Best products from r/IFParents

Wtf? That is so wrong in my point of view. You're so generous to even offer to go ever, especially with the lack of boundaries. I think I would catch myself being resentful of those toys and unwilling to even offer them to my babies. :/

Toys are so hit and miss, but some things my daughter has loved for the longest time:

Car seat pull toy that jitters
Car seat chime toy

These also easily go hanging from activity mat loops, high chairs in restaurants, etc.

Fisher Price Infant Classic Trio I got this as a gift- my daughter loved knocking over the stacked rings, and is just starting to love emptying the bucket of shapes (she's 9 months). We recently brought out the xylophone and she's curious about it. I like that they are interesting for different developmental stages.

Excersaucer - baby containment and entertainment
Some people don't love things that allow babies to dangle, but it was key for me to have somewhere to put our girl down while I prepped a snack or to keep her off of the floor when I needed free hands (we have curious dogs). She stayed pretty engaged, especially if you are there to keep the play going. She got a little frustrated if she was just dropped off in it without engagement (uh hum, hubby). This would be for babies that are stable with their neck control. We started using them around 5 months.

Doorway jumper I have a little different style than this one, but my friend's baby is a jumping fiend in this one! My girl never was really into jumping, but it kept her engaged enough for me to wash a dish or fold clothes while she swayed around. You need to have door frames with a secure border and it was more stable than I first thought.

Oball toy set I love the Oball toys because they are so easy for early grasping. My favorite was the oball rattle but there was a recent recall on a particular set of production dates. I would probably still buy it again, but just FYI for full disclosure.

Activity balls - roll, shake, twist for a while, before my daughter was more mobile, she was very into things she could practice holding, watch roll by, or listen to me making cool clicking sounds. These were a good match for that.

Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube
Plays songs and flashing lights. My daughter liked it sort of initially, but she's getting to interact with it more now. You can push the different sides to turn on or off parts of the music (ex turn off the flutes section). I find it less annoying than other sound toys and she loved it when she was just starting to sit independently around 6 months.

Current favorite : Vtech sit to stand walker this is a cacauphany of sounds toy, but she loves it so much! She's just pushing buttons so far and you can take the front panel off for floor play before they are ready to reach up for it. Keeps her well engaged for good periods of time over the last few months.

Other stuff:
Mirror to have propped up for tummy time- loved seeing her reflection
Stuff that made crinkle sounds

I know this is too much info but I hope it helps for 1 perspective. :)

We have the KidCraft “vintage” style kitchen. It’s held up to a lot of abuse and G still loves it (he got it at Christmas when he was 13 months). It’s a little taller than some of the other kitchens, which is great for my super tall kid. We do have it anchored to the wall so it can’t tip. My husband got annoyed with the fact that all of the doors except the microwave have latches, so the microwave door wouldn’t stay closed in our super not-level house - he wound up drilling a small hole and using some super strong magnets with epoxy so it has a magnetic latch now. I will note that the kitchen was a huge pain to assemble, but I did it on my own so it would have gone much faster with two people.

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/KidKraft-Vintage-Kitchen-in-Blue/dp/B0040MK48W

I know a few people who have the Ikea play kitchen and love it. It has a slightly smaller footprint than the one we have, in case that’s something you’re looking for. I didn’t want to deal with an Ikea trip and my FIL wanted to buy the kitchen, so it was easiest for us to get one through Amazon. I definitely recommend anchoring whatever you get to the wall so it can’t tip with rough play. We used the same furniture anchoring straps we used for anchoring dressers, etc.

We have a bunch of the Ikea fabric play food - I love that if it gets gross, you can machine wash and air dry it all, but we haven’t had to do that yet.

The only pots and pans/utensils we have are the little skillet and lidded pot set from Green Toys, which comes with a ladle and spatula. They’re the perfect size for the KidCraft kitchen and super durable. We got them when G was at peak throwing phase so they’ve survived a lot of abuse and still look like-new.

Hmmm I don't remember exactly when mine started interacting with toys, but I started with Sophie and she loved to chew on her. She also really likes fabric toys that have plastic parts to chew on. We haven't bought a lot of toys either, but friends have given us fabric toys that can be washed, and boy does my baby like to chew on them. One is something like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Skip-Hop-Bandana-Activity-Elephant/dp/B00LZKC1S8
and there are a ton of things to keep her occupied so she'll sit there and chew on it for a long time. I like this new version because it also has a clip (my older model doesn't) so you can hang it off the car seat. She has a couple plastic "educational" toys but she's not really into those yet. Not even the one that's for 3m+ and she's 6m now. Plus she likes to pick stuff up and put them in her mouth, so I don't feel comfortable giving her the plastic toys that are heavy (bc I tend to hand her a toy and then leave to get something done) but the fabric ones are fine.

I don't know of anything further along than 6 months, but for now these fabric toys are keeping mine occupied and entertained. I have them littered around the house so she has something to play with everywhere.

I think by 4-5 months they may also practice their rolling (mine started maybe around 4.5-5 months) which also keeps them busy.

It's crappy weather today but it's supposed to warm up for the holiday. Thank goodness!

My babies are obsessed with this mobile so I thought I'd share it. It's portable so I can move it to whenever they are and plays music but will also spin quietly. They laugh and coo at it but will also fall asleep just watching it. It's a huge hit in our house.

Tiny Love Take Along Mobile, Animal Friends, Blue https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F1CPBQ0/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_KEekzbBTBN4J9

We just did this last January! Toddler loves this book and I've heard of other kids liking it too. There are barely any words or character development or any story at all, but its like potty training crack for kids.


This was my diaper bag potty seat and this lives in my car for emergencies where there are not toilets around. I've only used it twice, but I was SO HAPPY it was there.


We didn't do pull-ups during the day at all once we'd committed to underwear. I always make sure she goes pee before we leave and I ask her multiple times while we're out if she has to go. If we're out for an extended time, we have an obligatory bathroom trip somewhere in the middle. We do pull-ups at night still, though she is dry about 90% of the time. I'm not sure what we'll do the next time we go on an airplane. I'm going to make that a game time decision.

I got this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01L7C479Y

It's definitely not the super fancy kind, but it's so light! And so far, so good.

The place we're going is called the great wolf lodge, where the water park is only for people who stay at the hotel. I don't think we'd go with just the babies, but the step kids love it, and I think the twins will have fun. I think they have them all over the country.

We went with this one. I picked it mainly because it was big enough for the two of them to easily play on it and looks like it will hopefully last until they're five or six.

Welp, L's vomit yesterday is like some 24 hours off, 24 hours on sort of thing. First one today hit the hardwood floor and then the second was a trail over one of the rugs. I've cleaned it, used enzymatic cleaner and steamed it, but need to let it fully dry to see if I got it all. What's everyone's favorite enzyme cleaner? I'm using this one but maybe someone uses something better.


Also, while running to get more paper towel, which was entirely my fault, I jammed two toes and most likely broke the pinky toe because it's twice as fat and covered in bruising. Basically, my weekend can only improve.

Here's one I've read about on the parent listserv: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00EAHSBV4. There are a few out there, same general concept, and I'll add them if I can remember their names.

Ha here's another for 60 freaking dollars but the reviews are very positive: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00NC10YFA/

Just expect for it to be a months long process. Once I accepted that potty-training wouldn't happen in three days (at least for my kid), the whole ordeal became much more bearable. Also, books. This is B's favorite: https://www.amazon.com/Potty-Sesame-Street-Lift-Flap/dp/038538369X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=p+is+for+potty&qid=1557770203&s=gateway&sr=8-1

Sorry if the formatting is whack!