he will not fail to notice all your gestures during your game. So do not hesitate to introduce him to new ideas, so that he can continue to play with the soft toy on his own. Besides, playing alone is not a bad thing, because it allows the child to better develop his imagination . Of course, group play is also important, as it gives him the opportunity to develop his social skills.
Soft toys have an extremely positive effect on babies, as they help them quickly develop their motor, cognitive and sensory skills. As we have just seen in this article, you have to choose the right cuddly toy for each baby, depending on their age. It is also important to choose quality soft toys, which have the right features for the development of the child.
By making the right choices, you'll not only be able to help your baby grow and thrive, but you'll also keep them safer.
