Christmas aah

I would recommend Early Learning Centre stacking cups - good from 7 months to...well my ds hasn't grown out of them yet, and his 2 year old friend still loves them!

I would second what Musica has said, my dd has loved her stacking cups since she was about 4 months old ! She also loves the doughnut ring stacker (not the official name I'm sure !) - to be honest I find that my dd loves things that aren't toys best no matter how much money we spend on toys.
Her favourite three things are a bunny rabbit she sleeps with and a doll that she has and also a ball she likes to throw around.

Boots do a work bench with hammer thing. You know - where you knock the shapes through. While it may be advanced for a 7 month old my DS liked it at that age because each of the shapes is also a rattle with a slightly different noise. Lasted him from that age until about now when he's just got too good at the shape sorting bit (19 months).

My dd loved the Tomy shape sorter - I would highly recommend this toy

What about one of those toys where you pop balls in the top, they slide down and come out the bottom. My two loved these.

Agree with not getting very much for 7 month old - they are usually just fascinated by the box and paper anyway

My dd didn't really play with anything resembling a toy at 7 months. She quite liked rattley things and she loved her 'Skwish' which is a collection of wooden balls held together with very strong elastic. Maybe she was a bit dim but she would never have worked out how to use that Winnie the Pooh toy. And shape sorters? Forget it. She didn't work those out until she was about 18 months old.

How about books for a couple of months down the line?

I think the best advice is to save your money until next Christmas when she'll be at a much more 'toy friendly' age. A few cheapy toys under the tree now will be all she'll really want IMO.

Galt do a toy which had 4 little stick men that push into holes. There are springs underneath so when you push them down they bounce back up. Both mine loved these from a really early age and would still play with them now if one of the little men hadn't "left home". Its not expensive either.

Parent, my 7 mo dd loves cloth books. She particularly likes one by Mothercare that has lots of different textured farm animals in it, but even very plain ones keep her occupied for ages. We've also just got her a swing with a special baby seat, as she gets bigger the frame extends and there are different seats for as she gets older. She loves swinging and looking at the trees.

Ah - how quickly we forget. Ionesmum my DS loved those books too! We had a whole set from Mothercare - farm animals, jungle animals, sea creatures and woodland creatures. I think they are great - a bit more interesting than a rattle which is starting to get a bit samey by 7 months. Recently bought one for a friend's newborn.

My son was 9 months old on his first Christmas. A toy we got him which he still loves now was one of those bead and wire rollercoasters (from Ikea, GLTC or Krucial Kids). A definite hit! If your DD can't sit unsupported she could still play with it while propped with cushions or in a Galt baby nest thing (that's an idea for a present, although my son was able to roll himself out of it by 7½ months!)

DS2 was 9 months old last Christmas and loved the ELC peg hammering toy he got him. Obviously all he did was use the mammer to hit things with but he seemed to enjoy it. He also loved the beads-on-a-twisty-wire-frame thingy we bought from Ikea even though it said "from 18 months". (just read MandyDs post so at least someone will know what I mean!)

And obviously he thoroughly enjoyed the boxes and wrapping paper even more.

Fisher Price (I think) did a box with 4 coloured holes in the top and 4 coloured balls which you (ahem, I mean your child ) hammer in with a plastic hammer. They drop down insode the box and rattle their way down 2 sloped and out at the bottom. A hit with all the children who've played with the one we got DS1.

Remember whatever you buy kids for Xmas has to last them until the following Christmas.

What I do if a toy is too advanced is just pop it in the cupboard until the next summer and then its a new present for them, I always bear that in mind when Im buying too.

I havent a lot of money to buy things during the year so when people ask me what to buy ds, I always think of things for the next summer or winter!

Forgot to mention - Ds is now nearly two and still plays with his shape sorter and stacking cups too! the one thing I have seen which I have thought is great value for money is a wooden pullalong trolley from Ikea it is full of wooden bricks (great for 7 months - 2/3 years) and it is only £5.. cant go wrong there, even for someone elses Christmas present.

I agree Alley22 about presents lasting the year through - especially for a child with a winter birthday. I've just started reading some books to DS which he didn't have the attention span for (and also they're paper...) last Christmas.

ooo!! my dd loves the Galt springy men too! so much so she went crawling after one of the little men under the fire the other day (not lit and never used!!! health and saftey worriers!!) and came out all sooty!

Plus all our adult friends think they're really funny too! many an eye has been poked when getting too close and too enthusiatic with the springing! (adluts not baby! baby too sensible!!)