No-Nonsense Teaching: 3 Reasons this Mirror is Great for Babies and Toddlers

The very first time I placed a mirror in front of my 1 month old, I knew that including a mirror as part of playtime was essential. My little guy stared at himself, studying every part of body. He then moved on to studying his environment and toys in the mirror's reflection. I observed that he was enamoured with comparing what was happening in the mirror and what he could see while not looking in the mirror. Using the mirror always won out, keeping him very engaged. His engagement propelled me to find different sizes and structures of mirrors that would best suit his needs. If I could only choose one mirror, I would always choose a large wall mirror. Large wall mirrors mounted as close to the floor as possible, will grow with your baby as he/she grows into a toddler. That being said, I bought another mirror that I purchased at IKEA and have found to be indispensable.

Here are 3 reasons why I love this particular mirror:

1. The mirror itself is a good size.

Most of the mirrors I found for babies were just too small. My little guy could see his face but not the rest of his body. A small sized mirror did not keep him engaged for long. I also had to keep moving the mirror so that it stayed in front of him as he was learning to move around. This did not allow for uninterrupted play.

Then I found this mirror at IKEA and was a great size. My baby could move his head, body, arms and legs around and still see most of himself in the mirror. Once he learned to sit up, the mirror was tall enough so that he could see his full self. Even now, at 14 months, he brings his toys to sit in front the mirror to watch himself play.

2. The mirror can stand on its own, making it easily portable.

I also like the fact that this mirror closes up for easy transport and can stand up by itself. It has been useful in hotel rooms and especially for specific play activities that I prefer to set up in different rooms of the house. For example, I really liked to use it in the bathroom during water play. It was so easy to stand the mirror in front of him while he splashed around the water. Moving water play to the bathroom also helped me with easier clean-up.

3. The mirror can be attached to baby gates.

Although the mirror comes with instructions to attach it to a wall, I prefer to fold back the shutters on the mirror and use the velcro already attached to the mirror to hang it on any gate or play pen with bars. Again, having this kind of portability has been very useful as I can easily move the mirror from room to room.

Currently, my son enjoys sitting in front of this mirror and dropping his toys behind it. He then spends lots of time trying to slide the mirror up the gate bars to retrieve his toys.