It’s hard to know what ‘equipment’ for entertainment & child development purposes is worthwhile investing in…Here are a few oldies but goodies 🙂

Bouncy Chairs / Vibrating Chairs

Worthwhile getting one. Most kids love them & most parents love them because the kids enjoy being in them & parents can get a few things done while keeping a close watch on the little one. Many prefer the “bouncy” seats. We opted for the Fisher Price “rocking” chair/vibrating chair because it goes infant to toddler (it’s a rocking chair for a toddler but an infant seat for a baby.) The bouncy ones are not as sturdy and the babies grow out of them quite quickly (they get too big to ‘bounce’!). All of these seats easily double as feeding seats, if you want them to.

TWINS OR MORE: Worthwhile getting 1 for each child. Note that these are frequently on sale & can be a great gift from someone who asks you what you need for the baby.

Baby Einstein Videos
Highly recommend the Baby Einstein collection. The original ones are Baby Mozart & Baby Bach but they are all fantastic.

Also: we always had a portable CD player with a few kids CDs in the room. We made putting on the same lullaby CD every night part of the bedtime routine. It worked beautifully. That was before 2010…Today you may prefer an ipod & a docking station with speakers…

TWINS OR MORE: Here’s one place where they can easily share!

Toys

• play mats with arches. Tiny Love “Gymini”, as an example The kids love them & they make a great place for tummy time.
• a mobile
• a “Sleep Sheep”
  • An adorable plush sheep that offers a selection of soothing sounds to help baby to sleep: another’s heartbeat, spring showers, ocean waves and whale songs.
  • Various animals are available (Gentle Giraffe & Dozy Dolphin, as a few examples)
  • It can attach to the crib so that it is not acually “in” the crib.
  • Made by Cloud B, makers of the Twilight Turtle and the entire Twilight collection.
  • An “on the go” version is available, so that if this is your baby’s “comfort toy”, you can have a smaller, easier-to-transport version for the car seat or stroller!
• a toy bar that attaches to infant car seats , swing, high chair, is versatile & fun This was the one toy we brought everywhere with our kids- it provided some entertainment as well as comfort (familiar object) when we were out. We didn’t really take anything else. Remember that for babies everything around them is so new that everything entertains them, you don’t need a bag full of toys when you leave the house!

TWINS OR MORE
1 playmat per child is a good idea, though not completely necessary.
1 mobile per child if in separate cribs
1 toybar per child is a good idea

Ultrasaucer (or other “activity center”)

This is the activity center where the child sit/stands in the middle & can turn around and play with the different toy attachments. The kids love it. Depending on the child, they can start to use it between 4-6 months. Also, a safe distraction while Mom or Dad are cooking, tidying, up etc. so long as they keep an eye on junior while doing so!

TWINS OR MORE: it is not necessary to have more than one of these. While one plays in the activity center, the other can be on the play-mat or in the swing or bouncy chair. This takes up a lot of space & you don’t need to have more than one!

Have fun 😉

Tanya