Sophie Giraffe Toy

11 December, 2008 | Posted by Marvyn

Some months ago, I glanced at a random toy list and this rubber toy named Sophie Giraffe sat atop of the contenders. I didn’t pay much attention to it then and haven’t thought much of it until Mary read about it in a baby magazine last week. And a few days ago, Sarah at Parenting gave it glowing remarks. Seems that this little animal keeps coming up. Following my sports law professor’s rule of thumb, “An idiot can have an opinion. Two idiots can share an opinion. But if three people are saying the same thing, then consider it expert advice.”

Curious, I looked into what’s so special about this giraffe from Vulli Toys. On their website I came across some interesting information regarding baby’s sensory development and the giraffe. Below are the ones that caught my interest.

Sight

At the age of 3 months, a baby’s eyesight is still limited and he can only make out high contrasts. The Dark and contrasting attention-catching spots all over Sophie the Giraffe’s body provide visual stimulation and she soon becomes a familiar and reassuring object for baby.

It’s information like this that was not shared in my pregnancy for fathers guide. Searching on Google, I found this article explaining a baby’s sight development. It’s pretty interesting to know that they will only recognize red, orange, green, and yellow the first few months. So I’m guessing that a lot of babies tend to ignore the purple Tinky Winky who is allegedly the gay TeleTubby. Poor guy (or girl or whatever it is)

Touch

Touch is the first means a baby has of communicating with the outside world. Sophie the Giraffe’s soft feel, like baby’s mother’s skin, stimulates physiological and emotional response that soothe baby and promote healthy growth and well-being.

I did not know my wife’s skin could be associated with rubber, but I am guessing that is not what Sophie the Giraffe feels like. So off to Google I went and I found this video on Parenting.com. According to the article (and I paraphrase), touch helps the baby understand the world, from the warm water in his tub, to the feeling of his blanket, so much that the baby craves it, needs it to thrive. To me, it sounds like being on ecstasy. 

Last Words

Supposedly this is the new chic toy for parents to have for their newborn. According to Vulli, this toy has been around since the 60s. Either it’s making a Britney Spears comeback or it’s only making it’s rounds now.

At roughly $20 a pop, I think it’s worth a shot to try it out once baby Jagger is born.

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