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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Not to buy baby toys!

22 replies

Graciescotland · 15/10/2010 16:33

DS is 8wks old. HV seemed a little shocked that I didn't have a brightly coloured plastic dangly thing for a sight test and pointed me in direction of local nearly new sale.

TBH it's not the money although I love a bargain :) Is it really obligatory to have a house full of plastic crap educational toys while he's so young?

OP posts:
passionberry · 15/10/2010 16:41

I didn't get any toys at first - the longer you can keep your house free of plastic tat the better imo!

She had a few soft rattles as presents which she seemed to like but tbh it's only now (6 months) that she is beginning to really enjoy toys.

I know a lot of people say that mobiles/baby gyms/ bouncy chairs are good but dd just wanted to be picked up and cuddled until very recently.

YANBU Smile

BuntyPenfold · 15/10/2010 16:41

No YANBU
All he needs is you :)

However, in a few months you will have a houseful of said plastic crap. It breeds.

AngryPixie · 15/10/2010 16:43

Your baby - your choice, but the play gym thing and similarly a mobile were a lifesaver for me.

Don't know if they were educational in anyway but it bought me time to wash or make a cup of tea.

And Baby Mozart, Ye Gods, I could have put that educational crap on a loop and gone out for dinner Grin

lurcherlover · 15/10/2010 16:45

Do a search for "sew liberated" and read her blog - she's an American mother who is raising her son without any plastic crap in the house whatsoever. TBH some stuff she's doing is a bit hardcore for me ("elimination communication", ie minimal use of nappies!) but I really like some of her toy ideas.

MrsLucasNorth · 15/10/2010 16:46

Didn't really have any toys for dd as such until she was about 6-8 months. She had a very sedate Mamas & Papas playmat which had a bar with a few pastel coloured soft toys and a few fabric books. She used to love having a helium balloon tied on her bouncy chair though. Would pull it down, look at her reflection and laugh her head off as it bobbed back up again!

lennon80 · 15/10/2010 16:48

YANBU I dont plan to buy any toys for this baby until he is at least 3 months..totally unnecessary IMO. Plastic tat will come later I am sure but for the moment no thanks.

OooeeeoooeeeoooeeEthel · 15/10/2010 16:51

Another one here who hates buying plastic tat. Thats what christmas is for, surely?

duchesse · 15/10/2010 16:58

My daughter (13 mo) was given a bagful conventional toys by a friend when she was 2 months. They held her attention until about ooh, 4-5 months. The things that she likes now that she can pobble around and get what she wants, are: A seriously bizarre looking thing that is the blender stand. A pastry brush. The people from her wooden bus. Not the bus, just the passengers. The kitchen bin (games involving the bus people and the bin have led to the loss of several passengers and resulted in us stopping using the bin for rubbish).

She has a heuristic playbox made up of odds and sods that she loves. Plastic crap is not necessary imo.

What is necessary for your DS at his age is objects that will stimulate him to use his body- things that he wants to reach out and touch, and put in his mouth and feel with his feet. Things that make him want to travel to get. You may not want plastic stuff in your house, but he needs things that interest him, whatever they may be.

PutTheKettleOn · 15/10/2010 17:02

hmm, maybe not at that age, but the time will come earlier than you think when they need some stimulation - DD2 is 16 weeks now and loves her playmat and various dangly toys/rattles, I'd say it was probably around 8 weeks that she started getting into them. Her favourite is this one. Agree you don't need much though, they grow out of them so quickly!

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 15/10/2010 17:02

By the time DS was 8/9 weeks he howled if laid flat because he wanted to be able to see what was going on, so we bought him one of those nest/gym things. It was brilliant, he would lie in it quite happily for about 10-15 minutes as long as I kept popping in and out of the room and talking to him - which meant I got to actually make myself some lunch and a cup of tea!

But no, you don't need loads of stuff. One of my dearest friends bought about a ton of stuff before her DD was born, and keeps buying. And then wondering why her house is never tidy...... Wink

Meglet · 15/10/2010 17:06

yanbu while he is little but when he is older it woudn't hurt to get some toys ready.

The nearly new sales are so cheap you may aswell go along and see whats available.

WowOoo · 15/10/2010 17:10

My sons' favourites are most kitchen utensils. (and any thing shiny and dangerous)

Toys are handy when you want them occupied safely somewhere. when your ds is older of course!

Resist the tat. You've saved yourself a small fortune of future junk to deal with already.

Psychommead · 15/10/2010 17:11

Why does it have to be plastic crap or nothing? Brightly painted wooden toys are lovely. The first thing that DD took an interest in was a large soft ball with a bell inside.

Psychommead · 15/10/2010 17:12

BTW, one of her fave toys now is a ping pong ball inside a normal whisk.

Alibabaandthe40nappies · 15/10/2010 17:13

Yes we have some lovely soft blocks that were one of the first things we bought DS, he still loves them now and howls if I suggest we put them away.

lollymad · 15/10/2010 17:22

Not necessarily plactic tat, but some soft toys with bells in or crinkly bits can be good. I bought a play mat/gym thing for DD (now 4) from a charity shop and both mine have loved it.
DS (now 6 months) particularly loves anything with the crinkly cellophane inside, oh and anything that can work as a teether!

lollymad · 15/10/2010 17:25

*plastic, even. It is Friday, isn't it?!?!

pickledbabe · 15/10/2010 17:28

I had a customer once who said that she wasn't allowed to buy any plastic for the child. she leftwithout a purchase because the buggy books have plastic straps and other such reasons.
I think think she misunderstood the parent, personally - not all plastic! just plastic crap!
I thought it would be hard to eliminate any plastic, because most things these days are made of plastic - even the ink that they use on the paper to print the books is oil-based!

bobdog · 15/10/2010 17:37

YANBU, nursery call it 'heuristic' play, we had lots of eyebrows raised - it was a short term, very small space thing that kept us strong and resisting educational stuff (plastic or wooden'. So two kids and five years down the line, while everyone else is trying to palm off large slightly grubby 'educational' tat we're smugly putting the wooden spoons back in the drawer, the colourful applique cot quilt has gone from play mat to bed and the set of stacking cups is still being played with.

Be strong, buy lots of board books to read/look at, a set of stacking cups and a fluffy thing - thats your lot till they really start developing their own interests.

Original poster
Graciescotland · 15/10/2010 18:14

Thanks nice to know I'm not a mean mummy! I love the helium balloon idea and I'll definitely look at baby mozart, soft blocks and stacking cups. Both DH and I are readers so I'm sure he'll have lots of books :)

OP posts:
MrsLucasNorth · 15/10/2010 20:42

If you tie a little bell to the ribbon of the balloon you get sound effects too!

Fibilou · 15/10/2010 21:45

we have toys, quite a few of 'em. they are all a waste of money as DD prefers to play with a bit of ribbon, paper, the carpet, boxes or the cats. Fortunately we only ever buy stuff from NCT or charity shops so no great expenditure.

Toys are an overrated waste of money

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