What did you gift your DC on 1st bday??

[BusyBeeMummy1]

Hey MNers

Its my DC 1st birthday in July and im racking my brains to think about a sentimental but useful and nice gift for him.
Any suggestions? Budget up to £50.

What did you get your DC for their 1st bday

My LO isn't one yet. Her birthday is very close to Christmas and so I am planning on buying her a play tent with a ball pit attached. I know she won't get much use out of it at 1 years old but am hoping she will like it within the year before she turns 2 and don't want to be getting in the habit of buying her "big" presents all year round.
As for "sentimental but useful" maybe the following will help. When I was pregnant I bought a wooden box and have been filling it with pictures of the family and paperwork and scan pictures of when I was pregnant and gave birth. I also got an e-mail account with her name in the e-mail address so that is is "saved" for her for when she is older. I plan on giving it all to her when she turns 18 when hopefully there will be a lot more memories stored inside :)
Another idea, maybe you could look into starting an EFT account for him? If historic trends are accurate depending which market the fund is invested in you could potentially get 10% compounding returns on any money that is in there. That could add up to quite a bit in the years until say he is 21?

I got DD a rocking horse from Mamas and Papas.

A little tykes slide

I got him toys from ELC.

With a summer birthday I'd get outdoor toys, he'll get use out of those for many years.

Sentimental could be a big book of really nice, beautifully illustrated stories? Especially if there's some you remember from your childhood. Some of the big books can be pricey.

Not a sausage. We leave sentimentality until much later. And now they are 18,16,14, I still can't think of anything that I wish we had bought on their first birthdays
I actually don't think we bought them anything. With the first we got one of those baby slides about 6 mos after, and I think we called that their birthday present... And I don't think the next two got anything. At that age they are spoilt rotten by relatives so it was all a bit much. They didn't need anything.
We save stuff in memory boxes anyway, so there is sentimental stuff from babyhood through - but it wasn't connected in any way to birthdays, first or otherwise...

A teepee. DS2 will probably get
Toy 22050 Melody Mix [[https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000KRNBFY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_CR0iBbFZ1Y2F9?tag=mumsnetforum-21 this]] which is expensive but a friend has it and it’s gorgeous, and i’ll Be able to find it cheaper. Or a cosy coupe but we don’t really have space to ride it properly! Not a 1 child family, sorry!

A bicycle seat and helmet. We had several years use out of it and still enjoy cycling as a family ten years on.

A Jellycat penguin who has turned out to be his best mate 18 months later!

Sit and ride type of car it was much less than £50 and was played with until she was far too big for it and was faded and battered but loved.

We got ours posh wooden building bricks that we imagine they'll keep

We were cash poor 23 years ago so he got a £3.99 alphabet book and a £2.99 Mr Men book. One for his birthday, the other for Christmas - Christmas day baby!

Little tikes 4 in 1 trike although her favourite gift was a little tikes car so would highly recommend that

A wheelybug bee

She still loves it

A BeatBo. 8 months on it's still used daily. Only on 2nd lot of batteries too

Wow thanks for the overwhelming responses! Im thinking a personalised book (around £20) and maybe a bike suitable for their age group. The rocking horse from mamas and papas sounds cute for his room too.. so many choices!!