Right, what toys should DS have to stimulate him. 10 months

[BlingLoving]

I'm starting to worry I'm a bad mother as we are not buying DS lots of new advanced toys. I was thinking we'd wait as his birthday is looming and I know that first birthdays always get family and close friends over excited so I'm sure that he'll get a zillion gifts.

But... whenever we go to friends' houses, they always seem to have much more sophisticated toys than us and I worry that I'm disadvantaging DS (yes yes, PFB and all that). So recently, I found a friend with her DS and one of those little TRIKES. It hadn't even occured to me to get DS one of those.

He has various musical things to bash and shake and press buttons on (not that he ever presses the buttons). And he has a little table thing to stand at while making music. And soft toys and books. and a little tent to crawl through.

And a cat to torture.

What am I missing. Tell me to get back in my PFB box if you can. I would rather not go rushing out to buy new things!

You are not putting him at a disadvantage at all. Its so hard not to compare but material things do not make you happy and they won't make your DS happy either, you'll just end up with a house full of more stuff!

I'd wait for his 1st birthday and then get him something. Our DS had this for his 1st birthday and its one of the things they've played with the most.

I would not worry, take him out feed the ducks, maybe go swimming, new experiences would probably be more valuable? Says she sitting in her house full to the brim with stuff, that is played with sometimes but not as much as I expected it to be.

It doesn't sound like he needs anything else.

But you could go one up on the trike with one of these...

www.step2uk.com/prodpage.asp?productid=46

(it says from 18 months to 3 years, but we used it from 12-18 months, although DS is massive for his age! It was his most favourite thing ever and was used for outings about 5 times per day)

Another life saver when DS was 9 months + was one of these, but I don't think they make them anymore (it was a hand-me-down from his cousins)

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vtech-play-and-learn-fun-fair-/160771642559?pt=UK_Toys_Games_Toys_CA&hash=item256ebc94bf

This was played with constantly from 9 months until 2 yrs!

Oh, I am clearly rubbish at posting links! Try again...

www.step2uk.com/prodpage.asp?productid=46

www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vtech-play-and-learn-fun-fair-/160771642559?pt=UK_Toys_Games_Toys_CA&hash=item256ebc94bf

Toys for a 10 month old?

Stacking cups to knock over, wooden spoon to bang on things, balls to roll around.

Best toy ever for slightly older is this

I think your son needs a Pringles tube, possibly with some lentils in it.

He may also need a saucepan to bang and a wooden spoon with which to bang it.

Some shredded paper out of the shredder to chuck around might good too if you can be bothered with the tidying up.

If you are feeling really flush you could get him a ball.

Honestly, they don't need all this fancy stuff! He will be fine

... and the ubiquitous and very annoying vTech walker is practically compulsory.

DS had one of those pushalong cars when he was 1 and he loved that too .

My DS had a whisk - he loved playing with that.

His favourite toy of all from about the age of 1-3 was these soft building blocks

Other favourites were these pop up people and this and pegs

Actually just realised this might look a bit smug, as in look-at-me-with-my-simple-wooden-toys, but fuck it. It's what he liked.

Most of us are over-run with toys they don't need. You're not a bad mother and it's fine to wait until his birthday.

DearPrudence - mine had the pop up people too, they were his favourite toy for ages!

Just remembered how DS used to love pulling all the tissues out of a box. That was a bit annoying at the time, but seems cute now.

treasure basket

or Heuristic Play.

my pfb had a bumbo and sat in the kitchen window watching the world go by while I washed dishes next to him .
You don't need big plastic noisy toys - you'll just have a houseful of big noisy unused toys in a few months time!

My 13month old has spent the last few months chasing a football round the house, looking at books, driving a few little cars, putting small objects into bigger objects.

Ah, so that's what heuristic play is. DD is apparently always at that at nursery and I have been wondering wtf it was!

DD is coming up 14mo and loved the VTech walker from about 8m. She loves a ball, building blocks and shape sorters. She does mainly like taking things out of a box and putting them away again. Happyland stuff is good for imaginative play as well as putting away and getting out again!

Buy toys that you want to play with. Your child likes what you like at the moment, your face and voice are the best toys, so anything that keeps YOU playing is good. Now's the time for that Girl's World styling head that my your mother would never let you have, or the Barbie Stable with real grooming set.

I think a bath toy is quite nice at this age, again to amuse you. Waterproof radio?

Hi OP I felt just the same with DD in October, but didn't want to buy too much before Christmas and her birthday in Feb.
Before that I used the toy library at our local childrens centre which meant she had something new every couple of weeks.

Ooh, mine likes chasing slaters, doing pat pat with water and annoying his sister. Also picking up crumbs from the floor. If you don't have a toddler I can lend you one.

Hi OP I felt just the same with DD in October, but didn't want to buy too much before Christmas and her birthday in Feb.
Before that I used the toy library at our local childrens centre which meant she had something new every couple of weeks.
But even with the gadgety plastic options she still loves the pringles tube filled with dry pasta and one of those shiny rustly emergency blankets from poundland.

Drat stupid phone double post.

See if you have a toy library locally and join.

I thought I was depriving my PFB DD as well - we moved countries when she was 8 months old, so for 3 months she only had what could fit in the suitcase.

At the moment her favourite toys are a plastic funnel and a box with scrunched up magazine pages. She has 2 toy cars, a push along walker thing that we got her for her 1st birthday and a wooden version of one of those play tables that we got her for Christmas. She has one of those post-the- shapes boxes, a couple of balls and a toy piano. And a couple of rattles.

She loves books - so library visits on a weekly basis.

The thing is that they can only play with one thing at a time, so you really only need a handful of things.

The best stimulation at this age is watching you do various things whille talking to him. DS is now 13 months and has never been a "toy baby", however he would sit for ages on the kitchen flooor, banging a small pot with a wooden spoon. I am sure they learn much more by watching and listening to you than they would if they had the latest toys.

Now, however, DS likes toys more, although still simple ones such as a ball, stacking cups, bath toys, etc. He also has that Fisher Price dinosaur with balls a previous poster mentioned and he loves it. Oh, and we've had an Ikea baby mirror on the back of the door in his room and it's one of our best buys.

Joan.

Thanks all. I did try to post yesterday but internet crashed.

I feel much less nervous! Will definitely look at bigger purchases for future and I think the main thing is more things he can take out and put in. DH did try him with a pillow case and random objects a while ago but he wasn't interested. But in baby time, that was about 10 years!