What age for train table??

[SarahK]

What age is appropriate for a train table? We were eyeing the Costco traintable a couple of weeks ago as a Christmas present for our daughter--she will be 24.5 months at Christmas--but decided we should wait a year...but now I'm having second thoughts!

Also, we will have a new baby in the house in late January and if we buy a train table, it will take the place of the coffee table in the family room (aka "the room the toy warehouse exploded in") and want to make sure this is something relatively safe for a small baby to be around--if we waited an additional year, the baby would be almost one before the train table came into the house.

Sooo--should we get it this year for our 24.5 month old, or wait until she is 36.5 months old?

[brittone2]

I'd probably get it this year. I think as kids get older they tend to enjoy building monstrous sized layouts. I guess a lot of it just depends on your kiddo and how they play with the trains though.

I think several of the BTDT moms have mentioned their kids stopped using the table as much as they got older. I could be wrong though...I just think I've gotten that impression.

Of course, it can still be used for other things like dollhouse play, building blocks, etc. and with another child on the way, it would probably still get some use even if your older DD doesn't use it for more than a year.

Hopefully some of the moms who have been through this already will chime in. We're debating building/buying one for our almost 19 month old.

[bchafin]

We just got this table for our 17 month old. I love it. It has replaced our coffee table since we found we weren't using the coffee table anymore since DS would grab anything we put on it. He plays with the trains, but not the track. He still just throws the track pieces all over, so I packed that and the buildings away until later. It is a great surface for play though, and the trundles are great for storage of other toys. Our house isn't large enough for a playroom, so this has really helped cut back on the toy clutter throughout the house.

Barb