Baby Days... Baby Toys 6-12mths

I love all the baby stages but I love seeing their character develop.  From 6 months plus their little personalities start to bud, the world of weaning and more interesting toys and gadgets open up.  These are some of my favourite toys...

6months

Stacking Cups - The best toy and one of the cheapest.  Babies have lots of fun stacking and chewing these cups.  They also make great bath toys and children enjoy pouring water from one cup to another so can be used outside in a water table for a toddler.  These are a great buy.  You can buy them in bright colours with different textures and holes in.

Teethers - Babies are grabbing and holding, so any interesting and sensory shapes are great for them to chew on. The 'in' teether of the moment is Sophie the Giraffe This is a very cute, soft, rubber giraffe that squeaks.  The shape is great for getting into all the corners of babies mouth for a good chew.  However it is really expensive (around £12) and to be honest, I can't help thinking its a glorified dog toy. We do have one and L loves it, but he loves most of his toys.  If you have the money for a fancy toy, then buy it, but its not essential and at the end of the day it gets covered in slobber and thrown across the room with everything else.

Activity Cubes - Each side has different activities to touch and move in different directions.  I like this because when they just start sitting they want toys that won't just roll away or can be easily thrown away. Or I prefer not constantly picking up toys and giving them back. This keeps them amused from about 6-12months.

Baby walkers/Bouncers - As my babies are quite big, they have fit comfortably in a baby walker from 4 months.  They also had good back and head control.  I like these as it keeps baby entertained and gives them a different outlook.  I have chosen the station type as we did not have a lot of room for our children to be whizzing around everywhere.  I also found them safer with toddlers and other children to consider.  I like the hanging from the door bouncers but my boys are like little tanks and found it really hard getting them in and out of them.  Also being small in height, its not easy to unclip from the door frame when not in use.

9 months

By 8 months most babies I have known are sitting or moving so the playmat and arches are no longer needed.  Moving toys are great for encouraging our babies to start moving along. 
Balls. My children have been fans of balls.  All shapes and sizes, they just love them. They enjoy watching them roll around and chewing on them.

Click Clack Caterpillar or click clack cars are great.  They really enjoy watching cars/eggs moving along slowly by themselves.  I have the Caterpillar and my only fault with it, is that its not sturdy and comes apart easily.  It has lasted 4 boys though. 

They still enjoy rattles and music shakers, and still like to chew everything.

Ball popper, this keeps not only my baby entertained but also my older children.  It fascinates them.  Although the tune can be irritating after a while, it is a great buy as it lasts through the ages.

Buttons. The fascination with buttons now begins.  Any toys with buttons that makes noises have been a success at this age with my children.  Whether its a little phone, key fob or the larger play table type, they just love to press them.
Pop up toys.  My children really love closing down the pops on this.  As they get older they learn to open it up but they are fascinated seeing the toy disappear and then re-appear - plus you can get non musical so you can give yourself a break from nursery rhyme tunes.

When baby reaches 1 and toddlerhood begins, a whole new world of educational and more interesting gender specific toys open up. There are lots of toy libraries and groups where you can 'try out' different toys to see what is worth investing in.  I will do more toy reviews as and when on the blog but these are a few of our well played baby toys.