Nothing fills our hearts with joy more than a new baby. But babies also fill other things – full of toys! New parents and generous friends and family tend to want to buy everything that rattles, sings, dances and can be cuddled for Baby, which fills up closets, toy boxes and cabinets. But which toys are best for babies up to 6 months of age, and when should toys be introduced?

Dr. Alice Sterling Honig, professor emerita of child development at Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y., reminds parents that Baby's first needs are not toys, but TLC. "Keeping a newborn soothed, nursed frequently, cuddled on the body and peaceful until the nervous system can grow a 'sensory barrier' to over-stimulation is very important," she says.

Most parents know Baby's first toy pretty intimately – and it doesn't cost a dime. It's you!

"A parent is the very best toy for a young baby!" says Dr. Honig. "The first six months, the parent who talks while holding baby 'en face' – with one arm under the tush and the other arm supporting the baby's head so Baby is looking right at you about 12 to 18 inches from your face – is giving the baby the best and most interesting toy! That 'toy' is a parent responding to early cooing sounds with delighted smiles, responsive talk and head nodding."

Baby's responses not only bring joy to Mom and Dad, but also help brain development. "A parent is a wonderful human toy that leads the baby's brain to release vigorous cascades of chemical and electrical stimuli, creating synapses for learning early causal relationships," says Dr. Honig. "'When I coo, Papa talks to me. Papa thinks my 'talking ' is important. I am lovable!' No toy can give this boost to baby learning or emotional feelings of lovability and efficacy."

Every time there is sensory input, the baby's brain responds (whether to a word, a touch, a coo, a song, etc.) by sending electrical and chemical stimuli across the synapses, which are the places where the dendrites of one cell meet the next neuron cell. Though they do not touch, the stimulation flows across that tiny gap between neurons.

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