To think that muted pastel baby toys that cost about X5 the price of the average are a waste of money and a bit pretentious?

[FreesiaFairy]

Have noticed that some mums seem to only tolerate muted pastel baby toys from brands such as Little Dutch or Liewood, that usually cost about X5 the price of the average for that toy, is this a first time mum thing?

I like to think I have good taste and appreciate good quality, but it's starting to annoy me how snobby some people are about kids toys, surely at some point they are going to have to break free of the muted pastel colour palette? I think Instagram might have quite a lot to do with it.

I get most of my little ones toys second hand and as long as he finds it fun don't massively care what it looks like. I feel like I'm getting judged on my taste for this!

I hate the instagram friendly colour palettes. I girl in my antenatal group is very into instagram. I suspect it's not unrelated that she only lets her children wear an extremely limited range of clothing colours - mainly white, black, grey, navy. Occasionally a single small item in a scandi trend colour like mustard yellow or rust. No primary colours whatsoever, no pictures. Only stripes etc.

Her eldest is old enough to have his own views on clothing and gets zero choice, which I find a bit sad really.

It's the same with toys. She spent an insane amount on a grey ball pit then complains she can't afford to buy a house.....

We did a collection at work for someone’s new baby and got about £100. The person who went off to get the gift came back with a grey teddy, grey onesie set and grey blanket all wrapped up in a grey basket with grey ribbons.
So depressing.
Who wants their baby surrounded by grey?

We tend to go for wooden toys over plastic ones for several reasons, firstly we try to reduce the amount of plastic we use, secondly plastic toys break easily and let's be honest are essentially disposable, thusly they often come with god awful flashing lights and faux American accents. Also I don't want my house filled with mountains of plastic tat, so when it comes to birthdays and Christmas we always suggest books or people will buy wooden toys, it means he gets a smaller present as they are more expensive, rather than piles of junk, but that's a good thing.
My DNs literally have piles and piles of plastic toys there are bits of things everywhere, they have a playroom which is full to the brim and their dining room is unusable as a dining room as it has so many toys in it. They don't play with half of it it's unnecessary, but it's very much a pictures of big stacks of presents in front of the tree, everything grey and crushed velvet for Instagram, live life love, making memories kind of house. They even have plastic grass now.

We do have lots of bright colours though...

I blame Mrs Hinch - everything's bloody grey and beige! (Greige??)

I am glad go be out of that plastic tat stage. I used to hide all away in wicker baskets
Let them at it is why I say. Don't tell them things like where you bought your paddling pool or want colour it is. That's what I have learned. Say less.
I love instagram but it's just an image. Stacey soloman hangs up her crisps. She's a lovely person but it's just ridiculous. It's not real life.

In the early days I decided I was only going to buy my baby wooden toys - zero plastic. Until DS1 got to the throwing age. He was a pretty good shot! Then it was into the plastic.

Just had a look at the Little Dutch website, the toys are gorgeous!

To be honest, I think peoples main issue is not aesthetics, but sustainability. People are tending to lean more to wooden toys rather than plastic in an attempt to be more environmentally friendly.

It just so happens that the wooden toys are more pleasing to the eye. You don’t need to spend a fortune though. I have some items very similar to the ones from Little Dutch (the activity cube in particular) that I got from Aldi on a special buy.

Instagram has a lot to answer for

This year I have been trying not to buy new plastic toys for my girls, but we’ve picked up bits from car boot sales and charity shops that they have liked.
I do tend to put the tacky plastic toys hidden away in the playroom, or in the wicker storage baskets, and trunk in the living room, and “display” the toys that I personally think look nicer, not that it matters though as my girls just pull it all out anyway 😂.

I was curious and looked up these toys as my youngest is 10 and I hadn't seen them. This is crazy - a rainbow in non rainbow colours!

I feel sorry for the kids with these insta parents.

I keep the tasteful wooden toys in the living room. They're quite brightly coloured though.

The plastic tat goes in the playroom!

Secondly plastic toys break easily and let's be honest are essentially disposable, thusly they often come with god awful flashing lights and faux American accents

Are you buying very poor quality plastic toys?! Good quality plastic is a very strong material that lasts for donkeys years. My children are still playing with lots of 30 year old plastic toys from DH & my childhood. Ambi toys that look identical to the ones sold now, a lovely Tomy train set, lego, playmobil, polydron etc. The colours are barely faded and the only pieces that have broken are a box that were left in a very hot sunny patch in a spare bedroom for several years so went brittle.*

The toys you are considering as "essentially disposable" are the absolute cheapest poor quality rubbish. There are similarly poor quality wooden toys available - we got given some cheap puzzles and knock off brio and they had split within a couple of years.

People get the wrong end of the stick about plastic. Plastic is a highly useful strong, flexible material. What is bad for the environment is single use plastic.

Use of too much wood can be bad for the environment too - deforestation!!

The point should be to use less overall of anything. That means buying things that will last and last and can be used time and time again, whether they are plastic, wood, bamboo, metal etc.

Bamboo in particular is all the range atm for socks and childrens plates etc and its terrible, it doesnt last 5 minutes!!

Alwayslatte I was given a toy based on this. My children are perplexed by ths fact that of 6 rainbow pieces, 3 are shades of grey. It doesnt get their attention often as it doesnt stand out in the toy box.

The greige always reminds me of Kansas before Dorothy goes to Oz! The wooden toys may be more pleasing visually to the eye, but are a lot more painful when lobbed at you!

My SIL is like this. I internally roll my eyes and just buy something for her DD on her birthday/xmas that I know SIL will like (She’s only 1). As she gets older I’ll get things more based on DNs likes. I don’t like the comments and little digs she makes about the toys MIL buys though (her own mother) as they’re usually brightly coloured plastic ones, but the DC all love those sort of toys! And our house is full of that ‘tat’. The plastic baby toys we have are about to be used for the third DC as well, so they’ve lasted very well and will be passed on to others after. They aren’t the same as single use plastic.

My dc are older now, but we liked wooden where we could, and bright all others.

I blame the beige generation. My female relative does the bland beige clothes and toys, she's all about the Zara home 'vibe'
I despise it

Youre being just as judgy as those you're criticising.

I love pastel coloured children's toys, but also bright colours. I got a lot of stick from friends for having expensive wooden toys for my son - but many of them were second hand and I don't like plastic tat that just breaks. Even now at nearly 5, his favourite toys are the wooden train track and all things Mellisa and Doug and his wooden rainbow. It's generally better quality and therefore better value for money.

Buy your kids the toys you want to buy them, and that they'll enjoy. Don't worry about what others think of you- because you're doing exactly the same to them.

You can buy cheap pastel wooden toys from Primark.

We don’t have any cheap plastic tat because we are conscious about our environmental impact. We don’t have anything that flashes or sings. Why buy a cheap naff swimming pool from Argos that will last a few weeks and be binned.

I do buy good quality second hand this where we can i.e wooden train tracks, blocks. Little Dutch is quite affordable compared to some of the wooden toys available like Grimm!

We do what suits us and our taste as a family, I don’t have Instagram and genuinely couldn’t care less what people think about our choices.

So it's ok for you to judge pastel toys but not ok for them to judge 2nd hand toys?..............

YANBU, muted pastels are shit for kid toys. Much prefer bright colours.

YABU. You’re projecting and think people are judging you

People like different things. Some prefer pastels and/of wood and are happy to pay more. Why would that mean they think you’re any lesser for choosing bright plastic colours?

They’re not judging you here, you’re judging them.

@AlwaysLatte

I was curious and looked up these toys as my youngest is 10 and I hadn't seen them. This is crazy - a rainbow in non rainbow colours!

That rainbow is so obviously aimed at pleasing the parents, not the kids.

I agree with the ok above about good quality plastic. My nephews play with Lego that their parents played with as children, still in good condition. Buy decent quality strong toys, whether wood or plastic, because it's treating stuff as disposable that is really hammering the environment.

"I will only tolerate muted pastel wooden toys"

They'll grow out of it.