toys for a baby - suggestions please

[taytotayto]

my dd is 4 months old and people are asking what they can get her for christmas. as she is our first i have no idea what toys they can buy that are fun etc. can anyone recommend some toys they think she will like and grow into, she seems to like lights for some reason.
thanks xxx

As well as toys what about books?
Tiddler,
Sharing A Shell,
Gruffalo,
Gruffalo's Child,
Hairy Maclary stories,
Slinky Malinki stories,
Stickman.

Has she got a night light soft toy, the seahorse one is lovely, my ds had a blue one and still love is at 17 months old, ill sort a link

how about the baby einstein entertainment centre? won't be long before she's ready for it, and it's a life saver. also, door bouncer? very useful.

What about a treasure basket I don't mean to buy one necessarily but I made one for DD2s first christmas (8 months) and she loved it as did all visiting babies.

Ive given up on the link, the addy is as long as a harry potter book!

The Fisher Price Peek a blocks train is brilliant - my DS got it for his 1st xmas (he was about 7 months) and he still plays with it now he's 2 1/2.

pic

Tomy hide and squeak eggs. Best fiver I ever spent. I have posted this answer many times time

And Vtech first steps baby walker is fab, front panel detaches for playing on floor then can be used as a walker when baby is a bit bigger.

Get a Jumperoo! You could ask for money or vouchers towards it if it's too big to ask for/buy yourself. It's like a cross between an entertainment centre (baby walker with no wheels, fixed in place) and a door bouncer, I felt it was safer as it was fixed on a frame. DS was 2.5 months old last Christmas and the plan was to buy his in the sales, he used it from about 4 months until 11 months when he got more interested in crawling and climbing (he started crawling at 8 months though so still got lots of use) and it was great to be able to plop him in for a second if I needed to do something and know he was safe. I will keep it for a second child as well so it's been good value really (I got it from ebay cheaper than the shops in the end)

The first every toy we bought for ds was a little tikes ocean gym thing (this) it's unfortunately out of stock now but it was a great toy, he loved kicking it from abooout (racks brain) 8 or so weeks I think. Kicking it made lights and sounds come on, and he got really excited! And when they can sit up/stand up you can change the angle so it's more like an activity table.

So, you could see if you can find something like that for her. It was only about £15 from asda in 2007 iirc.

moaningminnie - they are good but my DS trapped his fingers in the box many, many times when he was younger. That may just be him though

But the Vtech walker is very good - even if the music does drive you bonkers

A playnest is really good for young children too because they support them before they can sit and they're very handy for bunging crawlers in when you need to trap them for a bit!

Hide and squeak eggs are brilliant, DS loved his for ages and ages.

Stacking cups are also good as are simple shape sorters. DS liked to chew on the shapes and bang them together long before he was capable of putting them in the sorter.

this has always been popular in our house.

i second the books idea: ask for a few that will last for years (like the stories in the first list) and also a couple of cloth/bath books that will be useful now and for the next year.

My DS was around 4 months old this time last year. Popular toys last Christmas that are still being used today include

learning table - you can use it without the legs for younger babies

this musical activity set. Don't be put off by the age 1 recommendation - it was very safe for my DS at 6 months and he still loves it today

Board books of any description were a winner.

He also got a 'first laptop' which had lots of buttons and lights which he adored.

Some toys that he enjoyed way Christmas but before his first birthday were megablocks, wooden blocks, Vtech walker and a wooden activity cube similar to this one.

HTH.

Oh, and bath toys! You can't have too many bath toys.

peek a blocks were good value in our house, sturdy and kept them interested for a long time

i cant thank you all enough for your help. we are new to all of this and still very wet behind the ears!!! it's great to know i have somewhere to go and know ill get lots of help. thank you all again your help is much appreciated.