Presents for a 4 1/2 month old?? Any suggestions?? x

[louloupoo]

Hi

I'm a first time mum wwith a beautiful 9 wk old DS. By xmas he'll be 4 1/2 months. I'm wanting to start his xmas shopping this wknd (pretty skint on mat pay so need to spread it out).

I'm at a bit of a loss as to what sort of presnts to buy him. I was thinking of getting a mix of 3-6 and 6-9 month old toys but which do I go for? I want him to find them stimulating and get alot of joy out of them. But theres too many to choose from.

Has anyone got any suggestions? If you could tell me of any successes you've had with your little ones and where you got the toys from I'd really appreciate it.

I'm soooooo excited about his first xmas but I dont want to buy a load of stuff he's just going to get bored of straight away. I know he's young so thats why I'm thinking of getting things for a couple of months later.
But of couse I still want plenty for him to enjoy over the xmas period.

Pls help xx

I didn't buy DS much for his first Xmas tbh - he was 4 and a half months too.

I got him a couple of Lamaze toys I think.

I wouldn't buy anything

If you have some spare cash stick it in a savings account

save the money and don't get him anything, or just a couple of small things for the sake of photo opportunitys. Children are oblivious to christmas at that age, so make the most of it!

Give him a cuddle. Thats it. My DS is 3.5 and I have to say as much as he enjoyed christmas last yr he wasn't that bothered., neither was his sister who was 6 months old.

This yr we asked what he wanted, and he said the "tree"!! his sister will be 18 months and really they don't get into toys properly until they are 2 ish at least! she is getting an empty roses tin filled with noisy wrapping paper!

Hi louloupoo I'm having the same problem at the moment dd is 10weeks.

I would be tempted to get her very little as we went overboard for ds first Christmas he was a year old and really didn't appreciate it all in fact he found it quite overwhelming.

My problem this year is that we've told ds all year that if he's a good boy Santa will bring him presents so we don't want to get dd nothing and have him say well dd must have been a naughty girl.

Like other posters said they really aren't into toys at this age so we were thinking of getting her a couple of things that she could take with her when she gets older.

Like a nice jewllery box or a pretty picture for her nursery.

I don't know if that helps you to maybe give him somthing special that he could keep with him always.

Get her something which she needs anyway. Then you won't feel guilty about no presents but won't be wasting any money!

My LO will be coming up to 6 months at Christmas so I intend to buy her 6mnth clothes!

I would get him things that he will need anyway such as clothes, new bibs, weaning things etc.

I would also get him a few age appropriate toys plus toys that he can use when he's a bit bigger.

My DS was 4 months at his first Christmas. He got from us a cot activity centre, because he showed interest in one at a friends' house, it was on special offer, and we had spent lots on baby equipment that year. Relatives made up for the lack of presents. I thought I was being tight until I joined mumsnet and found lots of people felt as I did.

I agree about activity centre Ikea do a lovely one that is very affordable.

The family could club together to get

here

I agree with everyone else, he won't notice etc.

BUT if you do want to get a gift that has a bit of mileage then my 2 have got a lot of play out of
this
these
these (stacking cups always an essential IMO and cheap too)

Alternatively look up 'treasure baskets' - he will be the perfect age for one. Fill with things you have around the home already or can pick up very cheaply in homeware/hardware stores.

My DD has just turned 5mths and her fav toy is these (tip- Asda sell them too 3 packs for £5!)

They are perfect for little hands to pick up, make a clacky sound when shook, great for teething on, small enough to keep some in your bag for emergency entertainment and are great for attaching toys on the pram/carseat etc.

Theres no need to go too mad with toys as they wont know any difference and we found the grandparents bought MORE than enough for everyone!! :)

how about one of those sit-in activity centres (like a static baby walker)

or a reusable fabric advent calendar that you'll have for years and years

or start his Happy Land (ELC) collection

or a little tykes rocking horse

we liked the fisher price stand up ball blast

stacking cups for sure are a must!

What a load of old scrooges!

The OP is looking forward to Christmas and why not?! Personally I get a lot of pleasure out of getting presents for my DS - even when he was too young to have a clue what was going on! Like the OP I don't have a lot of spare cash, but it's important to me, so I make it happen.

looloopoo I think you're taking the right approach getting some stuff that your little one will grow into. Some things DS liked when he was very little:

• Baby links brilliant when he started teething

• Hoopy Loopy Giraffe - by Jellycat This toy is great for little ones. You can't see in the picture but it has a big loop that's designed for teething. You can get these in loads of shops.

• have you got a mobile over the cot? If not then one of those would be great

• a musical toy with a soothing tune to play at bedtime / wind down to bedtime. I've seen this toy in a shop and the tune is really nice, it's lovely, a quality toy.

• This comforter in the same range is really nice too.

• fabric books - especially those with high contrast images

• a buggy book

• A baby gym - We found this really useful. We had www.johnlewis.com/230208866/Product.aspx - but only because it's the one we won on ebay! They're really quite expensive (that one's £40 and it's on the cheap side, so I would advise getting it second hand / on ebay if you don't mind 2nd hand. This one has a tune which plays when your DC kicks it, and I think DS got a lot out of it. It wasn't the best tune by any stretch of the imagination - but it does have an off switch! DS seemed to like it though.

Actually this one looks OK and it's £25.

HTH. I'm going to post a few more in a minuet (I like this game - can you tell?! ) but my connection can be a bit funny sometimes so I'll post this before I loose it!

I found an activity mat useful. I would take it with my when visiting friends - or just out anywhere, and it was a good place to put DS down. I'd recommend something which has things on it to catch your DS's attention, so that you can use it to encourage tummy time.

I like the look of this one. Although it might be a bit bulky to take out with you (unless you usually drive?)

This is more like what we had although it is quite pricey! Perhaps one for ebay again (we were given ours).

Here's another one made specifically for tummy-time.

Of course you could always just use a blanket and tie some ribbons on for interest! I certainly wouldn't spend a fortune on this, but if you can find a way to get one cheaply it could be useful.

Have you got an activity thing on the side of the cot? (I don't know what their real name is, sorry!) DS has enjoyed his. This one would be good I imagine as it's got lots of high contrast images, which is good for very little ones.

These magnetic stacking bricks are good. I forget how old DS was when he started playing with them though.

This fabric book looks lovely

IKEA are doing a nice fabric book for £3 at the moment.

Right, I must go to bed! HTH

I think ds1 got a crinkly fabric book and a push-along car for his first Christmas. At 8 weeks old he was utterly oblivious.

Fast-forward 11 years and he has a Christmas list as long as my arm.

Save your money - you'll need it!

Really - don't bother buying him many toys as he will not know or care that it is Christmas. Buy him something to keep forever which is a souvenir of the special day. Some suggestions:

1. A beautiful but unbreakable Christmas tree bauble/decoration which he can keep forever to remember the first Christmas and hang on the tree himself every year as he grows (cue photo of him held in Mum's arms in front of tree with said bauble hanging next to him). Actually we liked that idea so much that we carried on buying our kids a new one each year for a present!
2. A wooden, stone or metal ornament (one which will not look out of place on the bookshelf of a teenager or grown man) or a lump of decorative quartz or similar rock. (One DS has a wooden crescent moon, another a dolphin carving, another a stone carving of a man and woman cuddling a baby.)
3. A piece of art which also would look OK on wall at any age.
4. Fun bookends like these James bookends from Black and Blum.
5. Or how about a lovely wooden crib set that he can play with and set up every Christmas for years to come. Search for 'Nativity Set' on Amazon for a lovely selection.

No matter what you get him, enjoy your first Christmas together!

While I agree that Christmas means nothing to them at 4 1/2 months, I remember being desperately excited about my DS's first Christmas and wanting to buy lots of presents!

While I agree that Christmas means nothing to them at 4 1/2 months, I remember being desperately excited about my DS's first Christmas and wanting to buy lots of presents!

So my suggestions are:

shape sorting bus

rainmaker

stacking cubes

If you're looking for a 'main' present how about one of these (you'd get both from ebay etc quite easily too I'd have thought)

walker - DS had both this and the wooden blocks type and much preferred this. We got it on gumtree for about £10 in perfect condition.

music table = DS got this for his 1st Christmas (6 months old). The legs are removable so he could play with it on the floor until he could stand up. He still plays with it (at 2.4) every day.

Oh, and I agree that stacking cups are a must!

(Apologies if any of these have been linked to already, I'm having problems with links at the mo so haven't clicked on any in the is thread).

I have 2 older dds so will be doing Santa for dd3 (2months at Xmas) she is getting a lot of clothes in different sizes & an activity mat. We don't have any toys left from the others so may get things like stacking rings that my other 2 loved