Cot Toys, are they worth the money?

andycarmi

Are baby cot toys including mobiles worth the money?

I m undecided whether toys in the cot is a good idea in the fact that bedtime should be fun...

or whether bed times should not be a time for over stimulating baby with toys...

I enjoy sharing a book with DD (4months) before bed but finding it hard to get her to settle at night to sleep.

So do you think there any good? Could you recommend one?

immoral_angeluk

My little girl has a cot piano thing in her cot which ran out of batteries months ago. She did enjoy it though but was always turning it on by herself and it got seriously irritating in the end! lol!
She now has just a Po cuddly toy and a fluffy bunny in with her at bed time although the cot piano is still tied to the bars so she can look at it if she wants lol.

jellyhead

i never understood mobiles to be honest. i suppose the idea is switch it on then leave the room but i have never met a child who would just go to sleep when the music stopped.

my babe has 2 cuddly toys in his cot and there are some more tiny ones and a small book in little pockets in a fab caterpillar thing that was handmade (not by me!). he seems to understand that the pockets are only to be emptied when he wakes up in daylight but i don't suppose they serve any purpose. he takes them out and shows them to us in the morning, i suppose he could live without them. there's a mobile on the ceiling, the kid that hangs there, not a music and flashing lights thing - he likes that.

Spendless

Never had a mobile, but did have a few toys that you attached to the cot (they were all given to me though-can you still buy such a thing ). TBH they were helpful when baby was older, and would play with them for a little while in morning-before yelling to get up:D , or would play with them, if they were put down for an afternoon nap, but didn't really want to go to sleep.

Jazzy_B

I wouldn't have considered buying any cot toys new. Check out boot sales and charity shops.You can clean up plastic toys really easily, and my two liked things with mirrors and rattles on them which went against the side of the cot.They were also happy with a belt tied round the top of the cot bars, with different shaped objects tied on. I would change the things frequently.Adults found it hysterical that I would tie on bright bags, cotton reels, xmas decs, kitchen utensils and the like.
Save your money now while you can get away with it!

furby-2003

i made the cot a place for sleeping only and he realised that when he was in the cot it was quiet and it was sleep time and not play time. It worked for me! and i had no restless nights apart from his normal feed-time. when they have play things in the cot sometimes so i was told they find it harder to go to sleep because they can't understand its bedtime. I didn't even have a mobile, but maybe i was lucky with mine!

oh and my nephew made a step out of his and climed out so I don't like any toys in the cot!.

Mics_chick

The only cot toy my 2 had was a Winnie the Pooh thing that played music and had a light that gradually dimmed - it played for a good 10 minutes so when they were quite young was good for getting them to sleep but they did grow out of it at about 9mo. I purposefully didn't put anything in with my dd when she slept cos I didn't want tantrums if we forgot to take a certain toy, especially to in-laws (3hr drive away!!) But she did eventually like taking Dipsy to bed with her. With my ds I was more relaxed and he latched on to a Noddy cuddly toy that I bought from a charity shop cos he liked the bell in his hat. I think bed-time should be for sleep but it's good to put something within reach so they can play contently for a while after they wake up.

*Louise*

I had a musical mobile for DS2 when he was little, but it was just annoying.

Now he has a star thing on a nearby shelf which plays for 10 mins and shines pictures onto the ceiling, which really settles him

he also has a teddy and cuddly Pocoyo which have to be in bed with him...he also won't get out the cot unless he has one cuddled under each arm...but they get flung away as soon as he gets to the living room so he can scramble into his high chair for brekkie.:D

gravitytolls

I quite like the starry, lullaby type things, but I'm not a fan of cot toys. I kind of think that they simply encourage babies to play, rather than sleep, when in bed. I'm referring to the things that hang from cot sides.

Janepig

I agree with most of the above - cot is for sleeping not playing. However, before I found this out my dad bought us a mobile for DD, mainly because it plays "you are my sunshine" which dad used to sing to me at bedtime as a child. It's stayed attached to the cot through DD's useage and now DS but it never gets played. However, soft toys I think are okay, DD now takes the soft toys that were in her cot to bed with her, and DS has one or two soft toys in with him. It doesn't seem to stop either of them sleeping.

Jxx

jellyhead

woo likes to stroke something while he sleeps - either the arm or breast of a parent, or the floppy ears of a knitted rabbit. having the rabbit on his cot doesn't interfere with his sleeping. i think one of those mobiles with lots of dangly things and music would encourage him to play though.