Buying Guide
The Only Toys My Baby Actually Played With From 0-6 Months (And The Ones That Collected Dust)
I spent $600 on "educational" toys before my daughter turned six months old. She played with the wipe packet. Here's what I'd buy — and skip — now.
Before my daughter was born, I read every "best toys" list I could find. I had a whole Amazon cart of Montessori-approved wooden things, black-and-white contrast cards, and sensory stuff with names I couldn't pronounce. I spent close to $600 on toys in her first six months. And six months and one very opinionated baby later, I am here to tell you what actually happened.
Her favorite "toy" was the baby wipe packet. The pink one, specifically. She would clutch it, crinkle it, try to eat it, and absolutely refuse the $45 wooden rattle I'd bought her. I spent a week lying to myself that she "wasn't ready" for the expensive stuff before I accepted the truth: babies are cheap to entertain. But a few toys genuinely earned their place, and I'd buy every one of them again.
Lovevery Play Gym
This is the big one, at $140, and it's the only expensive toy I don't regret. The Lovevery play gym has a gorgeous wooden frame, the play mats swap out as she hits new milestones, and the mirror did more for tummy time than I ever did. She'd stare at herself for ten full minutes — which is a lifetime in baby minutes. If you're buying one splurge item, make it this. I've also seen them for around $100 on secondhand sites, and the resale value holds.
Manhattan Toy Winkel
$14, and it's just a rattle-shaped maze of tubes. But it's the right size for tiny hands, easy to grab, and it survived being thrown from a high chair approximately 4,000 times. The Winkel was our "car seat savior" — the one toy that stopped the screaming in traffic. Buy two. I'm serious. One will be lost in the couch forever.
Baby Einstein Sea Dreams Soother
Not technically a toy, but my daughter treated it like one. The aquarium lights plus music combo on the Sea Dreams soother was the only thing that calmed her witching-hour meltdowns for months. It's $35, and it's one of those purchases where you think "that's a lot for a plastic fish tank" and then it saves your sanity every single evening for five months straight.
Fisher-Price Kick'n Play Piano
This $40 Kick'n Play piano got more play time than anything in the house, including the wipe packet (she's older now, the wipe packet is beneath her). She'd lie on her back and kick the keys for twenty minutes while the lights flashed, and later it doubled as tummy-time entertainment. It's also loud, so hide it if you have guests. Actually, hide it anyway. You'll miss the silence.
Oball Classic Rattle
$5. FIVE DOLLARS. The Oball is basically a skeleton — all holes — which means it's the only ball a 4-month-old can actually grip. It's also impossible to choke on and survives being gummed to death. I bought it as a filler item to hit the free-shipping minimum and it became a daily favorite. Best $5 I spent all year.
Lamaze Freddie the Firefly
The clip-on ring is the genius part — it attaches to the car seat, the stroller, the play gym. The Lamaze Freddie the Firefly has crinkly wings and little legs for her to explore, and it's the only teething-style toy she actually chewed. Note: I tried ten "teether toys" and she preferred my fingers, a remote, and once my car key. Freddie was the only actual toy that made the cut. $14.
The Ones That Collected Dust (So You Can Skip Them)
The wooden rattle. The sensory cards (she preferred staring at the ceiling fan). The plush activity mat with the arch — a gorgeous gift from my aunt that she treated like a hazard. And the "baby gym bar" thing. I'm not naming brands on these, but if you're new here: buy less, buy simple, and wait to see what your baby actually likes before you go wild.
My Actual Advice
Start with three things: a Winkel, an Oball, and the Sea Dreams soother. That's about $55 total. Add the Lovevery gym later if you have the budget. Your baby does not care about your Instagram-ready toy shelf. She cares about the wipe packet. Trust me.
🛒 Where to buy: All six of my daughter's actual favorites — the Lovevery play gym, Winkel rattle, Sea Dreams soother, Kick'n Play piano, Oball, and Freddie the Firefly — are on Amazon via the links above, and most ship with Prime.