Cot Mobiles - Should You Buy One?

Cot mobiles are a nursery staple: baby roombaby needs some visual stimulation.
decoration has changed alot in the last 40 years, butSome experts feel that babies enjoy and learn best
this is one thing that seems to remain a constant.when objects are suspended within view. Mobiles are
Should you add this feature to your baby's sleepingindeed popular: you find them everywhere in baby
area? Read on and make up your mind.stores, and most of us had one as a baby ourselves.
Some people say that infants are already overloadedCan so many people really be so wrong?
with equipment and toys, and don't need any more. It isFurther weight to this argument is provided by a
true that newborns are presented with more andfascinating study was carried out some time ago. A
more baby paraphernalia than ever before. There isloosely tied ribbon around a young baby's ankle was
something about a new baby: it seems people cannotattached to a mobile, so that when the infant moved
resist present buying on an ever-increasing scale.their leg, they also moved the mobile. This was
Any new parent will tell you how touched they arerepeated with many babies and it soon became
that virtual strangers and out-of-touch relatives neverapparent that they understood the cause and effect
fail to surprise them with generous baby shower gifts.relationship (i.e. 'I know that I am controlling the mobile').
Such generosity is to be commended, but can lead toWhat is more, the babies absolutely loved being able
waste and/or unnecessary baby items filling anto control the mobile in this way, and previously
already chaotic home.unresponsive infants started to smile more regularly for
Let's look at the argument in favour of the cot mobile.example.
Firstly, mobiles are generally very colorful, and theThis is only one study and the results should be
advantages of high-contrast patterns for newborntreated with caution, but it is interesting food for
visual development has been well researched. Athought.
mobile is especially attractive to a baby lying in anWhile not everybody agrees on the value of having
otherwise completely pastel nursery. Soft colorcot mobiles in the nursery, the evidence in favor
schemes are good, but not the whole story. Everydefinitely outweighs the arguments against them.