What Bath Toys Are Safe for Babies and How Do You Know?

Luckybudmall Dec 06, 2022

One day when I browsed the post on Reddit, a mother was asking advice for whether introduce bath toys to his baby or not.

She said that she did a bath every night for her 11 month baby. No toys. Just a quick 5 minute bath and he’s out, no fuss.

One day, she introduced her baby son a toy, and he was so happy. But he also did not want to get out! The mother just brought the toy over to his bedroom and he was okay.

The question from this mother is... "Should I just not introduce bath toys until he starts fighting bath time?"

Your baby is just a baby, not a field worker, God knows he's clean enough.

For me, bath time is so much more than cleaning the kid, why not let him/ her enjoy the bath time with some funny bath toys?

I loved bath time when I was little because of the toys! Why not? I actually can’t think of a reason to not have toys and have fun in the bath?

Why Are Bath Toys Good for Babies?

Some babies are particularly uncomfortable with bathing, some babies even do not like to take a bath! Therefore, when those parents take a bath for the baby, they are just "dealt with things".

As everyone knows, bathing for the baby is actually a particularly good opportunity to teach early, a chance to make the baby smarter! Bathing toys should be regarded as the best tool to move the baby to take a bath.

As we said before, some babies are generally unwilling to take a bath, or they hate bath time. Then using some bath toys can disperse the baby's attention and relieve the anxiety of bathing.

Do Newborns Need Bath Toys?

According to the article Bathing Your Baby from healthy children.org, "Young infants don't really need bath toys, since just being in the water is usually exciting enough. "

Once a baby is old enough for the bathtub, however, toys become key. Containers, floating toys, even waterproof books make wonderful distractions as you cleanse your baby.

At What Age Do Babies Need Bath Toys?

When did your babies start to splash around and/or play with toys in the bath? Some parents said 4-6 months old, the other parents said 5-7 months old. So it depends.

Once your baby has ability to sit up by himself, usually between 6 and 8 months, the bath becomes more about exploration and play. That's when it's time to make a few waves by introducing baby bath toys your little one is sure to love.

What Bath Toys Are Safe for Babies?

The toys kids play during the bath time must be different from those usual play toys.

Because the child is protected by clothes in the normal playing scenario, while the most vulnerable body part of the bathing child is exposed. Once the toy material is too hard or the design shape is too sharp, it will pierce or cut the child's skin.

And the ground in the bathroom may be slippery when taking a bath. Children or adults may have a risk of slipping. At this time, if the toys have sharp and hard things, the consequences are unimaginable.

In addition to the excessive standard of plasticizers, the baby's bath toys still have some other problems, such as unknown raw materials, easy to breed bacteria and mold, etc.

How do you know if the bath toys are safe or not? How should we choose a safe bath toy for the baby?

1. Choose Bath Toys That Made of Safe Material

The plasticizer (phthalate) in toys can cause precocious puberty. We know that bath toys are generally placed in hot water, and the preheating of plasticizers will accelerate release.

Although everyone knows that bathing toys do not have the function of teethers, but those who have been parents know that babies will put everything in their mouths. Therefore, it is recommended to choose phthalate-free bath toys.

2. Be Careful of The Bath Toys Design

Bathing toys are easy to breed bacteria and stay in microorganisms. Although there is no sufficient research to evaluate the health risks it brings, but for babies with weak resistance, it is risky.

When we seach "yucky bath toys" in Google and check those images, you will find that those bath toys are really disgusting after being used for a period of time, especially those toys with holes in the bottom.

We should choose those bath toys that are easy to dry, no cleaning dead ends, and no folding soft glue, and better without holes in the bottom.

In addition, it is necessary to remind everyone that when the baby does not play, dry the water inside the toy to keep the bath toys dry, which can basically prevent bacterial breeding.

Before we buy the bath toys, we should check the material and the design. After we using the bath toys, we should know how to clean and get rid of baby bath toys.

3. Read the Instructions of the Bath Toy Carefully

The less labeling, the more it means that the material is not safe. Therefore, when choosing a baby bath toys, Moms and Dads must carefully check the user instructions come with the package.

Check that whether the toy contains a series of certification signs, such as qualified certificates, applicable age, product standards, manufacturers, security warnings, and a series of strict tests with security.

4. Safe Bath Toy Recommedations from Some Parents

"My kids have a few different ones but they mostly play with a watering can and a bucket that they can use to tip water on each other's head. Beware of any toys that are hollow with holes, like squirters. They get filled with black mold quite quickly."

 

"You can get sealed duck toys on Amazon, have been the best bet so far."

 

"Bath crayons might be fun. We have a nearly 10 month old so we haven’t tried the ones we got as a gift yet but I could see a 3 year old loving drawing on the bath!"

 

"We have a crab that is a bubble machine and my 2 year old loves it. He will sit and collect the bubbles in his hands, in one of cups, and put toys through the bubble. The bubbles are huge and there are so many of them once it gets started. We also have the wind up turtles that are awesome too!"

 

"You know those sponge paintbrushes? Let them use those to 'paint' with bubbles on the sides of the tub."

"Pick a bath toy that never sinks and always floats in the water; it will spark their interest and keep them occupied."

 

"We have a 17 month old boy. He loves anything that can scoop up water. Small Tupperware and Chinese soup spoons is why we've used. Anything that floats is also a novelty. We bought Boon Floating Bugs that came with a small net for catching them."

 

"My toddler also loves playing with Easter eggs in the bath. We started playing with them in the bath around Easter time and they were a hit so we keep them in the rotation of bath toys. Especially fun with the sponges because you can stuff them inside and when you open them they pop out."

 

 

"We got these munchkin letters for my daughters second birthday and they’re a bath time favorite!"

 

"My nephews have colored soap gel that they use to 'paint' the tub sides and wash off with! It’s Crayola, I believe they call it 'finger painting bath soap'?"

 

 

"If you go to the toy section in WalMart (not baby or bath toy just the toy), there are cheap sets of kitchen toys ( food, spactulas, pots and pans...)

These are the greatest ever. Just make sure the foot with holes in the don't go in the bath, since they grow mold but seriously its cheap.

Just pots and pans and strainers and bowls that come in sets for kids kitchens and a food set. My kid has hour long baths with these. They make yo ice cream cones and soups and all that good stuff and its really limitless."

"I came across the trick of putting a glob of hot glue in to the hole of plastic bath toys (or any toy you want to use in the bath). Worked perfectly and no more moldy toys."

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