To have bought DS a toy pram?

[Sansarya]

DS is 16 months and for a while now has loved nothing better than to play with the wheels of his strollers. He is obsessed with them and even when I used to take him to playgroup and rhyme time I'd spend all my time trying to stop him leaving the circle to play with the wheels of the various strollers that were there.

So I figured that perhaps the best thing to do was get him a toy pram so that he could play with that instead. Found one on Gumtree (in blue so hardly a pink princess type pram!) so bought that for him but the comments from my family! My brother kept saying "but he's a BOY, why don't you buy him a car instead?" and my mum kept putting the pram away when she visited and made a point of telling relatives and friends how my brother was "horrified" that I had bought DS a pram. Recently I sent her a photo of DS sitting in it while it was folding down and pretending it was a go-kart and her comment was "ah, that's what boys should do with prams".

FFS, it's almost as if they're afraid that if you give a boy a toy pram he might grow up to be.... a father??

What sort of message does that send to a child - that something they enjoy-is shameful and wrong? That stuff runs deep.

We had a saying when DS1 was little; "we like it, we buy it". I couldn't give a monkey's arse if something is aimed at girls or boys, toys are just toys.

I do think the whole boys-cars girls-dolls thing is generational; MIL and my parents are a bit bemused if DS2 (4) plays with his My Little Pony. I smile and shrug it off. Nobody asks when you go to Uni "As a child did you play with gender appropriate toys? If not I'm afraid you can't study here, this isn't the establishment for you".

Out of interest, if you had a DS who wanted to take a pram or a barbie doll or other 'girl toy' to school on toy day, would you just say 'yeah sure DS' or would you let them but explain that some people may make fun of them for having a 'girls toy'?

I dont have children but if I did I would let them play with what ever toy they wanted, but I'm not sure how I'd approach that situation. I wouldnt want them to think that there was anything wrong with having a pram, but I wouldnt want them to go into the lions den unprepared either.

mileend2 I would and have! last thing was a pink football kit (Real Madrid) I did tell my DS that older boys may have something to say about it, but we have talked about this since he was young and he was confident that he would't care! they did comment and he just shrugged it off

I mean barbie dolls and action man dolls, what's the difference really ? both are dolls but for some bizarre reason one is cool and action and the other is girly and bad....

Ds is not as old yet, but once he is, I would explain that some people might have an issue with it - not to discourage him, just so he can prepare some replies to the possible comments.

I tell my 4 year old that some people are stupid and don't understand that toys are for everyone, and he can play with what he likes.

I'm sure that by the time they are in school my children will already be well aware that some people think that some toys are just for boys or girls. I hope we'll have instilled in them the confidence to ignore this!

My three dses had a toy kitchen when they were little - and they loved it. Sometimes they played cooking games, and sometimes they dismantled it to get at the plastic rod that held it together, to use it as a sword.

And then there was the year that my MIL bought them a toy dyson, as part of their shared Christmas present. Ds3 clasped it to his bosom, and wouldn't be parted from it all day - it was his favourite thing in the entire world, at that point!

Buying your child a toy that they like, will enjoy playing with, and that may help them learn something about life - that's what matters - not whether it is a toy for boys or for girls. OP - you are doing the right thing.

yanbu. my 2 youngest are boys and have blue buggy's and baby dolls. they have the Fisher Price talking tea pot and a talking picnic basket, also in pink. It annoys me actually that most stuff like this is aimed at girls and is pink!

I bought my son: a pushchair (for his teddy), a barbie doll, an ordinary doll, a teaset, and lots of gender-neutral toys.

Funnily enough he spurned the lot and preferred cars, race tracks, trains, etc.

This is despite what MNers seen to think should happen

DS2 took his pushchair and teddy up to the shops once, smiles from everyone we passed and 'good lad' from an elderly gentleman we passed.

Made his day but at the same time made me think that it really shouldn't be so exceptional to make everyone notice.

It also doubled as a good transport truck for stick guns and assorted pebbles. I was very sad when we had to hand it on.

DS has a 'baby' but no pram due to lack of space. This thread has made me think the poor boy is deprived without one. We're off to look in charity shops later

Our son loves his toy buggy. He also loves his trains and cars. The point is that he shouldn't have to choose to only like one or the other just because he's a boy.

My little boy has one. He loves it. He loved the one at softplay so I got him one. His Grandad isn't keen. But his father pushes his pram too. I am reinforcing positive male role models so ner!

WhetherOrNot - nothing wrong with a child who likes cars! It's only an issue when people assume a child prefers cars because they're a boy. The main thing is that they're given options and can choose themselves.

at Christmas last year my ds was 2 and a half and I got him a pushchair, everyone was horrified. he loves it still plays with it everyday. why can't boys play with pushchair / prams?

I have three boys and between them they have, over the years (eldest is 10) owned a buggy, a play kitchen, toy washing machine, toy dyson, toy microwave, mini aprons and oven gloves, toy shopping trolley, a stack of cuddly toys and enough playfood to open their own shop.

They have all the cars/planes/trains shit too but they've all loved the 'household' type stuff. My 2 yo has been carrying a pink plastic tray of toy cakes around for the last week

I cannot understand why any sane adult would have a problem with a small boy owning a toy pram.

I wish my 2 year old would play with a pram. She just prefers to draw lines on all the bits of paper she can find at the moment and 1 wall:-)

my two boys (aged 4 and 2) have owned (so far) a toy bakery shop, a 2 kitchens, a buggy, 3 dolls, a doll-sized baby bath... loads of cars, dinosaurs, teasets, microwaves, rockets...

toys are for everyone.

... but suddenly, the people who sneered find it acceptable now that I have a 3 month old daughter too.

Idiots