There's a lot of work waiting ahead when preparing for a new addition to the family! A lot of emotions are involved and the feelings you experience can be overwhelming. You want the best for your baby but you are drowning in information, much of which contradicts itself.

Tons of work and tons of shopping await. 

Here's a simple guide on what to look for when toy shopping for your baby.

Toys shouldn't take the back seat.

Prepping for a baby may feel daunting due to the enormous number of tasks waiting ahead. Many parent has a long, long to do list. Baby toys are often the last item on this list. After all, many parent believe that toys are just for "fun" and that they are not that important to their baby's development.

It's unsurprising that a lot of first time parents think this way. Toys and play are often associated with children in their toddlerhood until the latter stage of their childhood. Many parents believe that babies don't do anything other than a repititious cycle of feeding, pooping, and sleeping.

Play lays a strong foundation for a child's development. 

Few first time parents are aware that despite their inability to independently move around infants actually do play. Playing lays a strong developmental foundation for newborns. It is how they learn about the new world they just entered. Playing helps create physical, cognitive, emotional, and social developmental foundation.

Although babies are naturally exposed to their surroundings wherever they are, their natural curiosity is fed through play. They experience a wide variety of things, and use much of their attention while playing. 

When babies play, they willingly and involuntarily pay attention. This how they learn. It looks effortless, but a lot is happening when your baby is playing as they absorb constantly absorb information. This is what we mean when we emphasize learning through play. which makes learning far more effortless.

Toys should be appropriate with age

Since play contributes significantly to a baby's development, parents should pay a lot of attention to the toys they provide to their children. These toys must be carefully decided and planned to ensure they are most suitable to maximize learning and development. They must be in tune with the baby's developmental timeline. A play or a toy that requires an infant to move from one place to another isn't appropriate for an infant who can't sit or move yet. 

So, here is the guide to finding the most suitable toys to maximize your child's learning and development that is based on their natural stages of development. 

To better plan ahead, let's divide the periods of infancy into three. 

Age 0 - 3 months (Newborn)

The fist 3 months of your child's life will be spent mostly sleeping. During your baby's awake period they will be adjusting to the new world they find themselves in. Newborns can hardly move, so at this point, giving them toys that require physical manipulation will be futile. Throughout their 3rd month they would spend most of their waking hours observing and getting acquainted with their surroundings, such as the people, objects, sounds that surround them. 

Newborns need toys designed specifically for newborns

During this period, babies may look like they are only engaged in an unending cycle of sleeping, eating, and pooping. Nonetheless, this period is also highly critical for their emotional development.

The most beneficial activities at this point are the ones that can provide physical interaction and create bonds between them and their parents or guardians, such as touching, cuddling, talking, making eye contact, and even singing. 

As vision develops, materials with high-contrasting colors with simple patterns are ideal

Your baby won't be able to see colors right away. Initally, newborns only see light and dark patterns and detect the intensity of colors. So, although there's a tendency for parents to supply their kids with toys of bold colors, newborns can barely benefit from it. So, it's best to look for prints that have high contrast.

A great starter to stimulate a newborn's visual development is the Monty Black and White Card Set, a set of soft cutouts with simple and complex patterns in high contrasts of black and white. The collection effectively supports the baby's visual development areas, such as perception and attention to detail. 

At around two months, a baby's visual skills will not just be constrained by high-contrasting patterns. At this age, they will start to recognize faces and objects, although not having a focus is not uncommon. 

Supply play items that can aid in your baby's tummy time

Concurrently, parents can start engaging their babies in tummy time. Getting your early-aged infant to engage in tummy time can be a challenge. This practice should ideally start a few days after birth and last for just a few minutes at the start. This activity is important because it helps strengthen neck and shoulder muscles and provides a foundation for the baby's vigorous development of gross motor skills. 

Since babies at two months old can already start to recognize objects to help with their tummy time sessions, they can benefit from Monty Tummy Time Panda, a cute toy made from high-quality wooden materials and baby safe paint. Parents can capture their baby's interest and encourage them to stay longer on their tummies while trying to reach the Monty Tummy Time Panda that is placed in front of them. 

Babies will remain unable to move from one place to another between two and three months, but they will start to advance their fine and gross motor skills. The most apparent motion they can do at this point is opening and closing their hands, which would commonly allow them to grab toys they would eventually put in their mouths. 

Babies can hear sounds, although they may not understand their meaning.

In terms of hearing, although babies can't understand sounds, they will start to be familiar with them, showing some degree of excitement. 

To support such growth, parents may start providing lightweight and harmless toys and baby essentials that are made of materials carefully crafted to be safe and ideal for the baby's development. 

Among these are Monty Bumblebee Play Socks, which have tiny bells that chime when babies wiggle their feet. 

Age 3 - 6 months 

Start to see color, and it may help with tummy time. 

When babies are about three months, they start to see primary colors, and only in their 4-5 months can they differentiate colors. 

Infants are not yet fully independent, so tummy time can still play a significant role in helping babies' physical development. To support and encourage advanced tummy time, among the few baby essentials that can effectively help is Monty Playgym, made of excellently polished sustainable wood, created and assembled with your baby's comfort and safety in mind. The dangling play items are in bold, vibrant colors to effectively stimulate vision.  

Tummy time will extensively exercise the back muscles and may enhance their ability to crawl. It's a great idea to spread fanciful toys around them that catch their interest. It will encourage them to reach, grab, and attempt to follow.

In addition to that, it will also motivate the babies to exercise their hands and improve their fingers. Another creative tummy time play object option is Monty Spinning Rainbow, wherein babies would be tempted to do so as it spins. 

In doing so, babies are then able to hear a sound. 

Rattles don't only stimulate a baby's senses; they also encourage movement.

Because sound is a vital supplement for a baby's development, rattles can encourage babies to exercise and develop their gross motor skills, such as holding or shaking them. 

Moreover, these play items don't just offer substantial benefits on muscular development, but they also enhance babies' understanding of some cognitive concepts. One is cause-and-effect, as infants learn that when they put the rattle in motion, the action creates a sound. 

The best examples are Monty Bell Rattle, Monty Wooden Cub Rattle, and Monty All-Natural Bunny Rattle. All these rattles overdeliver and offer more stimulation than their standard counterparts. 

Other beneficial play items for infants

Other ideal toys that can promote the infants' holistic development would be playmats since infants will start to attempt to move from one place to another at this point. Playmats should be colorful to capture interest and enthusiasm better. 

As said earlier, babies would be able to grasp and hold objects with so much more efficiency, and it would be great to provide toys that are neither too large and heavy nor small enough to pose choking hazards and jeopardize your babies' safety. 

At about three months of age, their grasp reflex will start to be more noticeable, where they can handle objects and pass them to the other hand. Monty Hand-to-Hand Disc is a good, safe, and reliable wooden interlocking disc that will promote the development of bilateral movements that can keep their focus and enhance their attention span.  

Age 6-12 months - Infant Jumper Learning

In the past six months, babies have started to have independence. During this period, the baby will begin to sit and stand with support, like holding onto a bar. This is the perfect time to introduce a baby jumper that will facilitate a baby's sitting and bouncing movements, which will evenutally help the baby to gain and enjoy independence. Our signature, 100% organically made and aesthetically pleasing wooden baby jumper, The Rue, is by far the best baby jumper around.  

Introducing an infant jumper to your baby's playtime can be a transformative experience in their learning journey, particularly for babies between the ages of 6 and 12 months. At this crucial stage of development, an infant jumper not only provides a source of fun and entertainment but also plays a significant role in enhancing their physical and cognitive skills. Engaging with a jumper encourages infants to use their leg muscles, which is essential for building strength and coordination – foundational elements necessary for crawling and eventually walking. Additionally, the repetitive motion of bouncing in a jumper aids in developing rhythm and body awareness. For cognitive development, The Rue comes equipped with interactive toys that stimulate the senses, promote problem-solving skills, and enhance hand-eye coordination. By integrating an infant jumper into your baby's routine, you're not just providing them with a playful activity, but you're also contributing to their overall motor and cognitive development during these formative months.

In their 7th month, they can have different activities to encourage them to stand, practice, move and improve their balance. 

The Monty Organic Cotton Play Tunnel promotes physical activities such as crawling and scooting and offers numerous developmental advantages for a developing baby, while remaining gentle on the child's skin.

Not everything has to be toys. 

Don't limit infants at this age to purely toys, as their development through play should also be supplemented by other infant essentials that will foster and promote their optimal development. 

Such essentials include a pull-up bar, such as this easy-install, smooth, and nature-friendly Monty Pull-up Bar that is both stylish and sturdy, keeping your baby safe while enabling him to develop at the most optimal rate while encouraging him to pull himself up, stand up for long, and keep his balance. It will help the child to stand and strengthen the muscles safely. 

Parents must be conscious of their child's cognitive development

Not only parents should concentrate on the physical aspect of their children's development, although this is the most observable. Infants in the latter stage of their infancy will advance their cognitive capabilities, such as having some interest in problem-solving, recognizing and sorting shapes, doing simple puzzles, and stacking items. 

To help parents arrive at a great starting point, here is an object that will best serve their child's developmental interest in the last few months of their infancy. Monty Mirror Blocks is a fantastic toy to exercise your infant's gross motor skills. It creates and encourages an environment where a baby can find relationships to better build with the objects available. 

Development of spatial awareness 

Using this toy, infants will develop their spatial awareness, recognize shapes, and learn how they can be interconnected. They can construct unique structures using their preferred arrangement of these blocks. 

Bolster focus

Between 6 and 9 months, cognitive development can be further stimulated by stacking cups to bolster their focus and train their minds to solve problems. However, it would be okay if, at first, babies were only able to make a little sense of this play item later. 

Initially, babies would spend some time familiarizing themselves with the play item until they figured out how it could make sense. Soon, they can stack these cups together, which will help polish the baby's fingerwork, concentration, and understanding of relationships between shape and size.

The Monty Silicone Stacking Cups, in beautiful and stylish pastel colors, is a safe and reliable toy free from toxic chemicals. Parents can rest assured that their baby is in good hands with it. By prioritizing a child's amusement and safety, they can be confident that their baby's health is never compromised. 

The pincer grasp, shape recognition, and problem-solving skills 

Among the milestones infants will have at this point is using his thumb and index finger to pick up small objects. The motion is called pincer grasp, which typically develops when babies are about in their 9th month. It is also known as a pincer grip. 

Another great idea that parents will want to take advantage of and an essential that can help make the most out of their child's development is the Monty Sliding Top Box Set, a box with an upper lid that the baby can slide. 

When the lid is slid, an object will be revealed that the baby can fit through the hole that has the same shape as the object displayed inside the box. 

It exercises the pincer grasp and promotes and supports other fine motor skills as the baby works his intricate muscles in sliding the lid on and off, strengthening hand and finger muscles, and promoting eye-hand coordination. It also enhances the baby's ability to recognize shapes. 

Monty Toys - A Revolution in Child's Play

As parents, we naturally seek the best for our little ones. We understand, consciously or intuitively, that the first 5 years of our child's life will shape the structure of their brain for the rest of their life.

Monty Toys isn't just another toy store.

Our toys are a testament to the importance of our childen's early years.

Monty Toys are designed and curated by our child developmental experts to nurture your child's innate curiosity, fostering independence, critical thinking, and respect for oneself, others, and their surroundings.

By providing strategic toys and materials tailored to your child's developmental stage, we allow children and parents to become active agents in their own education and development.

Every product from Monty Toys comes with a tailored 1-page informational document, ensuring parents grasp the educational essence and purpose of each toy. This guide illuminates the science behind the toy's design and offers insights into enhancing a child's learning experience.

It's not just about play; it's about informed, developmental engagement for both child and parent.

Join us in Learning through Play!