Family visits, doctor appointments, shopping for baby supplies… life can get quite busy with a newborn, and that’s why finding newborn toys is important. We know that you take extra measures and precautions when it comes to buying the best newborn toys; you need to make sure that they’re safe to use and help promote good sleeping habits that are essential for their growth and development.

At Riff Raff Sleep Toys, we strive to give mums and dads peace of mind with our products that help to address their baby’s sleep needs. Whether you’re looking for dummy comforters, toys for cot, baby security blankets, teething toys, or baby hooded towels, know that you’ll find something special to help you find a method on how to get baby to sleep without being held.

How can you choose the best newborn toys?

There are many ways in which parents help settle their newborn baby – from patting, rocking, or giving them a comforter. But it is vital to keep in mind that whatever is tolerated becomes maintained, including the role you play at the very beginning where your newborn is forming crucial associations with sleep. 

Your little one may constantly look for an ‘association’ or external comfort instead of exercising their self-soothing skills. If you have the time and effort to accommodate such a scenario, that’s a wonderful setup – no need to change anything. But if you’re the kind of parent who does not see this practice as sustainable in the long run, then keep on reading to find out the benefits of newborn toys that can help with your settling style. 

When picking the best newborn toys, it’s important to keep in mind what benefits you’re looking for so you narrow your options to baby toys with the most useful features. Remember, a newborn can often only tolerate around 30 to 45 minutes of awake time between sleep – and this time includes their feed. Therefore, finding newborn toys that help promote quality sleep is really important. 

Luckily, we’ve pooled together our tips so you can make a well-informed decision on how to choose the best newborn toys.

Guides baby through routines

Babies love routines – encountering familiar activities calms them down, allowing them to achieve quality sleep. Newborns still don’t have the ability early on to tell when they should be awake or when it’s bedtime, so although a feed, play, sleep pattern can ideally establish their circadian rhythm, they still need a bit of guidance going through these transitions. Many parents love using our Riff Raff sleep toys during bedtime to help their newborns understand where they’re headed next: off to dreamland!

Audio-visual-sensory comfort

​​While appealing to one sense is common in most newborn toys, appealing to three main sensory cues can further enhance their comfort and help develop their skill of self-settling. Combining that powerful method with an established sleep routine and your little one will learn to read the signals and conk out in no time. At Riff Raff Sleep Toys, our company has spent hundreds of hours thoughtfully designing our products so that they would be as appealing as possible for your newborn.

• See - Our cute baby toys are inspired by the most adorable critters in the world carefully crafted to delight your bubba. We don’t just design any animal suggested to us – we make sure we stick to a ‘look’, with vivid colours so even the youngest of bubs can focus on their new pal!

• Touch - With its blanket body made of ultrasoft polyester fibre, our sleep toys are sure to relax your little one. As your newborn ages, it becomes perfectly sized for cuddles with your baby’s tiny hands. 

• Hear - One of the best features of our plush toys is the sound box that plays two relaxing sounds: a heartbeat with white noise or a soothing lullaby. You can trigger the sounds whenever it’s bedtime to help build a more positive association will sleep. You can even adjust the sounds at two volume levels and two lengths of playback (20 or 40 minutes). 

When it comes to babies below seven months of age, we highly recommend that you follow Red Nose Australia (formerly SIDS & Kids) safe sleeping guidelines. Ensure that no soft toys are in the cot unless being directly supervised. Our plush toys have a velcro strap that can be used to secure it to either the inside or the outside of the cot to prevent little ones from pulling the toy over their face. We advise parents to always do this when caring for babies under the age of seven months old. But it should be noted that even though your little ones aren’t sleeping with their toy, babies will still gain a lot of benefits from the audio-visual comfort that their Riff Raff pal offers.

Where can you get toys for newborns?

Find the best newborn toys from Riff Raff Sleep Toys online store and shop from the comfort of your home. With over 500 glowing reviews on our website, we pride ourselves in providing toys for newborns in Australia and beyond. A quick look through the various categories on our website will reveal a fantastic range of Riff Raff characters that can form beautiful memories with. Order now! We use Australia Post for domestic and international shipping, with options such as standard and express, so your baby’s new pal arrives as soon as possible!