I’ve reached that age at which all of my peers seem to be starting families. Every other month I’m invited to a baby shower or a child’s first birthday party. As a result, I’ve had to buy a whole lot of baby toys in the past year or so. I didn’t really know how to make this type of purchase at first but now I’m practically a pro.

The first thing that I always look for when buying baby toys is safety. I like to purchase baby toys that are made from natural materials that haven’t been treated with any chemicals. Some of my friends care about this and others don’t but I think it’s a case of better safe than sorry. My favorite brand is haba toys because they’re organic and safe.

The next thing I look at is age-appropriateness. This tends to be only somewhat accurate since kids develop at different rates. I usually try to buy toys that will be useful for at least a little while so I err on the side of being a toy for an older kid rather than a younger one.

And finally, I do look at cost. I love my friends and I love their kids but I’m not ready to go into debt for them!

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