My personal thoughts on modern toys for babies and toddlers...

There are two ways of looking at this subject. First off I can understand the purpose for modern toys with all there busyness, and colours and lights and sounds, this does stimulate babies to interact with the toys, and yes it can be educational and it prepares our babies for this overly technical world we live in today. However I have a stronger belief in the "old way", I think we are losing our roots and along with them the things that were once thought to be important values. When a child is given a simple toy to play with, say a wooden train with some very primary colours, and this toy makes no noise and does not operate on batteries, you will find that the child will surprisingly be very entertained. It is not only from the toy its self, it is that child’s own imagination that is entertaining him. I really believe a child who is given only basic toys, will develop a much stronger creativity and imagination as well as many other "values". These children are less likely to become bored if they are not being over stimulated, they will be more likely to create something to do with themselves when they are bored and less likely to sit in front of the television, computer or video games, they will pay closer attention to detail, they will focus better, listen better, learn better, and will be able to handle being alone with their thoughts as an adult. I watch the new generations having a very hard time doing this, they have always got to be busy, being with someone or being stimulated by some outside source as apposed to being inspired by themselves and their thoughts. So my personal opinion would be to cut back the busy, modern "educational" toys and get your child some good old fashioned wooden toys, allow them to discover their education and their world rather then having it drilled into them by a mechanical voice that miraculously comes from a plastic box with lights and colours and strange images all over it and tells you a cartoon picture of some funny looking thing is a pig and makes the sound "oink". Please! this is far too much stimulation for a little child so new to a world that's already so full of so many things. And to learn all those text book things that the modern toys are teaching kids, try these few simple things, sing your child the alphabet yourself, point out that pig in a story book or at a local farm, make that "oinking" sound yourself when you point it out, I bet you’ll get a giggle from them, it’s fun and they’re learning. Children need to interact with their world (not just toys) and it doesn’t take much for us to help them do that.

A brand of toys that I absolutely love is "Melissa & Doug" they make all wooden toys for babies and toddlers, they are wonderful fun, entertaining and educational and best of all the kids love them.

Wonderbrains offers a wide selection of Melissa & Doug toys and many other great brands.

How Babies Learn

Prior to the twentieth century, most people thought babies were passive observers of their world, with no choice and no desire but to sit around and wait for things to happen to them. As philosopher and psychologist William James described, it, the world of the newborn was thought to be a whirring buzz of confusion. No one thought babies had any way of dealing with this tumult, and certainly no way of making sense of it. Due to advances of many areas of study, we now know that the opposite is true. Babies are active participants in their world - experimenting with it, learning how things work in it and creating their own interpretation of it. We also know that babies come into the world with a surprising capacity to make sense of what they see, hear and touch; they're prepared to expect certain things in their environment, such as the face of a loving dad or the voice of an adoring mom. In other words, babies are born to learn.

All this exploration and experimentation adds up to learning, that not-so-gradual process where your baby takes in information from his experiences and turns it into a meaningful sense of reality. It's a magical time. Your baby begins his first year responding to the world through reflex actions, and ends it making conscious decisions about how to react. He move from recognizing almost nothing he sees to having an understanding of much of what is going on around him. Best of all, he progresses from making faces because he is hungry, to smiling at you because he has learned that you will make him feel good.
Sarah Kennedy, Parent Educator - Genius Babies consultant, Genius Babies Inc.
http://www.GeniusBabies.com Baby Books for Babies and Toddlers: http://www.geniusbabies.com/books.html
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sarah_Kennedy

Children and soothers

I can completely relate to a parent who chooses to give their baby a soother because it can be a real comfort for them, especially if they are a baby who could nurse all day long, or they are exceptionally fussy. It is said though that a baby should not be given a soother for at least the first week and until breastfeeding has been well established because it can cause "nipple confusion" . I would also recommend and have read it as well, that the soother be taken away before the baby reaches six months of age. After six months it will prove to be a more and more difficult task the older they get, and you will likely find yourself (like many parents) wondering if there will ever come a day when they will just let it go on their own because they are so attached you couldn't imagine taking it from them, either for their own emotional well being or for yours. I also would say just from my own observations of toddlers who still have their soothers that it appears to delay their speech as well as enabling them to stay somewhat reserved in social situations. And we have all heard of the damage it can cause to a childs tooth development. Also I have read of an increase in middle ear infections being noticed in children with the prolonged use of soothers because of the constant sucking motion. Ultimately I think that before six months will keep your baby safe and healthy and save you a much bigger battle down the road. A soother only really needs to be used for soothing a baby nothing else. A tip for helping an older child to relinquish their soother without too much distress would be to take it slow and begin setting times or activities when they will not use it, once they have for the most part accepted "that" time as being "soother free" and no longer make a fuss about it, move on to another time or activity. Sometimes a little incentive or distraction works well in these situations just be sure that what you are using for these will not become problems in themselves later on. some ideas could be to come up with a new activity all together something they have never done before so doing it without their soother may be easier as it is all together new to them, something such as helping mom to bake cookies (one of my daughters favorite activities) or set up a new project they have never tried before. 101 ways to entertain toddlers! The internet is the best resource. Research activities for kids.
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My three favourite tips

The following three tips or advice are things I have either been told or have discovered on my own that have worked amazingly well:

1. trying to instill a routine or break a bad habit or just make a change or teach your baby something? Put it into practice for 7 days with absolute consistency and you will see results! This was my all time favourite piece of advice, received from my mother a little later then I would have liked after my first child was born. Having this "7 days to salvation" (as I liked to call it) as a focus when dealing with a difficult situation was a life saver, it took the hopelessness out of every situation and gave me the encouragement that what I was doing would show success if I just stuck to it. This has worked so well for me with both of my children. The key is BE CONSISTENT! Give in even once and your in for a set back!

2. As difficult as it is sometimes staying calm and relaxed makes a huge difference in a baby or child’s mood or behaviour. When your temper is flaring, even only on the inside children pick up on this. A baby will likely be cranky or fussy, and a child will act out or defy you. Call me coo coo but you have to try this, the next time you feel like you are getting irritable and frustrated with your child turn away for a moment or however long you need and do the following: Take a deep breath when you exhale imagine the tension leaving you with that breath. Fill yourself with as much love as you can muster for your child, and turn back to approach the situation with this new found calm (and maintain this for the entire process or interaction with the child) imagine until you think you can physically feel it: That your body is radiating about a foot or two in front of you (or however close your child is to you) imaginary vibrations filled with love. Try this and I would put my money on it that the situation just resolved itself with about an eighth of the energy and time it would have taken had you not done it.

3. Patience is key. When you are dealing with children something that can be very frustrating is how long it takes for them to do things like for instance how long it takes your daughter to eat her dinner or how long it takes for the baby to get to sleep, when oh there are so many things you could or should or need to be doing. But when your feeling anxious or wanting to rush things just like the preceding hint- even if it's only inside, your kids will pick up on it. Feeling rushed when putting baby to bed is likely to make it take twice as long, picking up on your anxiety which you are radiating without even knowing it, he is probably going to be unsettled and reluctant to give into his sleepiness. Again take a moment like you did above and just say to yourself(and believe it) that there is nothing that has to be done now that is more important then these moments with your children no matter how long they are lasting. Before you know it the baby will be asleep and your daughter will have finished her dinner.

This is a must have audio sleep program for parents of young babies. It is highly recomended and stands true to it's claim that in 35 minutes you'll know how to get your baby to sleep through the night. So trusted it comes guaranteed or your money back The baby sleep solution!
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