First toys, lovies and blankets

Baby Starters

The toy a baby picks, and then never puts down

We make the soft first things. Snuggle dolls with the rattle sewn inside, lovies with one satin edge, cloth books that survive a car seat. 92 of them, and every page here says how big the piece is and what a baby can do with it.

See What's Inside
  • 92 pieces in the range
  • 27 with a rattle inside
  • From $7.99
Plush Snuggle Buddy Baby Doll, Sugar N Spice Marisa by Baby Starters
Plush 10 inch Snuggle Buddy My First Baby Doll with Embroidery, Blonde Hope, Pink by Baby Starters
Plush 11 inch Snuggle Buddy Baby Doll, Ellie by Baby Starters

Where most people start

The pieces that leave the shelf first

One from each part of the Baby Starters range, so the difference between a snuggle buddy, a lovey and an activity toy is visible rather than described.

All plush dolls

Prices are the ones we recorded at our last update. Every button opens that piece on our retail partner's site in a new tab.

The second way to look

Shop by the moment it is for

Half of this range is made for one date on the calendar. A first Christmas lovey is not a Christmas decoration: it stays in the crib all year, and the embroidery is the only part that remembers December.

First ChristmasSanta, Rudolph and the tree, embroidered on a first-Christmas lovey or rattle.9 piecesFirst HalloweenPumpkins, a jack-o-lantern face and a first-Boo rattle, in orange and ivory.9 piecesFirst ThanksgivingTurkeys, pilgrims and the word thankful, on a lovey soft enough to sleep with.8 piecesFirst Easter & SpringChicks, bunnies and spring prints, in aqua, pink and white.8 piecesWelcome Baby & ShowersWelcome to the World, It's a Girl and Thank Heaven: the pieces people bring to a shower.11 piecesStorybook FriendsThe Very Hungry Caterpillar, Little Blue Truck and nursery-rhyme books in cloth.11 pieces

For the crib

Lovies small enough to hold in one fist

Flat, light and soft on both sides, with a corner a baby can actually grip. These are the Baby Starters pieces that end up with a name.

All lovies and blankets

Prices are the ones we recorded at our last update. Every button opens that piece on our retail partner's site in a new tab.

Our story

Made to be the one they keep

The first year is one long run of firsts, and Baby Starters exists for them. That is the whole brief the studio works to, and it decides more than it sounds like it should.

A first toy has to survive being chewed, washed and dragged along a hallway floor, and it has to be light enough for arms that are three months old. So the rattle goes inside the body rather than on a stick, the eyes are embroidered rather than moulded, and one edge is satin because that is the part a baby finds first. Everything after those three decisions is decoration.

We prototype at home. A sample lives in one of our houses for a month, goes through the washer more times than any reasonable person would, and comes back approved or cut. Plenty get cut, usually for the same reason: the seam that a baby learns to pick at.

The range grew the way families grow. Someone wanted a lovey for a first Easter, then a first Halloween, then a turkey with a rattle in the tail. Now 6 of those dates have a shelf of their own, and the rest of the range stays deliberately plain, because most of the year is not a holiday.

Two things this range does not do. It has nothing for a toddler who wants to build, sort or take apart, because everything here is soft and nothing here has parts. And the musical pieces hold a sound box, so they get wiped rather than washed, which makes them the wrong gift for a household that wants to throw a toy in with the sheets.

A Infant Embroidered Activity Bib with Teether, Crinkle, Touchable Ribbons, Orange Pumpkin, Jack-o-Lantern face, Halloween from Baby Starters
Infant Embroidered Activity Bib with Teether, Crinkle, Touchable Ribbons, Orange Pumpkin, Jack-o-Lantern face, Halloween. One of the pieces that came back approved.

Before they can turn a page

Books made of cloth, and bibs that do two jobs

Crinkle pages, a teether on a ribbon and a strap for the stroller bar. The bibs carry the same three things on the front, so mealtime doubles as something to chew.

All books and bibs

Prices are the ones we recorded at our last update. Every button opens that piece on our retail partner's site in a new tab.

What is actually in there

Rattle, crinkle, teether: what each one adds

Counted across the whole range at our last update. A baby of four months and a baby of ten months want different things out of the same toy, and the count below shows which of those the shelves are heavy on.

What it addsPiecesWhat a baby does with it
Embroidery63Stitched features instead of moulded plastic, so nothing can work loose.
Satin trim33One smooth edge. Babies find it with a thumb and keep hold of it.
Rattle27Shakes when an arm moves, which is how a baby learns the arm is theirs.
Crinkle22A sheet of foil between two layers. Loud, dry and endlessly repeatable.
Teether21A ring or a ribbon firm enough for gums, attached so it cannot be swallowed.
Travel hook or strap21A loop for a pram bar or a car seat handle, so it rides along.
Music10A sound box that plays one tune, wound or pressed.
Light-up7A soft glow through the plush, on a timer rather than a switch.
Baby mirror4A safety mirror sewn into the body, for the months before faces make sense.
Squeaker4A press-to-squeak insert, usually in a foot.
Vibration pull4Pull the ring and the toy jiggles its way back up.

For the pram bar

Rattles, chimes and things that clip on

The busy end of the Baby Starters range: a rattle in the body, a teether on a ribbon, a hook for the pram bar. These are the pieces that go out of the house.

All rattles and toys

Prices are the ones we recorded at our last update. Every button opens that piece on our retail partner's site in a new tab.

Keeping them

Washing, and the part people get wrong

A favourite toy gets washed more than anything else in the house. Five habits keep a Baby Starters piece looking like the one that arrived.

Wash it before the first night. New plush carries lint from the cutting room. A cold gentle cycle knocks it off and softens the pile, and it is the last easy wash you will get before the toy becomes irreplaceable.

Zip it into a pillowcase. Satin trim catches on zips and on the drum. A pillowcase with a knot in the end costs nothing and saves the edge, which is the part a baby holds.

Cold water, no bleach. Warm water flattens plush and dulls embroidery thread. Cold keeps the pile standing and the colours where they started.

Air dry, out of the sun. A dryer melts the crinkle sheet inside an activity toy and can stiffen it for good. Lay the toy flat, turn it once, and it is dry by morning. Daylight fades red and orange faster than washing does.

Buy the second one early. The toy a baby chooses is chosen in the first fortnight, and lines sell through. If a piece has become the favourite, a spare is the cheapest insurance in the nursery.

Before it goes in the crib

A soft toy is for playtime, not for sleeping

Everything on this site is a toy, and a toy belongs in arms rather than in a crib. We print that here because a lovey is exactly the kind of thing people tuck in with the best intentions.

Two national bodies say it plainly, and both pages are linked below with the date we read them. Keep the toy for floor time, laps and the pram. Check the seams and the embroidery each time it comes out of the wash, and stop using a piece whose stitching has opened.

“The safest way for a baby to sleep is flat on their back without pillows, blankets, or toys in their sleep space.”

U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Safe Sleep: Cribs and Infant Products. Read 11 September 2026.

“Even though a crib with nothing in it except a fitted sheet covering the mattress may seem bare, it is the safest option for baby.”

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Safe Sleep Environment for Baby. Read 11 September 2026.

Questions

Asked before most orders

How old does a baby have to be?

Every piece here is made for a newborn upwards, and the range is not sorted by age because a rattle does not become unsafe at six months. What changes is what a baby does with it: at two months they look, at four they grab, at eight they chew and shake. The card for each piece says which of those it is built around.

Is the rattle sewn in or does it come out?

Sewn in. On the dolls and the lovies the rattle sits inside the body or the head, so there is nothing to remove and nothing to lose under a car seat. The pieces with a removable teether say so on their own page.

Can these go in the washing machine?

Yes, cold and gentle, inside a pillowcase, and air dried. The care section above has the five habits that matter. The musical and light-up pieces are the exception: those hold a sound box and should be wiped rather than soaked.

What is the difference between a lovey and a snuggle buddy?

A lovey is flat: a small square of blanket with a head, light enough for a baby to lift in one hand. A snuggle buddy has a body and sits up. Babies under six months usually take to the flat one first, because there is less of it to hold.

Do you sell the licensed characters directly?

The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Little Blue Truck and the nursery rhyme books are made under licence and sit on the same shelves as everything else. They are listed under Storybook Friends if that is what you came for.

Where do the prices come from?

From our own last update, and the date is printed in the footer of every page. Prices move, so treat the figure on a card as the number we recorded rather than a promise.