What do you gift a newborn?
The first choice for many would be a plush toy, something baby can cuddle with while sleeping. But what about choosing a rattle? The humble rattle gets overlooked in the sea of noisy, colourful, plushie toys. These seemingly simple toys have been a staple in nurseries for generations and a good rattle does a lot more than just amuse the baby.
Also read: A guide to buying the best toys for babies
Rattles come in many shapes and sizes but every good rattle helps baby hone those crucial early skills. Let's take a deeper look at why rattles may just be the most important toys for your newborn.
Rattles to get attention
Babies love looking at the world around them and soaking it all in. When you try to bond with your baby use the gentle sounds of a rattle to get their attention. Engage their auditory sense and watch them turn towards you. A newborn's colour perception is limited to black, white and grey for a while, and shumee's High Contrast Crochet and Wooden Rattles are perfect for that period.
Rattles to teach cause and effect
Since a baby can easily grasp a rattle and shake it to elicit the soothing sounds, rattles become the first toys for baby to understand they can control and manipulate their environment.
Rattles for hand-eye coordination
When you gently shake a rattle in front of a baby, they will start reaching for it and then slowly begin to successfully grasp it with precision.
Also read: 5 ways to play with your baby
Rattles for sensory stimulation
Rattles come in many shapes and colours. So a good rattle will stimulate a child visually with its patterns and colours. Gentle, soothing sound will stimulate their hearing and even calm them. Interesting textures like crochet weaves stimulate and engage baby's sense of touch. Like shumee's Wooden Organic Crochet Shaker that has interesting crochet weave to stimulate baby's senses. Or the Crochet Sensory Cube with Rattle which has six sides of unique textures and a gentle rattle.
Rattles to hone fine-motor skills
Holding onto a pencil or even holding a mug might be second nature for us but a baby needs to learn that skill. Rattles help babies strengthen fine motor skills and practice their grasp reflex as they curl their fingers around rattles and learn to manipulate them.
Rattles encourage independent play
Rattles are a very handy tool for when you want to keep your baby engaged especially during diaper changes or during travel. Rattles encourage baby to explore independently and piques their curiosity to keep them playing longer. Like shumee's Wooden Penguin Rattle toy that encourages baby to move the rattle from side to side so that they can get the colourful rings to move, keeping them engaged at play for long!
Rattles to soothe sore gums
Babies explore with their senses and putting everything in their mouth is their way of getting to know the environment. They tend to do this more often when they are teething so make sure to get rattles that are safe to chew on. Wooden rattles like shumee's Ele Rattle and Wooden Crochet Teether and Rattle Ring are made of 100% child-safe, non-toxic material so so it is absolutely safe for baby to mouth on it while they are teething. The neem wood helps soothe sore gums too.
Also read: Teethers for babies, the best kind to buy
With so many benefits, it is no wonder that rattles are some of the most important toys you can buy for your newborn! Add to that, they are portable and easy to carry along so you can keep baby engaged while travelling or on-the-go!