Choosing safe baby toys is extremely important. They get used so frequently and run the risk of coming loose or breaking. Always check if toys meet safety standards and follow the age recommendations. Avoid objects that are too small that your child could potentially choke on. Battery-operated toys should have a secure case with tight screws that cannot be pried open. Don’t get any toys that have sharp ends, are made with toxic materials, or have crevices that a child’s fingers or limbs could get stuck in. Toys that have been handed down to you from friends or family should be carefully inspected and evaluated; the same goes for homemade toys. If you have questions regarding the safety of a toy or want recall info, you can visit the Consumer Product Safety Commission website. Here is a list of popular, fun, and safe baby toys from birth up to 16 months:

Birth to 6 months

• Twilight Buddies Fox, Bunny, or Turtle from CloudB, found at Amazon or Barnes & Noble, is an extra cuddly nightlight that can travel anywhere with your baby.
• Babies R Us Plush Farm Animal Rattles are great entertainment for your baby and are soft but safe little buddies they will have fun shaking.
• Laugh and Learn Smart Stages Puppy by Fisher Price responds to your baby’s touch with fun and silly sayings and singalong songs; it lights up and twinkles along to the music.
• Baby Einstein Sea Dreams Soother has different combinations of motion lights and sound to help your little one get a good night’s sleep in their crib.

6 to 12 months

• Tomy Tap N Tumble Elephant will get your baby moving as they tap, crawl, and chase it around the floor. When it tips over it begins to spin away, inviting your child to continue playing.
• Earlyears Forest Friends Shape Sorter is an adorable soft sorter with a variety of squeezable forest animals that your child can pop in and out of the bin.
• Skwish Stix is a colorful and drop-proof assemblage of sticks and balls that attaches to your child’s high chair tray or table with a suction cup base.
• Baby Einstein Discover and Play Piano entertains your child by playing sounds triggered by soft, easy-to-push piano keys that light up. It has 20 classical and fun melodies, plus other instrument sounds (such as drum and violin) and various animal sounds.

12 months to 16 months

• Galt’s Nursery Trampoline is close to the ground and has a bar for your toddler to grab onto while they hop, and hop, and hop.
• The Laugh and Learn Smart Stages Chair plays songs, phrases and learning games to entertain your child when they sit on it and play with the pretend remote control.
• Wooden Instruments From Spark. Create. Imagine. comes with three wooden instruments your child can create beats with and play along to music tracks.
• Fisher-Price Classics Chatter Phone engages kids and helps them with early listening skills. It has a pretend ringing rotary dial and a happy face.
• Based on an old toy design, the Wonderworld New Stacking Rings are great for developing problem-solving and stacking skills.