Toys in Crib

My son, 1, has had toys for a few months (just a few, like a couple blocks, soft books, loveys) and he will sometimes play a few minutes before he goes to sleep or when he wakes up in the morning, giving us a few more minutes of sleep. I have never had any troubles with them interrupting his schedule or anything. I think it is completely up to you!

I would be very careful about what kind of toy you put in there. I would make sure they have one or two soft toys. That's all. Good luck!!!

A Glow Worm is a good choice for this age.

Hi K., I have a 2 year old and he is an amazing little sleeper most of the time. In his crib he only has a crib size blanket to sleep under and his "snuggly". At times he plays with his snuggly and sometimes he is very creative making up stories, which keep my husband and I laughing. I am glad we decided to keep toys out of his bed and for play time only. I hope this pays off when he is in a big boy bed and he realizes that bed time is for sleeping and not playing in his room.

I would put a very small stuffed animal in there with him, maybe an infant book but don't put anything big in there. My son stacked up his animals and used them to climb over the rail and fell out onto the floor! We had to switch to a toddler bed the same week because once he realized he could go over the rail, he would not stop trying to do it again.

General rule is if he can flip over both ways and sit up, he is good to go for toys and small things. Do avoid supper soft things and anything with loose parts or stings he could get a finger wrapped in.

My son, now 2 and 1/2, had no toys in his crib till he was about 10 months~ then it was down hill from there!! He got into blue's clues, so he took every Blue in the house and had to sleep with them too~one was a big pillow, and another one was hard as a rock~didn't matter to him!! He once found a showerhead and decided that was his favorite thing and had to take it to bed too!! He is a bit of a collector, he finds things he finds interesting and then has to have them and take them to bed! The count is now up to 2 Blues, 2 tigers( he took those over), 3 blankets, and the newest is a robot! So I don't know that he "needs" any animals, but it may lead to a habit you don't want!!! I for one, pick my battles and take out whatever i think might hurt him after he is asleep.

I don't see the problem if he has a favorite stuffed animal or something. sometimes it works out good to have a few toys cause then when they wake up they will sit and play for a while which gives you just a little more time to yourself before you have to go and get him.

Hi K. - for a 10 mos old, something in the crib can be a real comfort and can give them something to entertain themselves in the morning. Both of my boys had lovies with them in the crib - sometimes they wanted more than a few. Beanie Babies were great at this age because I wasnt worried about them getting their noses buried in them. Soft books were good too. I also hung up a baby mirror in his crib that had plastic pockets in it where I put in some photographs of mom and dad. We also had a music toy that attached to the crib rail - it had soft lights and played lullabies. He could push a button to make it light up or I could set it to play for a while and then turn off.

We put a few in at this age too. Big Mistake. It totally messed up his pattern. So we removed them... what a drama that was. So, we did his blanket and hung a musical/lighted Baby Einstein thing on the crib. He could turn it on, but not "play" with it. Seemed to work. My advice, Dont Start the toys... especially if they are good sleepers now. Bed time is bed time!

If he is crawling and mobile enough to move the lovey on his own, voluntaril;y you can put some in. It helps to choose one so that it can be a source of comfort when you are away, and that also reduced the low risk of suffocation.

My son is now 2 and he never got toys in bed until he moved to a toddler bed--it was one thing that made the bed extra special because he could now sleep with his teddy bears. My son was a great sleeper. He would usually talk to himself for a little before he went to bed and also when he woke up. He didn't need any toys to keep him entertained, so I didn't see the point in putting any in there. Also, I know my son, and I know that if a toy did fall through the crib railings, he would cry for it because he wouldn't be able to reach it, so by not putting in toys I avoided that all together. Secondly, I had heard too many stories of kids using their toys to climb out of the crib, so I avoided that as well. I don't really see much of a problem with letting them have toys in the crib, but if he's fine without them, then I recommend just keeping them out and avoiding some possible problems. Good luck.

I don't know if this is the best advice, but my son has 2 stuffed animals in his crib and loves them. If he wakes up early from his nap I can sometimes hear him playing with them. It is great cuz then I have a little more time to finish projects!

For my son and daughter I bought those soft story books, and a few harder toys. When they woke up too early in the morning more often then not they would play for a bit before demanding to get up for the morning.
Nothing plush or overly stuffed right now but at 10 mos if he is pulling up, able to stand up, all that good stuff then it is probably fine. However, then some stuff ends up on the floor and they are ticked off and will scream for you to come get it, hee hee. Those soft books my favorite! :)