FurnitureBeddingStorageRugsLightingDecorBabyBaby BeddingBaby Toys & GiftsNursery FurnitureApparelBaby EssentialsBaby Feeding & NursingBibs & Burp ClothsPlates & UtensilsNursing PillowsTeethers & RattlesHigh ChairsNursery DecorToys & GiftsNewSaleRoom GalleryOur StoriesTop Baby Registry Items If your baby is sitting up on their own and is starting to transition to solid foods, it's time to invest in a quality high chair for mealtimes. A high chair allows your little one to sit near you at the dinner table, so you can easily assist them with eating their favorite foods. Because you can buckle your squirmy little tyke in place, you can enjoy your meal too, knowing your little one is safely secured. Shop from a selection of beautiful wooden high chairs and modern high chairs that incorporate innovative, space saving design. As your child transitions from baby to toddler, you'll want a high chair that can transition with them as well. Choose from our roundup of some of the best baby high chairs so that mealtime can be fun and your kitchen can continue to look stylish.
Baby Bjorn High Chair Ovo Max Luxe High ChairAnd I wish I had lots of pictures and experiences to share with you on this topic, but as you probably know, I have no kids. I have 2 cats and they will do until my husband and I decide to fire up the ol’ family machine. Until that point, I have plenty of friends with babies and have received a ton of exposure to kids of all ages. I’ll admit it, they’re growing on me. Time and again, my friends (who used to ask me if their butts looked good in their tightest clubbing outfit) are now asking me how to clean their kids’ toys. Oh friends, how the times have changed. Friends aside, a TON of community members are parents and ask me this very question. So, for all of you who I will now be forever referring to this post, here’s how it is done safely, quickly and effectively. Remember that frequency is up to mom and dad. There are recommendations however some parents are less stringent than others. It is entirely your call, much like your parenting style.
Most plush toys come with a care label, and that should be reviewed to determine the appropriate cleaning procedure. Many will say to hand wash only, and that’s fine. However, if you are dead set on putting them in the wash, you certainly can. If you don’t need to wash but just remove dust, you can quickly vacuum the fur if the toy by using a trick we discussed in our dusting tips post, where you place old pantyhose over a vacuum brush attachment, and vacuum the dust off the toy. And now, back to washing. A couple of snags you may hit along the way would be that crinkle toys won’t crinkle anymore, and faux fir or stuffed animal ‘hair’ may frizz up or mat never to be returned to normal. You are welcome to risk whatever you wish, it’s the wrath of your child you need to consider. Heed these fair warnings and you should be OK. Do not machine wash if: Keep in mind that a top-load washing machine, due to the agitator, may displace the batting of the animals.
For a high-efficiency washer, you’re in good shape. Regular detergent is fine, and I’d use something safe for baby i.e. dye and scent-free. Consider adding in a scoop of oxygen bleach powder to the wash if they are stained or smelly. Then, take an old pillowcase and throw the plush toys into the pillowcase. Close it up with a while pipe-cleaner, twist tie or piece of fine wire (or perhaps use a pillow cover with a zipper instead) and place in the wash. I’d recommend using a delicate or gentle wash cycle with cool or warm (not hot) water. If the water gets too hot, it can melt glued-on items (leading to a very sad child). When the wash cycle is done, pull out the toys and brush the fur with a fine-tooth comb to re-fluff it (white glove service right here). You have a couple of drying options too. You can place the pillowcase in the dryer on the fluff-cycle (never leave unattended) or, remove the stuffed animals and hang them to dry, or dry them in the sun.
Treat the toys like clothing and wash like colours together. You may want to consider washing them with towels instead of clothing just in case a toy’s colours run in the wash. Your plush toys should be in tip-top shape! For toys that claim to be hand wash only, or that fall under one of the 5 points mentioned above, simply hand wash with a mild detergent (try to use scent-free if you can) by immersing a clean cloth in a mixture of dish soap and water, or baby shampoo and water. Massage the mixture gently over the toy, working in a circular motion. Then, rinse the cloth well and begin to remove the soapy residue with the cloth. Let it air dry either by hanging up indoors or laying out in the sun. you are best to wash them in the sink as opposed to a dishwasher since these materials are more susceptible to melting or deteriorating in hot water. Thin, flimsy plastic toys fall into the same category. So, to clean them, simply add a squirt of dish soap to a sink, bucket or basin and add in warm water.
Then, clean the toy by wiping it with a soft cloth or an old toothbrush. Rinse well in cool water. Now, to disinfect the toys, spray the toys with a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and water and let them stand for a minute. Rinse again and lay flat to dry. I don’t believe in using chlorine bleach so this is a perfectly safe alternative. If you don’t care about the toys all that much, feel free to place them in a delicates bag, lay the bag on the top rack of the dishwasher and run through a water-only sanitizing cycle in your dishwasher (and don’t have dirty dishes in there either). It’s your call, but if the toys melt don’t say I didn’t warn ya. Toys like rattles, Lego, Duplo etc. can be thrown into a delicates bag and placed in the dishwasher as mentioned above. These can go into the dishwasher (top rack, as above) or can be boiled in a pot for cleaning and sanitizing. For any toy like this, whether it is battery-operated or plug-in, it simply cannot be immersed in water.
So instead, dip a cloth in soapy water and wash the exterior of the toy being careful not to get any moisture near the battery box (batteries should be removed prior to cleaning) or wiring (oh, and the toy should be unplugged before cleaning). As well, make sure that no moisture gets into the gaps between moving parts. To sanitize the toy, mix 50/50 rubbing alcohol and water in a bowl and saturate your cloth in the mixture and wring it out well. Wipe it over the ‘safe’ parts of the toy. Rubbing alcohol dries quickly, but if needed, you can wipe it off to remove the excess moisture. I had multiple ‘hair toys’ when I was growing up. And to this day, I love my hair so perhaps I have my Barbies and Ponies to thank. However, I didn’t know these cleaning tips back then and they could have really helped. So, for doll hair (aka thin plastic strands), here’s what you can do. Shampoo the doll’s hair using a couple of drops of dish soap and massage into the hair, if the hair is woven into the scalp.
If the hair is glued on, don’t bother, it will likely fall out. Then, rinse well with cool water and lay flat to dry, ideally comb to avoid tangling. If you notice the hair is seriously knotted or matted, soak the strands in a small bowl of conditioner and water overnight and then rinse out. Comb gently to remove the knots and lay flat to dry. This may sound silly, but never blow dry the hair. You can clean these hard plastic bodies with a couple of easy tricks. To remove marks and stains, create a tiny amount of paste with oil and baking soda. With a cotton swab, apply to the stains in a circular motion, then rinse the area with a dampened cloth. Make sure you don’t remove any paint (facial features, nail polish) when doing this! For tougher stains, use a tad of nail polish remover on a cotton swab, then rinse the area well. To disinfect these toys, create a 50/50 mix of rubbing alcohol and water in a clean spray bottle and simply mist the toy from head to toe.
After a minute, wipe with a dry cloth and voila, clean and disinfected. According to my research, wood has anti-bacterial properties. However, if I were a parent I’d have trouble taking that at face value. So instead, you can soak a cloth in white vinegar and wipe the toys down occasionally. Vinegar will clean and acts as a mild disinfectant, so I would consider this a great cleaning method for wooden toys. They don’t need to be cleaned all too often, but if they do need a good cleanse, this is all you need to do. The vinegar smell will dissipate within minutes. There are tons of reasons which we can discuss, but for me the biggest one would be to keep kids as healthy as possible. According to the Fisher-Price website, What causes a cold? Contrary to its name, a cold is not caused by exposure to cold air—it’s caused by a virus infection. Colds are also known as Upper Respiratory Infections or URIs, and 200 different kinds of viruses have been found to cause them.
Studies have shown that people who were exposed to a respiratory virus got sick with a cold, while people simply exposed to cold air did not get sick. Interestingly, those exposed to the virus plus cold air were no more likely to get sick than those exposed to the virus alone. Why, then, are colds more common in the fall and winter? The cold weather doesn’t give children colds, but it makes them spend more time indoors where they spread the viruses to each other. In fact, keeping children indoors with the heat turned up and the windows shut actually makes them more likely to catch colds. How do you prevent the spread of colds? It’s probably inevitable that your child will get some colds. Infants and toddlers average 10-12 colds per year, preschoolers average 5-6 per year, and older children and adults typically get fewer. Although it’s miserable to have a cold, the good news is that exposure to the viruses helps children develop immunity to help prevent future colds.