Before I became a parent, I was always warned over and over again about trying to keep electronics, battery operated toys, and sound making toys out of the house. The reason behind this was that they'd drive me crazy and also because we'd churn through expensive batteries like nobody's business. Well, I'm 12+ months into becoming a parent, and I can tell you that we have 20+ noisemakers in the house all with batteries and all with repetitive soundtracks. If I'm in the shower, it's highly likely that I am humming a tune to one of these toys. However, the expense of batteries is softened by having an Ikea close by that offers affordable options for double and triple-A batteries.

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