Please tell me that babies don't need noisemakers to thrive...

[YHannahh]

We just had our baby shower last weekend. I registered for the most basic of the basics, such as onesies and blankets and towels. I'm kind of a minimalist in my own life. I don't like spending money on tons of stuff that will be used once and forgotten. I don't like distraction and we probably won't let our children watch much TV.

BUT we received several light up, noisemaking, vibrating toys. Do babies need this sort of thing??? Will our baby just scream without this sort of stimulation? Babies don't need this kind of stimulation to learn, right? Babies survived for thousands of years without this stuff, right?

I was sort of hoping that the attachment parenting approach to holding and cuddling and breastfeeding and talking to the baby would be enough. Am I dreaming to think this? Will I be thankful in a few weeks that we have these darned noisemakers??

[Momma2DoubleCuties]

No no no. Kids don't need all the excess stuff. My boys favorite things, sticks and dirt and rocks. Totally unnecessary!

[mamakaikai]

NO! I can't stand that stuff either. If you have gift receipts, I would exchange them for something more useful. Or sell them at a consignment shop or kijiji or something.

I don't like having lots of extra stuff either, and I really do think babies are happy to just be involved in their world. It always feels weird to me to see babies with flat heads from sitting in a vibrating chair/car seat/ bouncer etc and seeing most of their interactions be with noisy toys. They need people!! Not gadgets! rant over.

[KatWozBlue]

I don't mind them, they never used them when they were really little, but around age 1 or so, it was just a part of the different textures and noises they were exposed to and my daughter used to absolutely crack up hysterically at some round cat thing that bounced around. It was fine, not something that is going to ruin a child or take away from bonding.

[SpuglyRoo]

You do NOT need it. Ugh, and it will drive you crazy if your little one likes it (or at least it would drive ME crazy). We told all the grandparents, aunts and uncles that we don't want any toys that light up, sing and dance, etc. I believe it impairs their own creativity (no evidence, just opinion) to have toys that do it all for them. My nephew (who I nanny for) has a firetruck that if you push the button on the driver seat it makes either a firetruck sound (borderline acceptable since it is actually the proper sound for the object- but still annoying and unneccessary) or it sings a song. He doesn't push the car around like it was intended (and he is old enough to), instead he sits there pushing the darn button over and over again until I now just put the truck in the closet when I get there along with all the other irritating noisy toys.

I have three personal exceptions for my DS who is almost 2. The first was a little einsteins musical toy that if you pushed the button it played a clip of classical music and the notes on the front glowed different colors, and he only ever got it in the car at night when he was hysterical because it would totally mesmerize him. The second is a hand me down toy from one of my siblings that is basically a dashboard to a car and it makes car sounds-again, only used in the car. And the third was a kiddie cell phone that beeps, rings, and says hello and goodbye (no songs and such). And that was because his Nana gave it to him forgetting my request and he loved being able to talk on the phone like Mommy and Daddy. All his other toys require his own power/imagination/etc. to be interesting. And yeah, he likes sticks and rocks and dirt.

If you have gift receipts exchange them for something you really think you'll use or need. Or there is always re-gifting for a non-like minded parent friend.

[J. Jones]

I was antagonistic to this kind of toy too - until I saw how happy it made my son. It's so cute to see them surprised or delight by little squeaks or buzzes. Especially if it could take the edge off a hot car ride or a fussy diaper change. Just a little something to add to the toolkit, but a analog bell or rattle works a lot of the time too.

[Oliver'sMom]

they're totally unneccessary for a baby, but once he/she is a toddler they may come in handy while out and about and needing a quick distraction or something.

That said, if it totally annoyed me and I thought it was silly, I'd get rid of it right away.

[ArtsyHeartsy]

Yeah, those things are annoying. I have a no battery rule. I kind of make it known so people don't buy too much of that stuff and then a few slip through and I can handle that. Some of the leapfrog stuff is pretty cute and has less obnoxious sounds. Or rattle type stuff, but it's the loud and obnoxious electronic sounds that make no sense that bug me.

I also believe that too much of this limits creativity and play. I actually know a kid who cannot entertain himself at 4 without an electronic toy...whether it's a laptop, an iphone or a leapfrog toy. It's just too much and I think it has conditioned him to expect everything to happen now, now, now!

[J. Jones]

>^ no battery rule ^

[ammiga]

My dd has all natural toys, and always has. She is now 2.5, has nothing that lights up or makes noise, and until recently, had no plastic toys. Now she has quite a few Playmobile toys and dollhouses and things like that, but nothing plastic was in her hands until she was old enough to never put it in her mouth. She has an incredible imagination and knows how to make toys interesting. She doesn't just sit and stare at toys while they do all the work and creativity. She is an active part of all her entertainment.

She had toys that squeaked and rattled (Sophie the Giraffe, other fun rattles), and those entertained her just fine. No need for the batteries to be the ones doing all the work! But, my dd has still never watched tv, so I'm sure we're a bit more "extreme" than most parents.

[MJB]

We had no plastic toys until my boys were 6 and 3 and we gave in on Legos and Schleich animals. They still don't have any battery operated stuff unless you count the Wii remotes.

[welsh]

As an infant DS hated the car. It was stressful for us both so I did buy one soft, squeaky thing that distracted him.

Now he's almost 3 and my ILs bought quite a few plastic, battery-operated toys from Goodwill to keep at their house. DS's reaction to them drives me nuts!
Put him in the garden or in front of some lego, train track or animal figures and his imagination goes to town.
Give him something irritating and noisy and he just presses the buttons over and over and doesn't even play 'properly' with the things.

Last night I asked FIL, please no more noisy toys and he has agreed. Phew.

Ditto on the sticks and dirt!!

[beckyand3littlemonsters]

no they don't need them imo i have used them in the past but found that more often than not they became over stimulated by them and would scream until the annoying thing was turned off, besides babies much prefer mummy to sing to them while snuggling than some out of tune music from a mobile jmo.

[slgt]

We don't do battery toys because they inevitably lead to the hassle of the kid demanding new batteries, or us feeling like we have to remember to buy batteries for the Thing whatever it is. And because we just don't like noisemakers. That said, I think one or two have found their way into our house, but I'm not even sure what they are, that's howl little use they get!

When DD was an infant, we used a bouncy chair but without the vibration - that creeped us both out. And we do have a swing for this one - DD hated it so we never used it. Some kids love the swing, sleep in it, etc.

I say - not necessary, and you can always ignore the batteries!

[welsh]

We did have this bouncy seat for DS which was what I put him in when I needed to shower or pee! No batteries required.
http://www.babyswede.com/product_sitterbalance.html

[leanbh]

Originally Posted by YHannahh

We just had our baby shower last weekend. I registered for the most basic of the basics, such as onesies and blankets and towels. I'm kind of a minimalist in my own life. I don't like spending money on tons of stuff that will be used once and forgotten. I don't like distraction and we probably won't let our children watch much TV.

BUT we received several light up, noisemaking, vibrating toys. Do babies need this sort of thing??? Will our baby just scream without this sort of stimulation? Babies don't need this kind of stimulation to learn, right? Babies survived for thousands of years without this stuff, right?

I was sort of hoping that the attachment parenting approach to holding and cuddling and breastfeeding and talking to the baby would be enough. Am I dreaming to think this? Will I be thankful in a few weeks that we have these darned noisemakers??

nope, don't need that stuff at all.
if there are no gift receipts, walmart takes returns without receipts. we had a few things from our baby shower that had to be 'taken care of', and we just returned them to walmart and bought some clothes we needed.

[craft_media_hero]

NO no no no no. Take it back to the store.

I can't stand those kind of baby toys, grrr! It drives me crazy. Babies don't even NEED toys til around a year, then they'll be happy with a small box of interesting objects. A six or seven month old will be happy for a long time just holding and mouthing a big smooth sea shell or an interestingly textured piece of fabric. Before that age, they don't really need 'play' objects, IMO.

I'm going to try and go NO PLASTIC as much as possible with this baby. We were light/sound/battery toy free with dd just coz that stuff overstimulated ME (and I'm sure her as well) and I didn't like it. But she did have a lot of plastic stuff. We're going to try and really intentionally minimize toys this time around and stick with as much natural materials as possible.

[welsh]

Originally Posted by craft_media_hero

We were light/sound/battery toy free with dd just coz that stuff overstimulated ME (and I'm sure her as well) and I didn't like it. .

I'm so glad you said this.
I hadn't realised it until now but this is my problem too.
The irritating noises and flashing lights make me anxious and feel like I want to crawl out of my skin.

[Sophiasmomma]

WE ALWAYS HAD A FEW FAVORITES of those lighted/noisy toys for each child however once we had too many if someone doesnt give us a gift reciept (which happens often) then I add them to a box of "regiftable/church box of toys.

but they def arent nessesary to raising your little one