LAMAZE Jacques the Peacock, Clip on Pram and Pushchair Newborn Baby Toy, Sensory Toy for Babies Boys and Girls from 0 to 6 Months

Well, this has got to be the best use of a fiver I've ever spent! As soon as I got it out the box my little girl (who was about 3 months old) stared at it and wanted to grab it! It's her favourite toy at home, had so much abuse from all the pulling, scrunching, chewing, throwing about, etc and it still looks good. She loves the bright colours and the different textures on the toy, very good for her developmental skills. The back of the wings are patterned black and white which she will happily stare at for several minutes. Because it's so brightly coloured it helps her with her hand-eye coordination with grabbing certain parts. A must-have for any baby, both me and my daughter love this toy and so glad I bought it. The best part for me is that this toy can be put in the washing machine - so convenient as it gets so much use it's starting to look a bit iffy but a wash will bring it straight back to life. A month on and she is still as much in love with it as before!Lamaze toys are good for babies as we bought the cone one with a mirror and soft handle on it and she loved that too but this toy gets so much more attention now!

Well, this has got to be the best use of a fiver I've ever spent! As soon as I got it out the box my little girl (who was about 3 months old) stared at it and wanted to grab it! It's her favourite toy at home, had so much abuse from all the pulling, scrunching, chewing, throwing about, etc and it still looks good. She loves the bright colours and the different textures on the toy, very good for her developmental skills. The back of the wings are patterned black and white which she will happily stare at for several minutes. Because it's so brightly coloured it helps her with her hand-eye coordination with grabbing certain parts. A must-have for any baby, both me and my daughter love this toy and so glad I bought it. The best part for me is that this toy can be put in the washing machine - so convenient as it gets so much use it's starting to look a bit iffy but a wash will bring it straight back to life. A month on and she is still as much in love with it as before!Lamaze toys are good for babies as we bought the cone one with a mirror and soft handle on it and she loved that too but this toy gets so much more attention now!

I have bought this toy for my daughter when she was around 7 weeks old and have initially hanged it so that she could see the back of the toy - it is made of a round red base with black and white patterns on the four "wings" and resembles a half-flower with four petals. The black and white high-contrast patterns are great for the younger babies, so my daughter spent many happy hours fascinated by it and just hitting the toy with her fist.At around 10 weeks she was able to turn the peacock around and reveal the side full of colour. Then came the textures - there are plenty of "bits" for the little hands to catch. It seems that there is no end to her finding enjoyment in this toy as she discovers different features step by step (she still hasn't discovered the squeaker and the rattle). At 3 months now, she is trying to put it in her mouth whenever I unhook it, however I think that it works best hanged nearby as it is quite large and covers her entire face when played with.Overall this is one of the best toys I bought for my daughter so far and she plays with it for long spells of time daily. It is of Lamaze quality (i.e. top) and very cleverly designed to appeal to a growing baby throught different stages of development.

Has been my baby’s favourite toy from birth (nearly 1yo now!), I always buy one for every friend who has had a baby since!

Lamaze is always great quality and lovely toys. Made a perfect gift

There's no doubting that I think the Lamaze Play & Grow range of toys are wonderful and I'm pretty sure eight month old Freddy agrees with me. He now has so many of these toys that we rotate them, so he only has one or two out at a time to play with. Today's Lamaze toy of choice was Jacques The Peacock and Freddy has spent a good part of the day exploring all Jacques different activities and textures.==Play & Grow==Jacques is part of the Lamaze Grow And Learn range of toys. Now I'll freely admit that I hadn't even heard of this range of toys until very recently, with them only coming to my notice after reading reviews on various sites, but after having bought this toy in the range I will be buying more. Jacques follows Lamaze's own 'Infant Development System' and provides activities that will help baby's development in a variety of ways. While the toys themselves don't change, the way baby plays with them evolves through different developmental stages, so the toy bought to visually stimulate a new born is still helping a baby learn at 2 years old. There's a huge range of Lamaze toys available, many of them suitable from new born and prices range from under £10.==Bonjour Jacques==While Jacques is supposed to be a peacock, I can't say that he really looks like one, to my eye he looks more like a pigeon, but I guess that's not really the point. The point is that Jacques is a brightly coloured soft toy, filled to the brim with activities just waiting to be explored. Measuring in at 30cm from wing tip to wing tip and weighing just 90g, he's the perfect size for Freddy to hold. Jacques has a lovely, squidgy, bean filled plush body and a soft stuffed head. His big, friendly eyes are securely stitched (rather than being buttons, his feet and comb are made of a felt material, while his arms (do peacocks actually have arms, I'm pretty sure they don't) and beak are made of a silky, satin-like material. The whole head and body are a pastel blue, bar Jacques' tummy, which sports the distinctive Lamaze label and his bright red bum.And now onto the Jacques' really special feature, that is his tail feathers which are full of different textures and activities. Jacques has a total of four tail feathers (I've just worked out those arms are actually probably his wings), the back of which feature high contrast black and white patterns that are so good at attracting the attention of even very young babies. On the front of each of the feathers there is a different activity or texture for baby to explore. One of the feathers features three smaller feathers, all of which are different sizes and made of different materials. There's a purple one made of cord, another yellow towelling one and another is made of ordinary orange and red patterned material, while the main wing is silky satin with various shades of green. The second feather holds a small baby safe mirror, while the third has a rattle enclosed in cord material and surrounded with little tags. The final feather features a satin covered squeaker and soft plush pom-pom. All four feathers are quite stiff and crinkle when touched. Jacques' final feature is a clip for attaching him to a pram, cot or buggy, which is attached to his head by a piece of slightly elasticated material.==Freddy et Jacques==Freddy first got Jacques about three months ago, when he was five months old and to be honest he wasn't actually all that interested to begin with. This was probably because he prefers his other Lamaze toys, especially the ones with teething rings. I suppose he did check Jacques out, but didn't really play with him for long before ditching him. However, just recently, we've been limiting the number of toys Freddy has out at a time, and now Jacques does get played with (as long as he doesn't have any competition).Freddy will often hold Jacques by the clip and then shake him around to make him rattle, or he'll fiddle with the different materials, rubbing them between his fingers. He also likes to chew and suck on the silky wings (I'm assuming that's what they are, as peacocks definitely do not have arms) and fiddle with the tags. Although he knows that there's a squeaker and laughs when Mummy or Daddy press it, he can't actually make it work himself, no matter how hard he hits it. Freddy also likes to spend time just making the wings crinkle. He also loves the pram clip, not as a clip, but as a teether and will spend ages chewing it. As with any mirror, Freddy loves talking to 'the other baby', but just recently he's found a new use for mirrors (this one included) and can often be seen reflecting the light from the window onto the ceiling.==Learning Through Play==Although babies are learning constantly, I like to buy Freddy toys that encourage him to develop all important skills and the Lamaze Play & Grow range fits that bill perfectly. From the high contrast black and white patterns helping a newborn develop their vision to the squeaker rewarding improving hand-eye coordination, Jacques has something to offer from newborn to toddler-hood. The mirror and friendly face can aid social development, while there are lots of different textures for baby to explore with both their hands and mouth. While improving hand-eye coordination is instantly rewarded by the rattle, crinkly feathers and squeaker.What Jacques isn't, is a toy that's really suitable as a comforting cuddly. Although his body is huggable, the feathers are too large and stiff for Freddy to be able to give him a proper hug, which is a shame really.==Durability==If you have a young child, then you know just how rough they can be with their toys and because of this I always see if I can pull a toy apart before giving it to Freddy. This may seem a bit over the top, but I know that if a toy can survive this then it will be able to survive anything Freddy can throw at it. I've pulled at all of Jacques seams and tags and he's survived without any issues. He is extremely well made, with no loose seams or threads. I also like the fact that his eyes are stitched rather than being made of buttons as this means there's no bits that can come loose and create a choking hazard.While the pram clip is a great idea, in practise it's not quite as practical as it seems. It doesn't actually close and it didn't take Freddy long to work out how to remove it from his buggy strap and so throw Jacques on the floor. And I'm afraid Jacques isn't machine washable, so he's getting a little bit grubby even with the occasional sponge clean.==Fin==Don't get me wrong Jacques the Peacock is a lovely soft toy full of activities for babies to explore, but, he's just not one of Freddy's favourites. However, the bright colours attract quite young babies attention and the activities then keep the attention of older babies and it is yet another toy from Lamaze that lives up to the 'Play and Grow' promise, with the same toy being appropriate for young babies and toddlers. This is also a toy that is suitable from newborn, one that I would definitely recommend and one that would make a lovely gift for a baby who is beginning to take notice of the world around them. And so I'm giving Jacques The Peacock a healthy four stars out of five, with him only losing that one star because he's not got quite as many activities as some of the other toys in the range.

Lots of different parts for baby to explore