A typical musical mobile looks pretty, and it plays soothing melodies that are meant to help lull your baby to sleep. It may also serve as a toy, distracting your baby and keeping them entertained for a while.
But is that all there is to this piece of baby gear?
Well, you see, musical mobiles are not just ornaments to hang in your nursery! Their purpose goes beyond beautifying your baby’s room. They are actually essential in helping nurture your baby’s growing curiosity and imagination. A good musical mobile will also help stimulate your baby’s developing senses.
Here are three reasons why you need to have a musical mobile in your baby’s nursery.
3 Benefits of Using a Musical Mobile
1. Visual development
When your baby is born, their vision is still blurry and they can’t see beyond 12 inches away from them. Because their vision is still developing, your newborn baby relies on other senses, like their sense of hearing.
Now, as we know, musical mobiles play melodies, which catch the attention of your baby. Once this happens, they will tend to focus on the source of the music. Learning to focus on a specific thing is a great way to stimulate your baby’s developing sense of vision.
2. Motor skills
Musical mobiles are a fantastic way to help your baby develop both of their gross and fine motor skills. Your baby may begin by following their musical mobile with their eyes. Gradually, they may begin following it with their head and, afterwards, with their arms. With this, your baby is able to practice gross motor skills.
Now, your musical mobile may have toy attachments that can be detached. If your child begins to reach out to these toys and pull them off, they are able to develop their hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills.
3. Brain development
A good musical mobile is essential in nurturing your baby’s brain development. Because the hanging toys move to the music, your baby will learn to follow the motions and expect the toys to move when the music is played. This simple experience is actually sharpening your baby’s spatial reasoning.
Also, the music that it plays as well as the hanging attachments will ignite your baby’s growing imagination. You can also use these toys and attachments to teach your baby new words!
Now that we have talked about the importance of musical mobiles, let’s discuss what you need to look for when shopping for one.
4 Important Features of a Good Musical Mobile
Musical mobiles come in different shapes, sizes, and colors, so how exactly should you choose? There are a lot of beautiful musical mobiles, but appearance does not take precedence over safety and fine craftsmanship. Instead, your musical mobile should have the following:
1. Sturdy frame
It is very essential to choose a musical mobile with a sturdy frame. Watch out for musical mobiles with thin, flimsy structures. They pose a huge danger to your baby as their frames may not be able to support the weight of their attachments and can break off easily.
Instead, choose a musical mobile that is strong and robust. Our Living Textiles musical mobiles come in thick sturdy frames that will stay in place. They can easily support the weight of our hanging cotton toys. They are also covered in cotton for softness and extra protection.
2. Secure attachment
Aside from the frame, you also need to make sure that your musical mobile attaches safely and securely to your crib. You certainly would not want it to break loose from its attachment and fall onto your baby. At the same time, it should not be too hard to attach or detach.
It is best to look for a musical mobile that is both easy to install and locks onto your crib railing tightly and securely. Our musical mobiles from Living Textiles have an easy-install feature. Its sturdy clamp fits effortlessly onto your crib, maintaining a tight and secure grip.
3. Short strings
You should watch out for the length of the strings that come with your musical mobile, too! It can’t have long strings as these pose a strangulation hazard. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that musical mobiles should have strings no longer than seven inches.
All our musical mobiles at Living Textiles have short strings. If you take it a look at our mobiles, you will see that the toys hang really close to its top. They are structured – similar to a carousel – and the toys don’t haphazardly dangle too close to your baby
4. Soft hanging toys
Finally, look for a musical mobile with soft hanging toys. A pretty musical mobile will definitely catch the eye of your baby. And when they are old enough, they might want to take these toys off the mobile and play with them. It’s best to choose a mobile with plush hanging toys instead of hard plastic.
Our musical mobiles at Living Textiles have attachments made of high quality cotton. So they are not only gorgeous-looking, they are ultra-soft, too! And because cotton is a safe and hypoallergenic material, you are assured that the toys are gentle enough even for the most delicate skin.
Our musical mobiles at Living Textiles are all made with your baby’s safety and well-being in mind. They have sturdy cotton-covered plastic frames with easy-install secure clamps. The hanging toys don’t dangle too close to your baby, and they are made of safe, premium material, too!
The Living Textiles musical mobiles feature 12 soothing melodies including It’s A Small World, Are You Sleeping (Frère Jacques), Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, and Brahms’ Lullaby. They look gorgeous and will be a delightful addition to your baby’s nursery!
Are you ready to shop for Living Textiles musical mobiles? Click here!