Trains...follow up questions....

[brittone2]

Just curious...
DS is 8 months, will be 10 months at Christmas and his 1 yr. birthday is in February. So...I was thinking of getting him some train "starter equipment" for his 1st bday, especially since so many of the kids here took an early interest in train sets.

So....my question is this...did most of you start with Thomas, etc. right away or did you buy a cheaper set to start? Will DS still be mouthing/chewing a lot and therefore risk either choking or scratching a nicer set up?

I believe there have been posts on here before about cheaper track sets from Target and maybe Ikea? Would that be a good way to start? How much track, etc. do I need to start a 1 year old? I know he won't be into big elaborate layouts for some time, so I'm wondering how much is enough to keep him busy and interested without buying a ton in case he doesn't take a big interest in it or in case he totals the whole thing...

Thanks!

[redhookmom]

We have track from IKEA, Target, Christmas Tree Srore, Thomas, yard sales... I cannot tell the difference in the track (my dh may be able to.) I can tell the difference with the bridges etc. Some are lesser quality and fall apart.

For a little guy the hills and bridges are frustrating! I would go for some simple tracks and maybe a character or two from the Thomas selection.

[NEVE and TRISTAN]

We have the Ikea one and it was like $14 it is all T needs at this point and it has three simple cars that he carries around everywhere with him.
A simple figure eight with one bridge...I am so glad that we started off this way...

Edited to add...most of his enjoyment is stacking block structures around the tracks...so if you geta smiple track you might want to hunt for wooden blocks at garage sales etc and build tunnels that way...

Neve and Tristan born Feb 25, 2003
* EDD 3/19/05 IT'S A GIRL
* DOSSIER IN THE HANDS OF TRANSLATOR

http://home.nc.rr.com/ourbabytristan

[brittone2]

Thanks! The Ikea set sounds great and it gives me an excuse to go there :) I definitely think we'd be best to start off with something simple and just add from there as we go. I was thinking while DS is so young we could probably decorate the outsides of clean, empty milk cartons and he'd be happy with those as buildings, etc. ;) The blocks are along the same idea.

I appreciate the insight. I pretty much figured we could get away with something simple and inexpensive for now. Thanks for the reassurance ;)