in not buying my DS much for christmas

[Morph2]

He is only 18 months. I've got him a Henry hoover which cost £20, some wooden fruit which was about £5, a cuddley Po from teletubbies which was £10, also had a tea set £5 but he spotted it so i've let him have it already. I was also gonna buy a tent from ikea but they are out of stock all the time so i'm gonna get that for his birthday in May.

I really can't see the point of buying him loads at his age just for the sake buying stuff for christmas. He's had bits and bobs through the year, i don't spend a fortune but for example i spotted a fisher price little people garage on ebay near us the other week so i bought for £4 and he's had that straight way. One of his baby friends mums i am friends with on ebay, i saw on her status she had posted 'Average spend on children for christmas is £178, whose kids am i buying for????' which i take it to mean she spent more that that. they are not rich but i know she's bought her 18m DS an electric car and a dancing elmo toy which is about £60 odd quid. I'm not rich but i'm not poor, i could afford to spend more if i really wanted to i just can't see the point at this age. Am i being tight?

One of my friends with older kids told me the more you give kids the more the want and the less grateful they are.

DD (4 mths) will only be getting a few token presents. I really don't think she'd care if she had nothing!

Sniggering a bit at how everyone just pretty much ignored Fabby

Because DS is only 14mo I am getting him quite a bit of stuff that he would need throughout the year like clothes and toys that are a bit too big/old for him, as his needs change so fast.

OP, there's only so much plastic tat you can stock up on. Do yourself a favour and give yourself (and your poor house!) a break. If you really feel that awful, buy a nice 3 pack of sleep suits from Sainsburys for about £5 and wrap them up. More under the tree and useful. I did this last year and was more than pleased I did when we were a bit short and ds helpfully had a growth spurt!

If you want to spend more, put extra money into a savings account. He'll thank you when they start work/leave home/go into further education. And he won't remember what toys he had when he was 18 months old.

Flabby our DD's have always had socks and a toothbrush in their stockings. It's a tradition and they love it. Of. course they get other stuff as well.

Inspired by this thread I've checked just what I've bought DD (will be 20 months at Christmas) for her stocking, and found a toothbrush and toothpaste in there! Clearly I am a very bad mummy

YANBU at all! DC3 will be 4mths at christmas and so far DH and I have bought her a bib

DS(9) is getting lego, science kit, deadly 60 stuff and some stocking fillers.
DD(7) is getting an ipod nano, secret diary and some crafty things as well as stocking fillers.

DH and I are often horrified when we hear what some friends buy for their kids.

DD2 is happy playing peek a boo and snuggling!

I think you are giving him plenty My dd is 19 months and it sounds quite similar to what she is getting.

It can be hard when other people seem to be spending an arm and a leg and it does make you feel a bit bad. One of my friends has been planning and buying for her same age dd since june. TBH i think it is ridiculous. They are still basically babies and have no clue what the day means or any expectations. Whenever I hear of people spending so much on toddlers and babies I think why not just put the money in a bank account and use it when they will care about getting the latest apple gadget. I'm sure their DC would appreciate that much more.

I don't know why there always seem to be so many threads about how much you are spending, it isn't a competition to see how spends the most, or the least! Spend what you feel is right and what you can afford, it doesn't matter what other people are doing.

Not all children want more expensive things as they get older, when I was a little girl I used to look through my mum's catalogue and want nearly every toy going, but I never wanted a TV for my room or a computer or anything like that, so I never really wanted anything expensive as I got older.

I do have a tendency to overdo it, but I do look for bargains and try to choose things that I think will be well played with and last for years.

I have always had to hold myself back when buying presents for DD1 for Christmas - there was always lots of stuff I wanted to get for her, but on the other hand I didn't want to overwhelm her (or spoil her).

This year she is 4, and I am having to really rein myself in, there are so many things I know she would love, she is into so many different things, but I don't want to shower her with loads of presents, I want to think carefully and pick out one or two things that I know she will really really enjoy and spend time playing with (plus a few more bits and pieces for her stocking, possibly including socks!).

It's not so much about the cost of the gift for me, more about getting something nice (although I wouldn't spend more than I could afford). If I could get her present second hand for a fraction of the cost, I would, and I would try very hard to stop myself buying more stuff so I had "spent more" on her.

I'm the adult, I need to know when to say enough is enough, not necessarily in financial terms, but in terms of volume of stuff.