BabyRecommend.com

It was hard to choose between the Lamaze Freddie the Firefly and the Lamaze Jacques the Peacock, so we decided to review both toys. Both offer similar features and are available for 10 dollars from Amazon. Both toys are from the range of Lamaze Play & Grow characters.

The Lamaze Freddie the Firefly is a great toy that can be used in a number of play situations and is not relegated to just the cot or car. It can be hung on the stroller or in the car when out and about.

It is larger than the Lamaze Jacques the Peacock, with a long soft body with a number of large wings that offer a range of textures, squeaker, and crinkles. A mirror is also included on one of the wings.

Key Features

• Soft velour body and busy wings
• Features a peek-a-boo mirror, textures, squeaker, and crinkles
• Comes with a Lamaze link to connect easily to any Lamaze toy or play mat
• Lamaze Play & Grow Character
• All Ages

The Lamaze Freddie the Firefly also includes a number of features for the older baby. Included are clinking rings on the bottom, tethered ladybug teether and a knotted antennae for teething and chewing.

The Lamaze Freddie the Firefly is available for 10 dollars from Amazon. This represents another great toy from Lamaze, and we (well, our son !) are enjoying reviewing their range of toys.

Highly Recommended

The Lamaze Jacques the Peacock is one of those convenient toys that has many uses. It can be used when baby is playing on a floor mat, or hung from the stroller when out and about.The toy features a central peacock that has a number of large feathers. Each feather provides either a different sounds or textures. A mirror is included on one of the feathers, and what baby does not love a mirror to play with ?

Key Features

• Features multiple textures and sounds to keep baby entertained
• Comes with a Lamaze link to connect easily to any Lamaze toy or play mat
• Lamaze Play & Grow Character
• All Ages

The toy can be used from birth, as it does not have any hard plastic or corners. As it does not provide any sounds when it is shaken, it may not be babies favorite toy after his first birthday, but we can vouch that it will be his favorite during that year !

The Lamaze Jacques the Peacock is such a great toy, it is recommended to all parents. It can be purchased for less than 10 dollars from Amazon.

Highly Recommended

There is such a vast range of rattles available, it can become hard to choose a good one. The LeapFrog Baby Curious Crab Rattle represents great value for money at only 4 dollars. It can also make a great gift or stocking filler this Christmas.

Key Features

• Clear bead filled claws
• Names of colors on fabric legs
• Graspable handle
• Color and tactile exploration

The claws contain colored beads that rattle around when the toy is shaken. Each of the 6 legs of the crab contain ‘crinkly’ material, and have their color written on the leg. The crab’s mouth is very easy to hold, even a young baby.

Strengths

• A great stocking filler this Christmas
• Great for the diaper bag or car
• Cheap price, but well made

Weaknesses

• Nothing at the price!

The LeapFrog Baby Curious Crab Rattle is available for 3.99 dollars. At this price it represents great value for money.

Highly Recommended

The Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube is both a fun and exiting toy for your child as well as providing musical education. The cube allows your child to play along to the included Mozart tunes from a range of musical instruments. There are 5 instruments to play along to 8 Mozart tunes. Each side of the cube represents a different instrument, with an image and the name displayed. These are a Harp, French Horn, Piano, Flute, and Violin. The final side allows you to switch between the various Mozart tunes.The included tunes are as follows.

• Ah! Vous Dirai-je, Maman (Twinkle, Twinkle)
• The Marriage of Figaro
• Country Dance #5
• Come Sweet May
• Der Vogelfanger (from The Magic Flute)
• March in D
• Landler
• Là Ci Darem la Mano (from Don Giovanni)

By pressing the “orchestra” button you can hear all the instruments play together. As each song plays, each selected instrument button flashes to the beat of the music. The sound is not orchestral quality, and is similar to the style of music adopted by Baby Einstein. However, the sound quality is not that great and can sometimes sound quite artificial and tinny. The jury is out on wether they should include the correct compositions, rather than the artifical sounds most toys seem to provide. I guess that it does not matter for such a young child.One disappointment with the cube was the lack of a volume control. The cube can be quite loud, especially in quiet environments, and it would have been nice to be able to reduce the volume.The cube itself is very durable and looks like it can take a lot of punishment. The corners are rounded, offering a safe play toy.Operates on three AA batteries (obviously not included !)Strengths

• Durable and safe

Weaknesses

• Not great sound quality
• No volume control, as can be loud in quiet environments
• Batteries not included !!!

The Munchkin Mozart Magic Cube is available for 20 dollars with free shipping from Amazon.
Highly Recommended

Following our previous five star review of the Kids II Baby Einstein Discover Play Color Blocks, the manufacturer has announced a product recall.

Kids II is voluntarily recalling our Baby Einstein Discover & Play Color Blocks in cooperation with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission because our expanded testing detected lead traces that are higher than the Federal limit. The recall only applies to the Blue block included with products that contain certain date codes, which can be found on the sewn in labels attached to the Green block.

For further details, please refer to the manufacturers Web site. Many thanks to Upset Parent for spotting this.

We have found a story from Reuters that may be of interest to our readers.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Retailer Toys “R” Us said on Wednesday that it is expanding its efforts to inform shoppers of the latest toy recalls after a slew of Chinese-made toys were recalled this summer due to unsafe levels of lead paint.

The retailer said it has launched a toy safety Web site that includes information about its safety procedures and specific recall information. Toys “R” Us also said it is introducing an e-mail notification system for recalls and adding bilingual recall notices.

Toys “R” Us is owned by a consortium that includes Bain Capital Partners LLC, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co and Vornado Realty Trust.

(Reporting by Nicole Maestri)

The toy safety Web site can be found here.

We previously commented on the number of recalls of Chinese made toys.

The dwellbaby Soft Blocks is a great way to help teach your baby the ABC’s and 123’s with this set of six soft blocks. Each block includes a different numbering and lettering with different shapes and patterns.

Most soft block sets just include the number and lettering designs on each block. The dwellbaby’s are different, as some of the blocks rattle and others give a little jingle sound when shaked.

The set of blocks come packaged in a chocolate dots drawstring storage and travel tote. The chocolate dots pattern can also be found on a number of other dwellbaby items, such as bibs and blankets.
Read the rest of this entry »

We seem to have uncovered a trend among baby and toddler toy manufacturers.

Batteries not included …

It seems that nearly all of the baby toys sold that require batteries do not actually include any. I am actually slightly wrong. Making matters worse, many include ‘trial or demo batteries’ that are stated as only being included for in-shop demonstrations and should be replaced after purchase! I think this is even funnier. First they do not include any batteries to allow us to actually use their product. Second, they include old or worn batteries that are only included to support the marketing of their product to us, which we buy and then throw away the batteries. I struggled to think of a clever analogy … perhaps I was overwhelmed with irony …

The entertainment industry was a previous culprit, where each TV and Video/DVD remote would not include any batteries. Over the recent years, most of the major electronics manufacturers have changed their tactics and are now including a set batteries.

When will the toy manufacturers take a leaf from the electronics industry … please start to include a set of (working) batteries.