Baby walker - retro/classic or Vtech?

[WhoahThereCrazyHorse]

I'm trying to think of presents for the GPs to buy for DD's first birthday - just wondered if anyone has any views on baby walkers.... My instinct is for something a bit more classic

like this

but will DD actually get more out of the more plasticky ones

like this?

Anyone got any experience/thoughts? Thanks

We have both (both second hand for v little), I would have thought the classic one is better (I like wooden toys) but my daughter prefers to use the Vtech one as the bar is higher so it doesnt tip as easily. But she's quite tall to be using a walker (shes 21 months) We have wooden floors too but haven't experienced the whoosh problem above. My friends daugher was v happy with her wooden trolley tho.
The Vtech one does come with an off switch! Sometimes puppy calling is just too much

i love the wooden one.
we had one for our 3 and they all loved it, and still play with the bricks now.

i got rid of all the vtech stuff that people gave them cos i just couldn't bear the awful songs and noises.

your baby won't care which one you get, they'll find play value in either. so i would go with the one that is more aesthetically pleasing!

Just another perspective - those wooden blocks don't have hurt as they thwack into the side of your head

Seriously though - I don't know a child that hasn't loved that vTech walker - never actually used it as a walker as such though really as it tends to run away from them, but they all loved sitting in front of it and playing.

damn you beanandspud I thought I'd finally got that "hello puppy calling, do you want to play with me" out of my head! :)

Another vote for the classic wooden trolley with bricks here. No irritating noises and DD still plays with hers (now almost 22 mo) with enthusiasm and without annoying the rest of us...! It's definitely a toy that punches above its weight in terms of the amount of use you get from it.

"hello puppy calling" - LOL, I have this going round in my head all the time.

My daughter LOVES her V-tech - we've had so much use out of it, as before she could use it as a walker she played with the musical panel, and she still loves it. We got ours at a second hand sale for a tenner - best £10 I spent. People are always selling these at second hand baby markets, so try and get one there if you can. It's really durable and will just need a wipe down.

OP, if you're still interested, my friend alerted me to this last night: the Vtech walker is only £10 at Asda at the moment!

vtech walker

Dp has ordered one to be collected on Monday for our ds. I don't really care about the garish colour at that price, and we'll probably end up buying a proper wooden brick trolley too after reading this thread. It's his first birthday in January, so one will be for Christmas, the other his birthday.

Bit apprehensive about the noises it's going to make after reading the above though! Ah well, will make a change from having the Balamory theme tune in my head all day .

Oooh, thanks Slinky! Asda's 200m from my house, would be rude not to! Same as you, DD's 1st birthday is in Jan so we've got that and Christmas to sort out...

Ooh I've just bought the £10 asda vtech one! Couldn't believe it! Dd's set for Christmas! Resisted the pink though, despite dd being the last dc!

Glad to be of help! Can't really go wrong with a tenner, can you?

Dp managed to cancel his online order of the pink one, as he popped to our local store at lunchtime and got the red/white one - phew! Now, I want to open it and let ds play with it tomorrow, but dp says we have to wait until Christmas - boo! Ds is only 9.5 months, surely it's best to get it played with immediately, to get the most use out of it?! .

Now then, have we decided which wooden brick trolley we're also going to buy?! I really like the look of this, mid-price one

Cheaper than the JL one, lots of brilliant reviews, bricks look good. Hmm.

Pintoy are fabulous.

DD still loves VTech at 2 yrs old. Drives me bonkers.

Classic all the way here - I hate plastic tat and DD (now 16 mths) loved putting stuff in and taking it out of the trolley.

My MIL bought the vtech one for at her house, and DD uses it too (so I too know the trauma of that motherfucking puppy song every damn weekend) but found it harder at first as it's taller than her ELC one at ours. She's the right height now, but as the handle is more centra over the wheelbase, she finds it hard to "bump" over the wooden trim between rooms and gets in a right strop when as can't do it.

I'm sure she will get the hang of this soon, but she still adores carting stuff about in our trolley

A friend actually brought some toys round tonight that her DD has grown out of and lo and behold - the front off a vetch walker. It's currently got no batteries and it's bloody well going to stay that way

Oooh, that's a good one Slinky - think we will probably end up with the JL one as GPs (PIL) will be getting it for DD for Christmas and they are very JL sort of people iyswim!

I got a wooden one from Mothercare as I thought the V-tech ones were too flimsy and slipped away when dd was first learning to walk. She is 23 months now and still plays with the wooden one, building towers, using it as a trolley and cot for her dolls.

We had a wooden one with bricks - dds both loved it, and a friend borrowed it for her dd. It is one of the few toys I have kept for future grandchildren!

We have the vtech one and also a wooden one with bricks in. After two children, I would say go with the wooden one with bricks. Much more use. Also, you may need therapy to deal with "hello puppy calling". I didn't replace the batteries when they ran out!

Incidentally, my wooden one was nowhere near £45 and it is very solid and still going strong. It's an ELC one.