Must Have Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome
Playtime is important for infant development in all babies including our children born with Down Syndrome.
Diapers, feedings, sleep or lack of sleep, and doctor appointments do dominate the majority of our time those first few months. However, making an effort to play with your newborn with Down Syndrome every day will have a positive impact on their development.
And guess what? At this age it doesn’t have to be complicated!
Hey Mama Bears, before you read more, full disclosure here. There are affiliate links in this post so if you click on the link and buy the product I will earn a small commission. Now that we’re clear on that let’s get back to rocking life with special needs!
Choosing Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome
When choosing toys for your newborn with Down Syndrome look for toys that engage their senses to encourage development. High contrast images such as bold black and white patterns help stimulate the optic nerve teaching the brain and eye muscles how to work together. Toys that your baby can touch, reach for, hold, suck on, shake, and make noise with are great.
Many parents of children with Down Syndrome say their child loves music and things that make noise. That has definitely been true for Max, my son born with Down Syndrome. Also, babies love to look at faces. A floor mirror was a Max favorite and made tummy time fly by!
Always remember safety first when buying toys for your baby! Choose toys with the following qualities…
Toys that do not have small or removable parts that baby can choke on.
Toys with no sharp edges
Toys that be easily cleaned
Toys made of non-toxic materials.
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome
When Max was young I enjoyed finding toys that would help him learn and grow as well as come up with ideas on how to utilize them. I know as a new Mom of a baby with Down Syndrome life can be overwhelming and there are so many toys in which to choose from!
These toys will help engage babies with Down Syndrome so they can learn and grow but remember Mama Bears, your baby’s favorite playmate is YOU!
As with anything on the Twenty One Dandelions blog you should decide what will work for you and your baby, what won’t, and implement accordingly.
Our children, our families, our values, and our lives are all unique so there is no one size fits all.
Remember Mama Bears, these are affiliate links so if you click on the link and buy the product I will earn a small commission.
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Play Mats
Play mats are great for your baby and this play mat ticks all the boxes!
I love that it includes a play guide for parents providing age appropriate activities to promote brain and motor skill development. Just keep in mind that babies born with DS may take a bit longer to progress through the various developmental stages so go off where they are in their development and not the ages in the play guide.
I also love the removable accessories such as the card sets which have bold black and white prints as well as pictures of baby faces!
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Floor Mirror
Tummy time is really important for our babies with Down Syndrome as it helps them build strength. Max was not a fan of tummy time but a floor mirror made it more tolerable.
I love the bold black and white pictures on one side with colorful pictures on the other. I also love that this floor mirror can be used in so many ways making it more versatile and avoiding boredom!
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Building Blocks, Stacking Rings, Pull String Toy, And Cube Holder
This Montessori play set is a perfect start for your child’s toy collection! These toys work on so many things! Grasping and letting go. Stacking, building, and pulling. Even problem solving!
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Hape Penguin Musical Wobbler
How cute is this penguin? When your baby pushes the penguin it wobbles and makes music. This is super engaging to baby because not only does the penguin move in a super fun wobbly way when they touch it they are treated to music as well! This type of toy helps your baby with Down Syndrome learn about cause and effect too!
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Wrist And Ankle Rattles
Encourage movement by putting these wrist rattles and socks on your baby. Your baby is going to love looking at these super fun rattles and as they move their hands and feet they’ll be rewarded with a fun rattle sound!
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Oball Easy Grip Toys
We loved Oballs when Max was younger! The Oball was perfect when he learning to catch a ball which is great for hand and eye coordination. This Oball doubles as a rattle! I also love the Oball car and more traditional rattle!
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Sensory Books
Sensory books were also a big hit in our home. These were my go to when we were waiting for a doctor visit or therapy appointment to start!
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Rattles
Rattles are always a great toy for young babies with Down Syndrome. This rattle will likely be a favorite past their first birthday.
I do not remember a rattle like this when Max was a baby but this would have been a favorite for sure! It makes noise when you shake it, it plays music, and can work as a microphone! He’d love the ribbons too…great for stimming!
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Teething Toys
I love that this teething toy has a suction base so you can stick it to your child’s stroller, high chair, etc. It’s made of super soft silicone so it’s gentle on baby’s gums but still helps ease discomfort caused by teething and it can act as a fun toy with its wobbly design.
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: High Contrast Baby Flashcards
When you think of baby toys most of us do not immediately think of flashcards. Rattles sure. Blocks and stacking rings…of course but flashcards?!
Remember high contrast images help stimulate baby’s optic nerve teaching their brain and eyes to work together. Also, individuals with DS tend to be very strong visual learners. We’ve used flashcards throughout Max’s entire life and I will say even when he was a baby he really enjoyed looking at them with me!
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Board Books
Reading with your child is SO important. It helps with language, comprehension, and is a great way to spend some one on one time with your child.
Whenever possible I always try to buy books or toys that represent individuals with disabilities. Representation matters! We LOVE these books!
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Toy Tissue Box
No tissue box was safe when Max was a baby! He LOVED to pull ALL the tissues out of each and every box he came across. I knew it was great way to engage those fine motor skills so I let him unless it was someone else’s tissues! I really wish I would have thought of this!
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Montessori Object Permanence Box
I’m a big fan of Montessori inspired toys. This toy helps your child in so many ways. The 3 balls are all made of different material (the yellow ball is made out of wood, the green ball is made out of plastic, and the pink ball is made out of soft EVA material) which engages your child’s sense of touch and allows them to explore how the different balls feel in their hand and how they move. This toys is great for developing fine motor skills. Your child has to grasp the ball, release the ball in the hole, and then pick it up again. These are tough skills for a baby! In addition, this toy teaches baby about object permanence which is that an object continues to exist even when it’s out of sight.
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Car Seat Activity Toy
I found that a good car seat toy could entertain Max for awhile which made my life easier when we were driving. Considering we had an hour commute from where we lived to his daycare and my work his first year of life a good car seat toy was really important!This car seat toy is visually stimulating, the bee plays music, the bird chirps, and it has a rattle.
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Water Mat
A fun water mat was another toy we had in our arsenal to make tummy time more tolerable for Max. We found having a few different toys to rotate during tummy time kept him interested and engaged so there was less fussing!
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Calming Vibrations Soother With Music
Pressing the heart of this cuddly toy will activate 10 minutes of calming music and vibrations. Perfect for soothing a fussy baby! I also love that you can take the electronics out and wash the cuddly dog in the washing machine.
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: What’s Inside Sensory Cube
Help develop baby’s sensory development with this sensory cube. Each ball feels different and looks different engaging baby’s senses and the outside of the cube has tons of fun activities to engage baby in such as a mirror that’s perfects for peekaboo, a rattle, material that makes a fun crinkly sound and as baby matures a zipper toy and buckle toy to help learn how to manipulate things with their hands.
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Stroller Toy
This stroller toy is super easy to attach and the patterns are great for visually engaging your baby with Down Syndrome.
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Stuffed Animal
This stuffed elephant is cute and cuddly and if you press his foot that says “play” he’ll play peekaboo by covering his eyes with his big ears. If you press his foot that says “sing” he’ll sing a song and flap his ears to the rhythm.
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Stacking Cups
Stacking cups are a must have toy that you can use for many years with your baby with Down Syndrome. We used stacking cups to help with hand-eye coordination by building towers. We would build towers and then count how many cups high it was. Of course Max loved knocking the towers over after they were built! He also loved to play with the cups during bath time and with his water/sand table.
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Musical Instruments
Musical instruments are a great toy for our kids with Down Syndrome since in general they are drawn to music. I love this toy drum for baby. It’s colorful and when stood up and beaten the different colored circles will emit a different sound and different colored light. When placed on its side the drum will roll which can encourage baby to crawl after it.
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Creative Play Sets
This plush barn set introduces baby to creative play, introduces baby to animal sounds, and helps develop language. We had a barn toy that was very similar to this and Max loved imitating the sounds the animals made.
Toys For Your Newborn With Down Syndrome: Bath Toys
Don’t forget about bath time! Bath time is another great opportunity to allow your child to play and learn. I love that these squeeze bath toys can be taken apart and cleaned so mold doesn’t grow!
There you have it Mama Bears! I hope this post will help you and your child rock this special life!
If you enjoyed it then be sure to check out…
5 Toys To Help Your Toddler With Down Syndrome Improve Fine Motor Skills
The Best Toys For Your Toddler With Down Syndrome
The 10 Best Books For A Mom Of A Young Child With Down Syndrome
If you're looking for ways to connect then be sure to find me on Facebook and Pinterest!
You can also become part of the Mama Bear Crew and join my email list. I’ll send you an email at least once a month AND you’ll get exclusive access to the Mama Bear Crew page which has an IEP goal bank, IEP glossary, an About Me Medical page and more!