baby toyConfession time! When my daughter was a baby, it was hard to resist buying her toys. Go ahead and shake your head at what a waste that is because babies are perfectly happy with a bunch of measuring cups, but there it is. Baby toys are hard to resist because they are so darn cute!

But here's the other thing you learn about baby toys as the pile starts building up in your living room, er, baby's nursery. As cute as they are, they are 10 times more annoying.

User GaryDuder lamented in a letter to toy manufacturers on Reddit this week that he's sick and tired of all the toys that play just a snippet of a song before you have to start it all over again.

I feel his pain. My daughter had a toothbrush that would play just a few stanzas of the song from Thomas the Tank Engine over and over and over again. We never got past "shunting trucks and hauling freight." I wouldn't wish the mind-numbing pain of listening to that thing repeat itself on my worst enemy.

So here's a list of baby toys that parents tell The Stir drive them absolutely up the wall. With the holidays coming, maybe it can help a few parents who are tempted to stock up on baby toys from going overboard! 

1. Corn Popper. These have been around for decades, and they seem so cute! That is until baby abandons them in the middle of the floor, and you trip over them.

2. Wooden Animal Puzzles. For awhile during the first year of my daughter's life, I was afraid we had a rodent in our house because in the middle of the night, you'd hear a strange squeaking coming from the playroom. Turns out it was the hamster noise in one of her wooden puzzles. I thought mine was just defective, but now that I've talked to other parents, I know the truth ... these things are HAUNTED!

3. Toy Laptops. All those educational games mean diddly squat when your baby is slamming on the keyboard as hard as she can (and giving you the world's biggest headache!).

4. Anything That Makes Noise When It's Moving. They look absolutely darling on the commercials when the baby is chasing after that noisy monkey (or whatever critter they've decided is cute for kids this year). Just wait until your kid has zero interest, but the darn thing goes off if you so much as breathe in the vicinity of the toy box.

5. Talking Books. Not only will you be treated to the cacophony of sounds as baby bashes on as many buttons as she can get her pudgy little hands on at once, but the batteries in these tend to die awfully quickly ... and they cost a pretty penny to replace (you'll soon learn about not replacing batteries on anything, but that comes in the toddler years).

6. Stuffed Animals. I know, every kid needs these. But every kid does not need 107. Which is about the number you will end up with by the time they are 2. And about 105 of them will be "surface wash only," to which I say what is the point?

7. Kiddie Keyboards. If you think this sounds like a good idea, I have four words for you: What are you, NUTS?

Help save another parent's sanity! What toy has been driving you batty since you bought it for baby?

 

Image via sdminor81/Flickr