Do you only buy toys that don't need batteries?

[nappyaddict]

If there's an alternative then I will buy the no battery version (for instance DS has the wooden kitchen appliances from ELC and he had basic shape sorters not those musical ones and his cars etc don't make noises)

But what about when there's no alternative. EG remote control toys, motorised trains to go on a train track, those battery powered ride on toys where you press the pedal and they go, torches, toy guitar, toy saxaphone, toy keyboard, pretend laptop, pretend camera, pretend mobile phone, those finger painting etch a sketches for babies, DS had a fisher price race track where all the cars bump into eachother, a car launcher where you press a button and all the cars shoot off etc

Do your children not have any toys like that?

God yes I avoiud battety operated toys wherever possible.

The ones that DS has are generally bought by others, but he only has a few.

And once the batteries run out I don't replace them immediately. I wait till they all need replacing, thus giving me a couple of months of peace as I fucking hate noisy toys. Then DS makes an inventory of all the batteries he needs and I order them all online in one go and he has to replace them himself.

I am a mean mummy.

Yes generally

We only get toys and objects for dd and ds that use batteries if no alternative
So they have at the moment a keyboard, one brio train, a torch (have also got a wind up torch now) and several calualators.

And since birth they have had almost zero pointless tinky tonky musical electric lights toys

As for toys where there is no alternative - eg battery powered ride on toys - there is an alternative, dont purchase
Child powered scooters. bikes and go kart are far nicer, more fun and better exercise

Finger painting etch a sketch for babies - good grief no

My mum bought DS something similar to this (it's a bit bigger) What would be a non-battery alternative to that?

I avoid them, he has a few bought by GPs though.

I found these torches the other day, a childs version of the rechargable ones, no battery required

A ride on with wheels without the mine had one similar to this 2nd hand similar ones widely available

Surely a child would rather zoom about all over the place rather than go round and round on the track?

JMS we have fab wind up torches that I got from wilkinsons £2.99 - It means I dont screech "turn that off so you dont waste the batteries"

We have a battery charger and rechargeables that gets used mainly for clocks etc

If I remember correctly batteries use 50 times more energy in production than they do in actual use by the purchaser

i like to leave something to the imagination

for an NT child something that flashes and talks and sings stops the child from doing this for themselves imo

Personally i am more interested in the child to developing its imagination over and above hand-eye-coordination

I do NOW - after 10 bitter years of battery-powered misery and expense and eco-guilt and two boys. i also tell all relatives/friends not to bother.

I do NOW - after 10 bitter years of battery-powered misery and expense and eco-guilt and two boys. i also tell all relatives/friends not to bother.

nappy no they do not have toys like that

brio train
a recorder
cars
real pens and paper etc
wind up torches are GREAT

i am anti mobile phones and screens so would not encourage the use with toys - childhood short enough

I sound a real pious bint but i am not - my kids are happy and chilled

Laura Would you buy any of these toys then or can you suggest alternatives if you wouldn't?

musical finger paint

ball popper

ball blowing train

dinosaur

vacuum cleaner

bubble machine

phone

#mark er#7

camera

mobile phone

ball popper0

ball popper1

ball popper2

ball popper3

ball popper4
ball popper5

ball popper6

ball popper7

ball popper8

ball popper9

ball blowing train0

ball blowing train1

ball blowing train2

ball blowing train3

ball blowing train4

ball blowing train5

ball blowing train6

ball blowing train7

ball blowing train8

#m arker#29

dinosaur0

dinosaur1

dinosaur2

dinosaur3

dinosaur4

Oh crap i forgot you can't post loads of links together. I'll try again. And anyone can reply I only put Laura before cos no one else had replied at the time.

Laura Would you buy any of these toys then or can you suggest alternatives if you wouldn't?

musical finger paint

ball popper

ball blowing train

dinosaur

vacuum cleaner

bubble machine

phone

#mark er#7

camera

mobile phone

Apparently I can't C&P

vtech book

dragsters

shake and go planes

keyboard

quad bike
geotrax

race track

bumper cars

zebra

mixin drum

dragsters0

laptop

bath toy
bath toy]]

piggy bank

light and sound ball

crawling ball

pop up ball

amazing animals

tortoise

tether ball

We buy battery toys and a battery charger with plenty of rechargeable batteries as well as wind up torches.

No angst.

giraffe

helmet heroes

bath toy

activity table

kidijamz

zippity

vtech DJ

WOW Nappy that is the most links I have ever seen on MN

Essentially no tbh
I have not and never would buy almost all of the things you have linked to sorry!

Without wanting to upset you I think you are looking at it from an entirely different perspective to me!

I saw a few lovely wooden toys before I was pregnant with my first which got me thinking "hmm those are nice"
Then while I was preggers a friends ds aged about 1 had a big collection of plastic battery operated stuff which beeped and flashed - dh was appalled

Then I discovered companys who make/sell wooden stuff...........

So I dont think "hmm that is a fab toy with batteries Ill see if I can find a non battery alternative"
I think hmm look at all these lovely wooden/fabric toys (preferably made in the uk, or fairly traded and made overseas)

I rarely notice the plastic battery stuff tbh. It has never really crossed my mind to buy any of it - although obviously we have got a few

Ds is now 8 dd is 5
Almost all of the plastic toys they have owned have been broken and chucked/charity shopped now (a big % were bought in charity shops anyway - bob the builder diggers, we had 6 at one time, they broke though!)

Our wooden toys are still going strong ds and dd play with them a lot

We have got wooden bricks (coloured and plain)
Wooden workbench for toddlers - dd still loves it
Wooden push along truck with blocks
Wooden truck with tip up back - very useful for carrying injured teddies etc

wooden marble run
wooden castle - two different types
wooden alphabet letters
wooden pattern shapes

wooden dolls house

elc crawl through tunnel and pop up tent - they play with this several times a week still - houses, space journeys etc

basket full of teddies, dds rag doll and baby collection with pushchair and bag full of essential baby accessories.

Tea set and cooking set - she likes to cook for me
dustpan and brush, duster, mop

hobby horse,
sit on wooden horse

dinosaurs with their dinosaur 'world'

Knex, magnetix, lego

Brio style train track and trains - one with battery - loads more without

huge collection of fiction and non fiction books

paper pencils feltips freely available with other craft stuff as well (hama beads, glue all sorts!)

Two mega long posts there sorry!

I hope that helps to explain how my brain ticks - and just in case you are wondering my kids are very happy with their lot
Ds witters about "X has got such and such" but his wishlist changes daily

This christmas we will hopefully get a full size digital keyboard/piano for them to start learning on
Next year when ds is 9 we MAY get him a playstation/Wi/Nintendo - possibly
At the moment he is generally content with the joys of the internet/computer stuff

i also love toys with an aesthetic edge to fire up imagination that way

most of the toys i buy are french the rest from Europe or Scandinavia

i would rather they carried two playmobil men round all day moving them from chair to window sill to floor to bath than ANY of that stuff you link to

i do have batteries in playmobil police car light

We have a load of dressing up stuff as well
Board games and jigsaws - I forgot those too

playmobile is cool too though we havent got any

I like otter am sorry if I sound like a pious bint (great expression Otter) but I just cant see the point of having a house full of toys that only work if you put batteries in them

We use rechargeables and have a good stock of batteries, a toy having batteries never bothers me and I wouldnt look for an alternative based on batteries alone.

Not upset. Basically it was GoppingOtter who got me thinking he has far too many toys and would like to charity shop a lot of them and keep just the nicer pieces that he has.

Laura and GoppingOtter Was there anything on my links you would buy? (I have a friend who is like you but I can't really afford to get her kids the wooden toys she likes for Christmas as they tend to be quite expensive and they have tonnes of books so don't really want to get them another book) Failing that I suppose I could get a voucher but I always think that looks like you haven't bothered.

GoppingOtter would you buy a battery powered train or prefer one they just push along themselves?

What would you prefer to a keyboard or remote control car or remote control aeroplane?

nappies i would not buy anything battery - would usually put it back...

if like a train it needs a noise - let the child make it

piano in lieu of keyboard - loads on freecycle but you have to have the room which is an issue

i do not just buy wooden loads of djeco or kushies stuff

and this sort of thing