iTOTS: Interesting Taf toys

We saw some interesting developmental toys from Taf Toys and thought a review on them for parents would be much appreciated. From my Mummy's chats, I heard a bit of good comments on their products. One being "I kept the toy for 7 years before I had my next kid and the toy is still in good condition. They are expensive but really value for money".

My personal experience has also been good. Apart from looking classy (sorry, but I hate those cheapass shopee/ taobao toys), the finishing is good. Most of the items, we have been using them for a year+ (and probably more with the growing extended family) and they are still in very good condition. 

1. Taf Toys Kimmy Koala Wonder Tissue Box ($39.90)

This toy initially caught my eye because I was sick of our little one ripping out tissues from our tissue box. With this, I hope our kiddo would stop wasting tissue and money, LOL! And I did see a lot prospects in using this same set-up for different play methods. The original play method is to basically load the tissue box with the coloured cloth and textured fabric and get the child to pull them out. 

You can also assist them if they are younger by placing them at the sides if they are uncomfortable with placing their hand into the box. As the cloth is sheer and of different colours, when he is older we used it to teach colours and he would at times place the cloth over his head to experiment looking through the different shades.

For alternative play, we would hide toys within the box and get him to pick them out. There is some element of surprise for him cos he wouldn't know what was hidden. His favourite so far has been us tying the cloth on his limbs and he would try to unpick them himself. I guess it does help to improve his fingers coordination. 

To wash the cloths, I usually toss it into the washing machine along with his clothes. No special care is given but so far the sheer cloths has yet to tear or show any loose threads.

2. Taf Toys North Pole Ball Drop Stacker ($39.90)

This is really ideal if you want to teach the kid on object permanence. My kid honestly plays it like a toy. He would pop the balls in and watch them as they roll out. Although you can actually stack them up so that it becomes a more complex structure, he doesn't really play it that way. It is usually just a 1-storey high box. 

This set comes with 6 coloured balls, with 3 being texture. We actually have like a whole box of balls so sometimes he just use the other balls to keep popping them in and out and watch them roll out of the box. By the way, the bottom of the box has a height gradient, so the ball would always roll out. No disappointment for the little one. 

Hot fav from Taf Toys

My laptop crashed so I lost quite a bit of photos of my baby. One of things I love snapping are the interactions my child have with his toy. Does it sound creepy? LOL. 

Baby has been growing up with a lot of the toys from Taftoys from itots. Some of the items we previously featured such as the Taf Toys 2-in-1 Tummy Time Pillow ($35.90) and Tummy Time book ($33.90), he is still using them, just for different purposes. The pillow now lies in his playroom and he would lie on it to drink his milk. Sometimes when "his  younger friends" come over, they lie on it too!

His favourite page now on the Tummy Time book is the mirror. He would flip to that page and smile at himself...and proceeds to kiss his image. Oh Gawd, guess I got a Little Loki on my hands! We have some other toys from Taftoys which baby loves which we thought we would share it here. 

Hunny Bunny Stacker ($29.90)

My baby really loves this stacker. But he doesn't really use it for stacking but more for chewing the rabbit's ears. (He is quite unstructured in his learning.) Also, we play donuts with the rings (cos he has a separate donut toy) so we would "pretend" to eat them. Although sometimes he does give these rings a good lick. For the stump, we would turn it over and act like it is a mic too! Hehe.

What I like about this set is that it is really easy to grip and have quite a variety. One of them even has coloured beads in them and can make a sound. They also don't have to be stacked in a particular order which suits rebels like us who hate following rules :P

Laptoy Activity Center ($69.90)

This is one toy which grew up with him. It started as his bedroom toy as it was hanging at the side of his cot (yes, I split his toys so he would associate them to the different rooms). When his cot was collapsed, it followed him into bed. Initially he was only interested in the nose of the bear which would sing 2 tunes and the star rattle.

I used to distract him when putting him on a highchair when he was younger (sadly I lost those photos). Silly parents we are, we didn't know that we could turn off the music and sometimes when we kinda of bump into it on our bed it would start singing. My husband hence named this the "creepy toy". Whatever my husband named it doesn't matter because my baby loves it and has now progress to playing other parts of the toy which trains his pulling, twisting and turning abilities. 

Koala Car Wheel Toy ($52.90)

My baby used to be quite easy on cars. But as he grew older, he became more curious and refused to keep his hands to himself. Whether you drive or grab, this toy is a super useful distractor. Especially if you grab, some cars do not have the baby lock and babies with itchy hands will try to open the door. Mine opened once on our family car (somehow we forgot to lock) and I freaked out. 

This toy imitates a steering wheels and the buttons give quite realistic sounds (a 2nd click would make them sing a tune). My baby likes it because he feels that he is in control and manipulating the movement of the car. Sometimes we would sing "the wheels of the car go round and round" as we play with it. It also comes with a mirror which my baby is obsessed with (remember he is a Loki). 

Ending this post with a bonus photo, baby hola hooping with his pillow :P

Tools for Tummy-time!

My little one has no problem with flipping. But I do know of mums who are very worried when their little one is a little behind schedule. So here's some tips and tricks I use to help my baby flip faster (and safely). 

As a first-time, I was initially very hesitant in flipping him over to do tummy-time. When my baby was a newborn, he was so soft and it was very scary to do so. We started his tummy-time on my chest. We would hug-carry him while I slowly lower my body down. Initially, he couldn't really lift his head very long. 

After his 2nd month developmental check, the PD advised to start him on his tummy-time. That was when I started to flip him over. Initially, we only used a tummy-pillow and did tummy-time on the mattress as it was softer. For mummies who are not familiar with a tummy pillow, it is a U-shaped cushion that helps to soften the blow when baby slams its head down (when their neck isn't strong enough yet). We used Taf Toys 2-in-1 Tummy Time Pillow ($35.90) which had 2 different heights. (Note: My baby was quite advanced by then so we placed him on the bigger pillow.)

First-time mummies would pretty much agree that the first lift of the head is pretty much an exciting milestone. One trick I learnt to take nice photos of it is to use a Tummy Time book ($33.90). To take a frontal view photo, I would place the book in front of him so that my baby would stare at it. I will quickly position my phone in between them to take "that shot" :P

Don't worry that this will be a white elephant. We use the Tummy Time book even for his bedtime story. We definitely flip it more than once every week, quite a good mileage if you ask me. The pages make a crinkly sound and by 4-5months, our baby adored such sounds. I would pass him the book to distract him while he is on his bouncer so that I can do my other chores when it is only just me and him. The different pages also have textures and flips so you can also use it to train your child's motor skills. 

As he became better with his neck control, we also started the use of a playmat. We are using Marcus & Marcus reversible playmat - ABC ($49.90) and it is huge! It can definitely fit snuggly into a playpen. For now, we are folding it so that it is twice as thick. Our little one is starting to dry-crawl, once he can really crawl, we will open the mat fully. 

On one side, the design is ABC and the other side is 123. Sometimes, we do use the mat to expose him his ABCs and 123s. The design of the neutral ABCs fit our scandenavian house theme better. The colourful 123s capture our baby's eyes more. To balance it out, we flip it as and when to balance Mummy's love for aesthetics and baby's love for development. :P

Here's a photo of our complete gear! I have to say I am rather enjoying motherhood and preparing for my child's each developmental stage. Hope my tips and tricks works for you too!

Travel Aids: I survived CNY with an infant

 I think too many people forget to give thanks to the travel aids that make travelling possible with a young child. Particuarly during CNY, the amount of travel increases by a few fold (our little one has been a homebody most of the time because of Covid and only travel to his grandparents house.) So here's a post to thank our top 3. Hehe. 

1. Wet Bags ($10)

Wet bags are an absolute must-haves. Usually, I use them to store baby's clothes changes neccessities. This includes some diapers, a small packet of baby wipes, spare hankies, a jacket (for cold weather) and a separate set of clothes. Within the wet bag, I would store another wet bag to store the soiled clothes and hankies. Apart from segregating items, it also prevents contamination by the soiled items on other items in the diaper bag. 

The pink rabbit wet bag from Reveriebelle is the smallest in my collection. I used it for CNY because of the festive pink colour and also because it was small enough (16.5cm x 17.5cm only) to slip into the oranges bag. Honestly, wet bags are things you can splurge on a few, haha. After baby grows up, it can also be used for swim classes or Mummy's own gym workouts. :P

2. Taf Toys Musical Mini Moon ($24.90)

This was an absolute life-saver because my baby hasn't really been taking public transport much. To be honest, because of Covid, we haven't been stepping out of the house much. My little one love cars and buses figurines. But when a car zoomed pass him at the bus stop, he panicked and broke into tears. On the bus, he was also quite nervous. 

We attached the musical moon to the stroller (quite easy) cos it is clip-on. And he has been clinging onto it ever since we go on bus rides. He has been a lot calmer and is now comfortable to look at the scenery around him. The musical moon sings 3 happy tunes and 1 shushing sound and comes with a light. It acts as an effective hands-free distraction and at quiet places such as lifts, baby would be seen staring at it.Quite a must-have for sanity's sake!

3. Stroller Cards for the car seat ($20)

As baby was taking quite a bit of car rides during CNY, we also used the stroller cards to distract him. The stroller cards were attached to the car seat carrier and was dangled on top during car rides. When not in use, we slip it by the side. At the relatives' house, if the chats get too long and boring, we would also take the cards out and use it as a book :D #dualuse

Personally, I really love this set (from Reveriebelle as well) because it is so cheery and colourful. I also like how it has prompts for the user to engage the child. Now, my baby can't really talk yet so he would just mouth/ try to imitate our mouth what we tell him and smile when we ask him questions. But as he grows older and out of his car seat, I think this would still remain quite useful as a strap book instead. :)

Let us know if you have any in your list. ** We will be having a giveaway from Reveriebelle, so stay tune~!~

Baby's First Toy: Taf Toys All Around Me Activity Hoop

 

Although I didn't write about this first, this was actually the first toy we opened for baby. It was really interesting because we got to witness how baby rearcted and eventually warmed up to it. Taf Toys All AroundMe Activity Hoop is basically a circular hoop which you can pop in interesting items to engage the child. It consists of a rainbow baby-safe mirror, felt cards (both in black-white/ coloured, creaking koala, butterfly and snail rattle as well as a plushed koala with a baby teether. 

Honestly, it was initially quite disappointing because at 0+ month, the baby was barely interested in any of the toys. Most of the time, he was yawning at me despite my desperate efforts to play with him. There were some points I wondered if he was behind his peers in his development (Note: It is just me being over-zealous.) Fortunately for us, the toy was quite easy to set up so I had enough patience to keep trying. 

By the second month, our little one can be seen cranking his head to look at the felt cards. As he grew more active (and aggressive), we saw him punching some of the more advanced toys. For me, I only use a-third of the Taf Toys All AroundMe Activity Hoop to make baby turn on his left side so as to shape his head.

At his stage, he would be more reactive to the mirror and black-white felt cards but I incorporated all the toys (different one each time) to expose him to the different textures. Also, I didn't want him to be bored by the same toys. His favourite thus far is the butterfly rattle which we always hoop onto his arm when he is in the rocker. 

By now, as a parent, I have learnt that toys don't always have to be played in their intended manner. My FIL hung the toys on the top of the bunk bed and I thought it was ingenious. I am quite happy with the taf toys thus far as they are encouraging our baby to lie in different poses and seem to develop his motor skills. He used to be rather lazy in doing his push-ups. Now, he would occassionally show them off to me and would even be seen "lifting pillows". It is really fascinating sometimes to see how much he grows and develops, although I admit I don't entirely let nature takes it course (by creating opportunities for him to practice his motor and coordination skills).

Taf Toys All AroundMe Activity Hoop is retailing at S$69.90. It is cheaper as compared to the Koala Musical Newborn Cosy Gym (read my review here). Personally, I prefer the Koala Musical Newborn Cosy Gym  more because I am not very creative when it comes to modifying toys and the baby seems more engaged in the  Koala Musical Newborn Cosy Gym because he is not a fan of tummy-time. But if you are on a budget, Taf Toys All AroundMe Activity Hoop is a great option because it is versatile and can grow up with baby, making it quite a value for money investment!

Baby visits family home Feat. Koala Musical Newborn Cosy Gym

Finally, after a month or more of confinement, I finally pluck up the courage to bring my baby out. Okay, he isn't exactly going out. He is just going to my family home. Honestly, I am quite excited because it is like showing a part of my past to my child (he probably can't see that well yet LOL!) This was also when I realise "Oh my, a baby needs so many stuff!"

As my child isn't staying with my parents, we don't really have a nest etc. there. Fortunately, we decided to bring the Koala Musical Newborn Cosy Gym along. Our intent was to provide baby with something to do, but when we arrived at my parent's house, we realise there was no mattress for baby. Oops. And hence, we used the thickly padded gym as a nest too, which was pretty effective because baby was so comfortable, he fell asleep. 

The Koala Musical Newborn Cosy Gym comes with 4 multi-sensory toys. It includes a mirror, crinkling toys, rattles and also a teether. There is a music & lights toy that play an extremely catchy tune :) As of this time, my baby is only about 1.5 months old. He doesn't interact much with the toys if you hang it on the arches. However, if you put infront of his face, he might stare at it for a while or 2 depending on his mood. 

On the arches, there is a lower position for you to hang the toys. Being rather kiasu, we actually got more toys for him (not in the photo). For those who are keen, you just have to get toys with hooks and you can also incorporate them into the Cosy Gym . Similarly, the toys that come with the Cosy Gym can also be removed and fixed onto your strollers/ cars. 

Here's some behind the scene photos of my parents being really entertained by their grandchild. Oh, did I tell you how good this Cosy Gym looks in photos? The vibrant colours of Cosy Gym makes it a superub photo backdrop. I love how pretty every photo of it and the baby is. The Cosy Gym grows with the baby and can support tummy time in his early stage and transits to a playmat for him to improve his motor skills as he grows older, letting us milk every dollar worth of S$139.90. Hehe. 

So far, the baby's favourite toy is the music & lights toy. And it is no wonder because the music is so catchy. I am quite embarrassed to say but sometimes I do hum along and boogie with the music. Here's a video which we captured of the baby looking extremely adorable <3 Will definitely be sharing more of his playtime. This is not the last you see of our Cosy Gym.