I was thinking earlier whilst cleaning up, Iv never bought a toy or 'big' toy for the girls without it being their b'days or xmas. Il pick up the odd book or something when out but never toys.

I want to get a little trampoline for them outside and a rabbit, but I always think right whos b'day shall I get it for or xmas is far away yet. Why dont I just get it?? does anyone else do this? or am I being tight on the girls not buying them presents.
I have a friend how buys her LO a toy every day!! I think its a bit extreme but then if money was no object may be I would buy things more often. But I seem to buy when needed really. anyone else do it?? xxx

i dont buy a toy on a regular basis i have bought a few things and put them away for bdays and xmas ,
danielle got hers lotso bear at easter but that was with easter pennies from other ppl , prior to that i got her a plush woody doll but that was with 10 quid reward money
am trying to think of something i have bought randomly for her ,, a ball at a fayre and a bag of mega bloks but i bought them off a lady in town whose children were done with them

i personally think the child that is bought something every day /week will end up being a spoiled handful in a few years time

I think that's it's fine to just buy on birthdays and Christmas. I do buy little books and balls etc most weeks but my oh doesn't approve of just buying things because I/ellie want them.
He let me a slide for ellie a few weeks ago but then I wanted a little trampoline and he pulled his face. Sooo I bought one and told oh my mum bought it for her.

I bought Arwyn a ball pool this week and 300 balls cos it was on offer in Tesco, I was planning on getting it for her birthday
I wouldn't buy her something just for the sake of it though, I just buy stuff as I see fit. She's moving around more now so she needs more interesting toys than the stuff she was playing with 6 months ago

I normally buy them throughout the year and put them up for xmas and birthdays.

They have too many toys as it is and I try to rotate them so they dont get bored xxx

Im generally just a bday and xmas buyer too. With Caitlin being born in July I think that helps. Eg she gets toys at xmas - that does her 6/7 months and then at her bday she gets more as her interests change/she develops.

With this next baby I will prob end up buying more during the year (EDD 15th Dec). If by the summer they need a trike I prob would just buy it for them as waiting to xmas is too far away. (Dont know how im going to explain that to Caitlin but?)

Dont get me wrong Caitlin does get extra's eg she got a paddling pool a few weeks ago at £6 in Tesco. If we at a fair she may get a balloon or a teddy. Books I dont really think of as treats so she gets them regularly - my mum is a member of a book club and has about 50 books in her cupboard for me to chose from hehe!

I dont have the money let alone the room to buy things every week! Plus half the stuff she doesnt even play with as it is! I think it will get harder when she is 3 or 4 and able to ask for new things. Atm Caitlin is ecstatic at A £3 ball..... that wont last long, it will be £25 barbies before I know it!

I admit to sometimes getting callum lil bits but im talking about lil £1 cars frm poundland or lil balls but nothing big. Hes going through all these tests and things at the moment in one of the rooms there was stacking cups which he wudnt put down loved them so we picked up a pk of them adn found other toys but weve put them away for his birthday x

i think when they are little its a bit different, like pixel says when eli started walking or when he started crawling/sitting up we needed to get some new bits as his toys weren't really aimed at that level of ability - although he still plays with rattles and things and loves them he also likes his push along turtle and his toybox stacking cups etc now he can really play with them!

we often buy bits and pieces but only if its something i really think he will use, we haven't yet had to get rid of things - he has lots of small things rather than big things, which means we can put some things away for a couple of weeks then swap them around....

i dont really think that makes him spoiled but at this age im not sure he understands that new things are a treat if that makes sense?

mari , when i talk about spoiled chldren ,,,, i mean parents that go out and buy all the latest toys on a regular basis and i am certainly not talking about children of eli age i know while he grows he needs more age related toys for stimulatiion etc

in a years time maybe 2 i dont want to be the parent of the child that is having a major meltdown as she cant get something from the toy aisle EVERY time we go shops
i know she willl have a few but i dont want to her to expect a toy everytime we head out
xx

I buy Tyler things when I think he needs them... he has a lOT of toys but in my defence we can't take him out for about 3 months of the year because it is too hot so he needs a lot of stuff to keep him occupied. I try to buyu things and put them away for his bday or Xmas but thats in September so a long time for him to wait. I hadnt bought him anything new until lasl wekk and I had a 15 eur voucher to spend at ELC so got him something for his bday and some bits for the summer (fuzzy felts and paints)
this week I bought him a play house (as it was on offer... 89 euro's and he loves his nursery one) and a slide as he loves slides.

he won't be getting anything else until his birthday and I already have all of those ready.

Noah isnt interested in toys at the mo, he would rather play in draws etc.

I have a box full of bits and bobs from around the house he would rather play with them his at the exploring stage i think.

I normally buy him a toy once a month.

Char

I'm quite bad in that I buy stuff all the time if I see something nice...although to be fair i haven't bought anything for a month and that was a little trampoline for the garden!

I don't buy loads though and i dont go looking really, just if I see something nice

i'm not too bad, we did go overboard at christmas and birthday time so I haven't needed to buy anything. I did just buy her playhouse though as I wanted it for the summer and it was money well spent!

i try to find excuses to buy Gracie bits because Christmas is December obviously and her birthday is January, like I bought her a trampoline a few months back for using the potty lots but then I also save her Birthday money and get her something in the year from that so thats not so bad BUT my mum and Nan take her into town every Saturday whilst i'm at work and they always buy her something - today it was a music set

i must say I think im verging on spoiling her. we are doing a reward chart just now and have been for about 3 months now. 3 weeks she didnt do so well and I stuck to it and she didntget a treat. every other week her chart has been full of stickers and she gets a treat. the most expensive toy shes picked was a 20 quid barbie I didnt have the heart to say no because every other toy shes picked has been under 5 quid.

I wouldnt say she was spoiled because we can spend an hour in the toy shop and she doesnt expect to be bought anything she just plays and leaves.
sometimes I feel like im doing the reward chart as an excuse to spoil her but shes such a good little girl so she does deserve it

look at me trying to justify myself she sees clothes as more of a treat anyway the weird child. x

Lisa.......fancy pegs and tea towels do not equate to a pressie!!! LOL

I tend to buy things for bdays and xmas etc, but we want to get them a trampoline for the garden so we will buy it.

Steph, Lottie is the same in toy shops and behaves really well. In fact for her 4th birthday she walked round and picked out stuff and asked if she could have them for her 5th birthday!!!!! LOL
xx

I tend to buy for birthday christmas too. he got all of his garden swings and table and vhairs for his birthday but i want a slide for him so will probbuy one if i see one on special. alfie has loads od toys and still loves his balls more than anythi;ng so dont really tend to buy anything except new balls. he loves them ones that smell of cherry or blueberry and tried to lick them lol!!! x

Oliver is a tad spoilt Not in the respect that he demands things, but me and OH are constantly like 'Ooooo, he'd love that!!!' which basically translates to 'Ooooooo, WE'VE got to get that - it looks like so much fun!!!'

Oliver's b/day is in Dec (2wks before xmas) so we do tend to buy a biggish toy mid year, be-it garden toy, or something.

When we go out to town we may buy the odd toy car or book..but we never spend vasts amount of money - i'm a charity shop lover for kiddies toys, waste not - want not!!