Play

We optimized for wood, natural rubber, and wool: materials a newborn can eventually put in their mouth without us worrying about it. We refused a plastic activity gym as the default first toy. The one compromise is really a rule, not a trade-off: any lovey listed here is for daytime play only, never inside the crib.

Play gym

Lovevery The Play Gym

The black-and-white and high-contrast panels are built around actual newborn visual-development stages rather than generic pastel patterns, and the arch is a wood dowel instead of the PVC tubing most activity gyms use.

$100–120

Available

Reserve

Teether

Hevea Star Natural Rubber Teether

Made from tapped natural rubber rather than synthetic silicone or PVC, a single material end to end, so there is nothing to leach as it gets chewed and worn down.

$12–14

Available

Reserve

Lovey

Cuddle+Kind Handmade Cotton Lovey

Hand-knit cotton rather than a polyester-filled plush animal, though it is worth being explicit this is a daytime comfort object, not something that belongs in the crib during sleep.

$30–35

Available

Reserve

Books

Classic Board Book Starter Set

Board books like Goodnight Moon and Pat the Bunny survive teething and page-tearing far better than a paper picture book, and they do not need batteries or a screen the way some 'interactive' infant books do.

$6–10

Available

Reserve