How much babystuff do the grandparents keep at their house?

[beatie]

My inlaws and parents are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

My parents have a massive amount of baby gear at their house so if my dd stays over there I don't have to pack much more than clothes for her.

They have:
highchair
cot
buggy
bed rail
bedding
potty
toiletries - babybath,lotion toothbrush/paste,hairbrush, nappies, wipes
Toys, videos/DVDs, children's music,books
Children's plates, sippy cups, cuttlery, bibs
Toodler friendly-food/snacks

In contrast my inlaws bought
a cot

We had to supply the bedding! They have a few toys and books at their house which we left.
What's normal? My mum seems to be living her second motherhood and takes the attitude that she couldn't afford it/it didn't exist in her day so she's going to buy it now. It's great that we only have to pack clothes for dd but then if she's babysitting my mother has a tendency to ignore the way I do anything and won't use dd's grobag, cloth nappies or the homemade babyfood we prepared. She's just loving the modern conveniences

On the otherhand, my Inlaws take the attitude that they didn't have it in their day so why can't we do without it. When we visit and unload the multitude of baby equipment, we get gasps of horror. Sometimes I'd like it they'd keep the odd thing in their house so we didn't have to pack toys, toddler cuttlery, bibs and sippy cups when we visit. Sometimes we leave things purposely so we won't have to remember to pack them when we visit and MIL puts it in an envelope and sends it back to me

So, what do your parents/inlaws keep at their house? Who is 'most' normal? My inlaws or parents?

MIL has DD every day but yet hardly has anything at her house and I have to supply everything, she doesnt even have a cot as she said she prefered dd sleeping on the settee!! The only things she has is a 2nd hand highchair and a bag of toys we gave her. Each day I provide clothes, pram, nappies and food. She will never buy DD any new toys or anything.
My mum on the otherhand is complete opposite and DD has given her a excuse to buy stuff. She has DD overnight each saturday and has everything. theres a cot, highchair, bowls, cups, food, nappies, wipes, paddling pool and each month a new toy.
Im glad im not the only one who has noticed a difference. I assumed that because MIL has DD each day she thinks she is doing enough and shouldnt buy anything.

my mum and dad have a bedroom for the boys to stay in with beds, toys, book, games, nightclothes. when they were babies they used to sleep in a travelcot, which my parents still have (i think waiting for the next granchild!). they also have a buggy for ds2 and brought a computer for ds1 to use at their house as my dad got fed up with ds1 wiping his work stuff from his computer, he builds computers for a living so not as extravagant as it sounds!
my parents alos look after the chiuldren a lot as my husband works long hours and i often work shifts so easier that stuff is already there then i don't have to remeber too much at 6.30 in the morning! they also have 2 booster seats with the backs on in their car for the boys.
my in laws, have nothing!! not a thing, even when we go to visit they don't buy anything in, such as a packet of sweets (one of the things i remeber fondly about visiting my grandparents as a child was the packet of smarties that my nan used to hide in the kitchen cupboards for me to find) and every time we visit they always comment on how much money we must have spent! they seem to have this idea that because we live down south and my dh has a job in IT and live in a £275,000 (normal 3 bed semi) house that we must be rolling in it!

My parents have nothing and I think that's totally normal

but then again they live 250 miles away

why should gps have a load of baby stuff if they don't have a baby, even a cot is beyond the call of duty IMHO

My parents have a pelican bib (supplied by me because someone gave me a spare), a toothbrush for DS (also supplied by me) and a borrowed travel cot. Besides this they have lots of toys (some ours from childhood, some purchased at Church fetes) and books.

My in-laws have a travel cot, a booster seat, a stair gate, a bouncy chair, loads of toys (Dh's old ones, car boot ones and new ones) including a ride on car, a bike, a sandpit etc. They also have full complement of changing stuff including several types of toiletries that I never use. Plus more cutlery/crockery than we have at home. I think now that SIL has had a baby they have got even more stuff. The travel cot has arrived since then for instance. Also I think MIL has jars in for SIL (no use to me because I never used them) and also purees food for her.

Personally think MIL is OTT. I don't mind my parents not having much in, but would prefer it if they would make their house a bit more baby proof (its full of piles of junk and dangerous stuff lying around). Also clearing the dining table so we could eat there would be good.

my parents live 200 miles away & we visit them maybe 3 times a year (they come to us much more often - it's easier). ds is 3.3 & the only grandchild on that side. when he was smaller they borrowed a cot, & they've bought a carseat, though we mostly drive up. ummm, there are normally some nappies knocking around, & books & toys from when my brother & i were children. no way would i expect them to provide any more paraphenalia, & actually, we don't take much extra with us - i'm a big fan of travelling light & children are adaptable. PiL live 20 minutes away & we see them often (probably once a fortnight), though obviously don't stay over. MiL looks after ds 1 day a fortnight too, & looks after his 2 cousins 1 day a week. they too have left over toys & books & a travel cot, but ds would never sleep in it. they have plates & cups which all the boys make a bit fuss about. nothing else i can think of.

My folk babysit twice a week - so they have everything:
Highchair, travel cot, car seat, push chair, toys (boxes and boxes of them), a child's seat for the living room, spare clothes, all feeding utensils etc, toiletries, dvds, food etc.

Inlaws we only see every six weeks or so. They have nothing - but then I wouldn't expect them to!

"Beatie, I think your parents are odd for having so much, and your in-laws are odd for having so little" I guess a little part of me always suspected that

I'm envious of those people whose parents/PILs kept toys from when their own children were young. I feel like the quality and play-value was much higher in those 1970s Fisher Price toys.

I think, next time we go to PILs, I'll take some toddler cuttlery and a cup along and tell MIL not to post it back to us when we leave it there! Their cuttlery is huge (forks like pitch forks) and not practical for DD to improvise with.

I should add the reason that Lottie has so much at her nana's is that she is there3 afternoon s a week and the overnight at the weekend about once a month or so, she's at my dad's after school on a Monday and we see my PIL step in when my parents don't have her and we're thre for dinner at least once a month. My mum lives a 10 minute drive away, my dad is 10 minute drive and my PIL are a 2 minute drive.

my mum had hardly anything at hers when I had my eldest 13 yrs ago. Now my youngest is 3 she seems to have gone OTT with the toys!!

My Gran still has a couple of fisher price toys that were ours when we were little, and a Bontempi organ!!! A total of 10 grandchildren & 9 great grandchildren have played with them over the years & they still work brilliantly!!!

Its true, the old ones are the best - my God, I'm turning into my mum!!!

both my parents and PILs have everything for my kids... cots, bedding, toys, books, games, nappies, wipes, food == everything they need.. am surprised at how few other grandparents have this stuff but guess I have always been lucky that both families are very active in their involvement with the kids... really appreciate it and try not to take it for granted!!

my mum used to look after my cousins regularly when they were little due to their mum having PND. often we took them back home and mum realised what a PITA it was lugging all the stuff back and forth so she went round carboots and got cheapo a cheapo pushchair, top and tail bowl and changing mat and toys. she also bought bottles and bowls but not cups or cutlery as they liked their own. we also used their own potties, clothes, travel cot and sleeping bags. never got a steriliser just boiled them or did them in the dishwasher although i duno why as she was always worried they weren't clean enough! this time around mum has everything for my ds as he lives with her!!
when people say to her that being a grandparent is great cos you get to give them back she always responds with - not when you live with them!! anyway sort of going off the point so i;ll be off hehe

My mum has none.

My parents and PIL live quite a distance away so we try and be as portable as possible. PIL have a high chair as they have several grandchildren, and when we visit my parents they kindly buy nappies, wipes and his favourite foods, and mum borrows a stairgate from the family next door whose kids don't need them any more. As my parents are a flight away we have an inflatable toddler bed which is much lighter than a travel cot, and we use a portable high chair fabric chair harness thing instead of a high chair. All ds's favourite toys are currently things like colouring books and cars, so taking toys is easy too, and anyway when we go he tends to prefer exploring and rummaging through the wooden spoons and plastic kitchen utensils!

I think if they had a bigger house they would probably have a few more things there permanently though!

My view is my parents are in their 80's and retired. I certainly don't expect then to buy lots of stuff as I'm the adult now and tbh they need to be taken care of almost as much as ds does. They aren't very mobile so it is not the money that is the issue with them as the actually getting the stuff IYSWIM

problem is they live over an hour's drive away and I have a tiny nissan micra with very little boot space. We visit every 3-5 weeks and always stay at least one night so for my convenience I take as little as possible with me. They thus have the following at their house but I bought it or borrowed it all.

They buy/borrow some toys and odd bits of clothes but on the whole I provide everything else.

A travel cot (I got this from a friend and took it to my parents house as we already had a travel cot for travelling/playpen etc)

Cheap booster seat wiTh tray (I bought this) - Ds used one of these from about 6 months old anyway instead of a high chair so I gave themm this one when my friend gave me her old highchair.

Pushchair (I bought a chap one to leave there as my boot is too small to cart one there and back)

Nappies/cream/ bibs/nappy sack etc (I stock these up every couple of months when they are running low)

Some toys (most provided by me but a couple by my parents)

Drinking cup (ds just uses any old plastic plate and adult utensils or his fingers to eat when we are there as I always forget to bring his)

Bottle of calpol/neurofen

tbh the only thing I really needed in the early days is a cot but the other stuff is nice to have and my parents don't mind storing it as they have a large cellar.

The cot was essential though as my parent live in a very large tall house and when ds has naps he couldn't really be left on the bed etc as apart from falling off which I'm no longer worried about as he is 21 months old he could reach and work the door handles from a very early age and until recently was not really very good on stairs.

I was worried he would get off the bed, open the door and fall downstairs.

Now ds is a bit older I would let him sleep in the bed but the cot is there so we use it anyway.

My parents seem to have a good thing going. Them and all their friends have grandchildren now and they have started a "sharing circle" so have got a load of stuff between them (high chairs, cots, travelcots, toddler beds, toys, books, monitors, carseats ) etc and then whoever has the grandkids gets the stuff! Stored at various homes. Good for us as they are in the US and we are in the UK -- so we don't take anything !

My mum and my in laws both have a cot, sheets (we use grobags) bits and bobs of cutlery/cups etc (mainly that have been left behind), lots of books and toys that are mostly left over from mine and DH's childhood, and a changing mat. We take everything else with us. TBH, it doesn't bother me and I'd rather they spent their money on themselves now, having been through the whole financial burden of bringing up kids already. Plus, they are always willing to have ds and dd for a couple of days to give me a break, so the least I can do is take a few bits and pieces along.

My parents have everything because they look after dd on a regular basis (they are fabulous grandparents)- but I paid for it all.

PILs have nothing at all.

My parents have everything for ds at their house - he has his own bedroom and they even have nappies/food/clothes/pushchair etc. We lived their till he was 9 months old and they look after him when I am at uni (they are a bit miffed that I moved back home with OH and took their darling grandson away). Ds tends to stay their occasionally and my mum would like to have him 1 night a week. When he does stay all I have to take are his blanket and snuggly toys.

OH's parents have toys, food, cups, plates. Ds stays there occasionally and they have a pull out bed. But mostly they look after him at our house.

Its not something I asked them to do or expected and they have provided 90% of these things themselves and it is nice.

JT lives just over an hour away from me. At her house she has:

dinosaur plastic plates and bowls
a few cars and trucks

Er, I think that's it.

JT - can I persuade you to also stock a pack of coloured pencils and a pad of plain white A4 paper. Ta.

OH, and those are things I bought and left behind last time I was there. JT would not buy things to keep there and would deffo not have things like a highchair or cot.

No need imo - that's why I have a travel cot so I can take it anywhere. Really, how much stuff does a baby or toddler need anyway?

My parents have three massive boxes of toys for my ds's - all the doubled up toys that we haven't got space for! Also have a highchair, a bag of wipes, plastic plates, cups, bottles - they had a steriliser at one point - and my brothers old cutlery (20+years old now!) And they bought the travel cot thats at my place (whoops). Not too bad really, just have to provide kids, nappies and clothes - can't compare in-laws because they both died before we got married - although they did leave us a house.....

My parents have some crockery and cutlery, aprons (new, they bought), potty, step and loo inner (left from when I was a child) And that is about it equipment wise. They have loads of toys though, mainly mine and my sister's, but some new ones too, Dad runs a toyshop so he ends up with the odd sample or two. We stay there for several weekends each year, and the children stay for 4 separate weeks during the holidays.

My ILs have cutlery and mugs - were DH's, and quite a few toys and games from his childhood. They also buy bits and pieces to keep at theirs - colouring books, teaset etc., and have a couple of cupboards where everything is kept so the children can just help themselves. I wouldn't expect either set to have big equipment - we always drive so taking cot/buggy was never an issue when we needed them. I'm jusy glad they all enjoy spending time with their grandchildren!