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Meet my son, Nathanael. Nate’s a little different than most babies. He has Severe Hemophilia B, which is a serious bleeding disorder. There was a 1 in 30,000 chance my bubby could’ve been born with this disorder. But our little boy is blessed!
Alizabeth Swain
One of the hardest things about living with a baby with a severe bleeding disorder is ensuring he doesn’t cut himself or hit his head. Head and mouth wounds have sent us to the ER too many times.
When he was first diagnosed with this disease, I had to go through and get rid of so many of his favorite toys. There were many toys that he had previously played with that had some hard plastic or wood, which could potentially cause a bruise (or cut) if he hit himself with it.
I’m trying not to get into too much detail. There are a whole lot of rules. Basically, anything that could cause him any injury had to be gotten rid of. That meant that my poor little baby was left with very few toys to play with. My mama heart hurt so much; it was really sad to see how limited my son’s toy collection became.
That’s why I will always have a special spot in my heart for the Squishable company. They have a collection of baby products in their new Picnic Baby Line. These are Squishables that you and I know and love but are more appealing to babies. They have ribbons, rattles, bells, and other exciting things for babies to play with.
But is the Squishable Picnic Baby worth the investment? Keep reading to find out!
Bottom line up front: I really loved the Squishable Picnic Baby. Nathanael wasn’t picky about his toys, but the sushi was his favorite!
What is the Squishable Picnic Baby Line?
Alizabeth Swain
The Squishable picnic baby line features four squishables with fun sensory features. These aren’t just great toys for babies. I bought an additional one to give to my niece, who is two years old. She got the banana and absolutely loved it.
The Squishables in this collection have some additional sensory features like grips, extra textures, or sounds (like bells). Honestly, I think the pricing for these Squishables is outstanding.
I was blown away that they were under $20. I was able to buy the whole line for $60. I take these with me wherever we go, and each one offers developmental benefits for Nate.
In the Squishable Picnic Baby line, there are:
- Baby Shrimp Sushi
- Baby Pineapple
- Baby Banana
- Baby Avocado
Ordering
Alizabeth Swain
The entire process of ordering these baby Squishables online was SO easy! I just added everything to my cart, added my shipping information, and checked out. It took about a week and a half for everything to arrive at my door. I like that the entire order came in plastic packaging, making it pretty waterproof.
Plus, everything was wrapped really tightly together, so I wasn’t worried about any possible water damage. Since everything was a piece of fabric, and I didn’t care too much about the boxes, I’m not upset that there wasn’t any additional packaging foam included with the order.
I was super impressed none of the cardboard came damaged!
Baby Shrimp Sushi
Alizabeth Swain
When I pulled this out of the shipping box, this was the first one that won my heart. I would say this Squishable is around the size of half of a football. It isn’t heavy at all, not that I was expecting it to be.
The bottom part of this Squishable is supposed to be rice. The base of the fabric is white, with a light blue and lime green floral print on the fabric. On the bottom part of the rice, there is a cute little face sewn into the sushi rice. Just the texture on the sushi rice face is one part where there’s a unique texture for your baby to feel.
Wrapped around the entire shrimp sushi is supposed to be nori. This is a green cotton ribbed fabric. I love the contrast featured with the green against the white and pink of the rest of the sushi. For me, the soft ribbed fabric was really comforting to run my fingers across.
The top part of the sushi is the shrimp. The main design of the shrimp is a light pink and medium pink chevron pattern. The shrimp still has its tail attached, of course. I love how a few pieces of ribbon stick out toward the shrimp’s tail.
The shrimp’s tail is crinkly, and the ribbons loop around so you can stick your fingers in them. I feel like the butt end of this shrimp sushi Squishable has so many fun textures and activities for your little one.
Nate spent a lot of time chewing on the crunchy shrimp tail. When I put this in the car with him, he tended to focus on looping his fingers through the ribbons.
But wait, there’s more! The top part of the shrimp also has a small section with a plush, almost fur-like material sticking out. Nate really didn’t pay this part of the Squishable too much attention, but I did like that it was there to give him more of a sensory experience later on.
My biggest complaint about this baby shrimp sushi was that it was a little big for a smaller baby. Nate is tall, but he isn’t very chunky. I found that he struggled to hold on to this entire piece of sushi when he wanted to chew on the tail. But, as he’s gotten bigger, this is proving to be less of a problem for him.
Nate’s thoughts:
- Shaped like one of his favorite foods
- Lots of fun textures to chew on
- Easy to throw across the room thanks to the loops
- Fun to snuggle with on car rides
- The crunchiness on the shrimp tale is AWESOME
Baby Pineapple
Alizabeth Swain
The next thing we received in our order was the baby pineapple. I know I said the shrimp sushi was one of my favorites, but I think they all are. I love how bright and colorful this pineapple is. The pattern features white, pink, teal, yellow, red, and orange floral patterns. There are many different colors to look at and pay attention to.
I will admit that I was a bit surprised at the texture of the fabric on the body of the pineapple. I expected this to be soft, but it almost had that rough cotton texture.
The face was soft and plush. I also like how the face was raised away from the rest of the body, so it gave Nate another texture to experience. There is a hatched pattern in the pineapple body, so I would watch Nate run his fingers across where the sewing lines were!
Towards the crown of the pineapple, there are two loop ribbons. One looped ribbon was white, and the other was red. Again love the contrast in different colors in this. The pineapple crown featured a striped dark green sprout and a chevron lighter green sprout.
There was a lot of contrast between these two sections of the pineapple crown. Both of them had crunchy textures in them. Nathanael would chew on this part of the pineapple for hours. Plus, I could just sit this in his lap with the way it’s shaped. He didn’t have to worry about picking it up to teeth on it!
The best part of this Squishable is it has a little bell inside of it!
Nate’s thoughts:
- Hard to hold onto because it’s so big
- Cool bell sound
- Fun to chew on loop ribbons
- Loves to stare at the bright yellow for hours
Baby Banana
Alizabeth Swain
The baby banana was the smallest Squishable out of all the Squishables in this line. It was skinny and easy to hold! I also thoroughly enjoyed the pattern on this Squishable. The peel of the banana was a rough yellow cotton material. The inside part of the peel had a blue floral pattern printed on satin. It almost reminds me of a couch that I would find in my parent’s home back in the late 90s.
The actual banana itself is white and yellow with a chevron pattern. The face of the banana was sewn on, so it left a bit of a raised texture that Nate would run his fingers across.
This toy had no bells on it or in it, so it was quiet. I liked the size of this Squishable, but I feel it wasn’t as complex as the other options in the line. I do like how the four parts of the banana peel that were peeled off the banana had a crinkle texture on them. Nate would crinkle this with his fingers.
My biggest complaint about the banana is that I didn’t have any of that looped ribbon on it. So there wasn’t anything easy for Nate to hold onto with his little hands while he was trying to hold onto the banana. But as he got bigger, it was much easier for him to hold onto the bottom part of the banana to chew on the peel.
Nate’s thoughts:
- Small enough to hold (and throw)
- Great for teething
- Sad there’s no fun sound on this one
- Doesn’t like to share this with anyone
A Baby Avocado
Alizabeth Swain
Last but certainly not least, there was the avocado. The avocado is big, similar to the pineapple in size. The shell of the avocado had a similar texture to the peel of the banana. It was that rough, straight cotton with a dark green color. The actual meat of the avocado was a light green chevron pattern.
I love the seed on this avocado. It’s a light brown, has a plush fabric, and the eyes, mouth, and blush are also sewn in. I think the blush is super cute! I love to see that on the Squishable.
The top of the avocado did have a looped ribbon. I also love that it had a satin stem, which added another element to the texture of this avocado. Inside the avocado was a bell, so you got a little bit of everything with this one too.
Nate’s thoughts:
- Shaped like another one of his favorite foods
- Green is such a cool color
- Likes poking at the blushed cheeks
- Great to snuggle with when his pet cat doesn’t want to cuddle
- Too big to throw on the ground or hit someone with (which is a pro for me)
Alternatives
So, I wouldn’t say there are any alternatives to consider on the market. There isn’t anything out there that combines sensory play with cuddliness like Squishable did with their Picnic Baby line. Sure, there are other snuggly toys out there. But nothing combines the texture, sound, and visuals all in one toy. There aren’t any other alternatives I would recommend for these toys.
FAQs
Question: What is the Point of a Squishable?
Answer: They’re super comforting! I mean, who wouldn’t want a personal hug buddy they can bring around with them everywhere?
Question: Are Squishables Toxic?
Answer: No, they’re not toxic! They’re filled with Polyester fibers, but no toxic chemicals are used in the creation of Squishables.
Question: What’s inside of a Squishables?
Answer: Squishables are filled with polyester fibers. Squishables have their own blend of polyester materials they use to fill their toys with, which is part of what makes them so unique!
Should Your Baby Get the Squishable Picnic Baby Line?
Your babe would be better off with the Picnic Baby line in their life! There’s been a few nights where I’ve found myself with the pineapple cuddled on my lap. I’ve found the toys to be comforting too. I LOVE the bells in the toys; I love the sound they make. I think $15 for a super squishy sensory toy for your babe or toddler is affordable. Nothing is saying you have to get the whole line!
They’re very durable, fun, and cute, and they’ll last for years to come! They almost all offer the same sensory benefits. The only one that’s a little bit different is the banana.
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