Fisher-Price Tummy Time Llama Plush, Grow-with-Me Baby Toy with Rattle, Mirror & Teether for Sensory Play, GLK39

Product Information

As one of Lovevery’s most popular products, The Play Gym offers countless ways to entertain your infant during tummy time and beyond. There are five play zones on the mat, and your little one will love rotating through each on his tummy, interacting with the embedded crinkly fabric, squeaky toys and textured fabrics. The gym also comes with high contrast cards, photo cards and a mirror that slide into a tummy time-friendly frame, so you can rotate them out regularly and keep baby’s view fresh. Create a circle of toys and place baby on their tummy in the middle, encouraging them to reach and stretch with fun activities. Many of our baby play mats come tummy time ready with built-in toys.

Christine added that it was the perfect travel toy, “because it folds flat and is soft and unbreakable.” Also nice: The high-contrast cards include a removable stroller link, so you can bring them with you on the go or remove the stroller link to loop the cards onto the mirror mount. I loved that thing,” Christine Mattheis, What to Expect’s Editorial Director, says of the Baby Einstein mirror. “My daughter loved looking at herself, and grabbing at the blue panda knob because it made a crinkly sound.” It also scores points for being easy to assemble and disassemble, with many families saying they’ve taken it with them while traveling. The AAP recommends placing your baby on his stomach two to three times a day for a short period of time, such as three to five minutes. As the weeks go on and your baby gets stronger, you can increase the time. What are the benefits of tummy time?

But even with the sound off, toys that light up and play music aren’t for everyone — some babies, and parents, too, find them overstimulating. If that’s the case for you, this is one to skip. With gentle music, buzzing sounds, and the ability to move in either a circular or random pattern, What to Expect parents say that this small but mighty toy engages babies well during tummy time play. Finally, while all toys on this list are designed to be used when your baby is fully alert and awake and with your full supervision, that’s especially important with plastic materials. Make sure to always watch your baby closely while he’s using this mat to make sure his face doesn’t get pressed up against the plastic, Dr. Posner says.

Leah also liked that you could use elements of the toy separately from the playmat. She, for instance, would unclip the handing toys to bring in the car or on walks in the stroller. This multipurpose element is a big plus with other parents too. Once your little one is comfortable sitting up, you can switch the positioning so he can access the keyboard more easily. And after your baby has graduated from sitting-up play, convert the light-up keyboard into a piano toy that parents say is popular with their toddlers — some reviewers say their 3- and 4-year-olds are still using it as a standalone piano.Longevity: As with all baby gear, the best use of your money will be on products that you can use for as long as possible. For example, a mirror and high-contrast cards are ideal for the newest babies, but they might not hold the attention of an older baby for quite as long as toys they can manipulate.

When choosing a baby activity gym, look out for colours, textures and fun features to help stimulate baby’s senses. Rattles, teethers and baby-safe mirrors encourage baby to reach and stretch, while overhead toy bars are great for lay and play fun. Some of our baby gyms feature prop pillows for a comfier tummy time, while others come with detachable toys for on the go. We utilized a lot of tummy time toys which were all great, but could be very stimulating. With the Boppy though, my daughter could build those muscles while I read a book to her, which was a nice way to ease into naptime,” says Leah. The downside is that it’s on the more expensive side, and many parents understandably balk at the price. That said, you can easily get a year’s worth of play out of it. We retired it each time when my sons were around 18 months and became a bit too tall to fit in the tent as comfortably. If, however, you think you’d just use one or two of the included elements, you might be better off purchasing them individually).

Tummy time gives baby (literally!) a new view of the world to explore, but it’s also an important developmental activity. Multi-purpose. All of the toys on this list helped entertain and motivate infants during tummy time play, but could also be used when baby has moved on to other milestones like rolling over and sitting up. The baby-safe mirror is held by a small fabric floor mount that places an infant’s reflection at their exact eye level during tummy time. Babies like to grab onto the soft fabric on the mount while interacting with themselves in the mirror, and parents say that the included high-contrast cards are also a big hit. True, its primary use is for nursing, but the Boppy is so much more than a breastfeeding pillow. With its clever C-shaped design and dense padding, the Boppy is useful to support your baby during tummy time and eventually, to prop him up as he learns to sit.

If your baby isn’t a big fan of tummy time, know that you’re not alone. Many infants dislike being on their stomachs at first, but most become more comfortable in this position as they strengthen the muscles that help them lift their heads. Until that time, however, you might want to consider investing in some tummy time toys. Playmats and baby gyms are suitable from birth, and make great developmental toys for those first few months. We have a great selection in our range, including Bright Starts and Fisher-Price gyms. This bee does a particularly good job of growing with your baby, too. It has three different play modes: one as a simple bee rattle;, another where the bee sits in the cloud and moves in a circle, which is ( ideal for tummy time;little ones on their tummies who can’t yet move to chase it around) and a third stage where it moves in a random pattern, which (great once your baby can start crawling after it). You don’t need a special mirror to encourage tummy time play — any mirror that baby can safely see at their eye level will work — but parents love that this Baby Einstein mirror is designed for tummy time and offers additional entertainment options for little ones. Tummy time, i.e. placing your baby down on his belly to play, is a crucial part of your little one’s development. It may not look like much of a workout at first, but tummy time helps him develop motor skills that eventually lead to big milestones like rolling over, sitting and crawling.We brought this toy whenever we’d visit my mother and mother-in-law, since it easily fits in a suitcase and provides so much entertainment,” says Leah. “Even when we’d turn off the sound, my daughter was happy to spin the ball in the middle and press the buttons.” We spoke to three moms on the What to Expect editorial team who have three children between them and have tried several of the products on the list.