Fans and Lights

Babies who aren't old enough to interact with objects yet will likely enjoy sitting and looking at lights or fans on the ceiling.  Watching fan blades whirling around and around sure beats watching a boring, unmoving blank ceiling and who doesn't like to stare off into lights until it hurts your eyes and you have to look away?  Am I right?  Obviously, to be good protectors of your little ones, please don't let your babies stare into the lights too much, as this can cause eye damage.

Woombies

Wouldn't it be nice if you could wrap your baby in a straightjacket to keep the little one from squirming and wiggling when he should be sleeping?  Loose blankets in the bed can be a suffocation hazard for the itty bitty young babies and fluffy sleepers are just too hot for the warm summer nights.  Enter the Woombie.  The Woombie is a fabulous baby product: just zip baby up in it like a little baby burrito and, like a Crunch Wrap, he'll be good to go.  Unlike swaddling blankets, there is no learning curve to the Woombie.  Just put baby in and zip it up.  That's it.  It's like a tight lightweight sleeping bag.  Strong babies that can break out of the classic swaddle blankets and other brands of specialized swaddlers will meet their match in the Woombie and be unable to break arms out through the zipper.  

My son has slept basically through the night with minimal nighttime waking due to the comfort that the Woombie gives him.  It prevents him from startling himself awake and keeps him firmly swaddled in a womb-like environment he finds familiar and comforting.

I recommend having at least two Woombies so that you will have one on backup for when the first is in the wash.

Spoons, Boxes, Bowls and Empty Milk Jugs (Basically Anything That Is Free)

Babies LOVE plastic utensils, metal bowls, empty boxes and most other garbage-type items.  If you didn't buy it specifically for your child to use as a toy, it is the best thing they've ever laid hands on.

If I hand my son a plastic spatula, he'll run around like a wild man entertaining himself for hours beating on walls and pretty much everything else with that spatula.  Do any of the fancy, store-bought toys with flashing lights and buttons galore thrill him like a plastic utensil and a metal bowl?  Not at all!  He might play with those toys, but not with as much glee and not for as long a time as a ladle or whisk will keep him happy.  Did you spend one hundred and fifty dollars on the latest and greatest hip toy?  Then your baby will want to play with the box it came it and will give the toy little more than a passing glance.

The bonus of this particular baby like is if you happen to be at a non-child-friendly relative or friend's house, they have ready-made toys in their kitchen and little one will play, leaving the adults free to converse and visit with each other.  The downside is, of course, you have to be careful of little trash-pickers getting into the garbage can to fish out "super fun" milk jugs, boxes and cans that Mommy and Daddy so rudely put into a yucky, hard-to-reach place instead of in their toy boxes.

Plastic Keys

Little babies from the time they are old enough to grab and shake things until they are really able to play with all types of toys really like plastic keys.  What's not to like about them?  They are plastic.  Good!  They are bright and fun colors.  Good!  They clink and jangle when you shake them.  Good!  Because plastic keys are lightweight, they are great for itty bitty four-month-olds who are just learning how to operate their hands.  Doesn't hurt when they drop them on their faces.  They are convenient for bringing in the car to play with while riding.  They are small enough to fit in Mommy's pocket so that she can use them for distraction/ redirection in a store, doctor's office or really anywhere the baby needs some colorful entertainment.  Toddlers will also play with plastic keys because they still enjoy brightly colored toys and shaking/ throwing things.  Another bonus: lightweight plastic keys don't hurt when they are hurled at your head by a wild two-year-old.

Anything They Aren't Supposed to Have

Babies LOVE anything that they are not supposed to have.  Forks can put out an eye when swung around by uncoordinated baby hands?  Then the fork is the item the baby wants most in this world and his little heart is just shattered when a mean old caretaker won't allow him to play with said fork.  Don't want baby to throw your phone across the room or make calls to Tibet and eat up your minutes?  Then don't leave that phone where baby can reach it and be careful that it doesn't fall out of your pocket.  It may be the mystique and draw of the forbidden that intrigues and beguiles your little one to so desperately want to play with dangerous or otherwise not allowed items or maybe it's just because these items happen to be shiny and the grown-ups play with them often.  Who knows?  The one thing that is certain is that if you don't want your baby to have something, he will want it more than he's ever wanted anything ever before.

They are getting ready for adolescence in that manner.