Building Your Registry - Gross Motor Milestone Toys

Baby milestones don't just happen. They are something you have to work on with your baby in order for them to learn. Largely, this involves practicing the skill with a caregiver, however, there are specific toys that are going to make different milestones come easier, for both you and your baby.

Rolling

Rolling toys are the least specific of all the milestones, because they are whatever is high value to your baby in particular that you can put just out of their reach. Generally I recommend toys that have some kind of rattle or make noise in order to get your baby's attention and encourage them to roll. Rattles or balls can be a great option at this point. When practicing this, put the toys above and to the side of your baby's head, not straight next to them, this will help them reach up and get over their shoulder.

Sitting

Sitting toys are anything that your baby can play with on their lap which encourages them to push up and sit with. A massively popular one is this cube, or a spinning drum. But this can also be pop up toys, spinners, ring stacks, or tissue box toys. Once your baby is sitting more confidently, you can move on to toys that they sit next to and play with, such as an activity cube or a ball drop, that will lead them into pulling up, then standing.

Crawling

Crawling toys are anything your baby is going to want to go and get. The goal, like rolling, is to put something out of their reach and encourage them to get to it themselves. This can be as simple as a pack of balls, or as complicated as these VTech crawling animals. Though from my experience, babies more often prefer a car or animal that's going to roll away from them on its own wheels than any of the many electronic ones.

Pulling to Stand

When your baby is working on crawling and pulling up, it's great to introduce vertical space to their play area. In order to pull themselves up, they first must look and play up. If you have a playpen having pull handles on the sides is a great start, as is hooking on their favourite hanging toys you may have had on their play mat or stroller. You can get a walker with a vertical surface for your baby to explore before they start walking. This is also a great time to introduce an activity table for them to get comfortable standing and playing at, or grab an empty diaper box, flip it over and put some toys on top.

Walking

Once your baby is pulling up and standing confidently, you're ready to introduce a walker! A walker should be a freestanding object with wheels, not a container that your baby stands in and moves. This one is one of my favourites, because it has can be used from both sides and the toys are not opposite from where your baby is trying to walk. Walkers can be great tools, but babies should not be limited to them! I've seen babies learn to walk with dining chairs, diaper boxes, and packages of paper towel.

A Note About Containers

While containers have their own use, and I do highly recommend that families have and use them, they are not going to contribute to your baby's milestones. No chair is going to teach your baby how to sit and no activity center is going to teach them how to stand. Milestones are reached through floor play and practicing specific actions with an adult present. Containers should only be used to contain your baby for specific, brief, periods of time.

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