It has been widely talked about but what exactly makes a baby act and play in the way that it does? Well, infants and toddlers generally follow a certain pattern of behaviour which can be monitored and predicted to some certain degree.
With this in mind toy manufacturers have devised the 'aging' method of labelling toys.
This naturally helps people buying baby toys to choose the correct one for the age group the child is in.
Baby's first toy tends to be the cute, fluffy traditional style toy - perhaps a teddy - and the child will actively snuggle up to it.
But as the child develops it acquires certain skills such as grasping and pushing.
When the child gets to this stage it will naturally start to experiment and soon learns that certain actions produce certain reactions.
This is a great stage in any baby's life and you can practically see the learning process progressing on a daily basis.
The baby will want to push and grab at things to see what will happen.
There are virtually thousands of baby toys on offer and the adult may be overwhelmed by the array.
The more traditional toy would be the 'wobbly' bottomed toy that when pushed will bounce back and forth making a funny noise.
Or perhaps a cute rattle that the baby will soon learn how to play.
Many of these now come in soft, washable fabric and can easily be cleaned (for you dribblers out there!).
Some of the soft baby toys come in wipe clean vinyl and also have some form of teething ring attached be it the horn of a colourful rhino or the nose of a rampaging elephant.
Babies will not only be able to snuggle these bright and vibrant toys but chew away on the various edges at the same time.
When the baby approaches one year it is already taking tentative steps and a great toy is the 'push along' variety.
Wobbly steps are steadied and the walker usually holds blocks or bricks for the child to throw around or play with.
There is nothing more traditional than the building block! Many people make the mistake of giving toys too advanced for the baby.
This could be deemed a waste of time since the child will not be at a developmental stage to know what to do with it.
However, the advantage of giving traditional toys [http://www.
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Of course it goes without saying that certain 'older' toys are also dangerous for the baby.
Small detachable parts can come off and as the baby is still 'tasting' everything it its path it may just swallow a piece and choke or worse.
So the moral of the story is this.
Find toys that are age specific.
If you really want to make an impression, choose a traditional toy that is built to last, possibly handmade.
If it is good enough it could possibly become an heirloom in the future!