How many bday & Christmas gifts do you get your 1 year old?

[ourbabygirl]

Just wondering, as I thought they care more about the boxes and wrapping paper at this age than the gift, and also they don't really know the difference if they don't get much/ anything. As this is our first child, though, I could be wrong. If we just get her one or two small things to open and put some money in her savings &/or college account, will she feel deprived ;)?

[brittone2]

Something I've done in the past w/ both kids for holidays when they didn't need much was to buy things we'd use anyway. DD's bday is close to Christmas and for her very first Christmas she was only a few weeks old and didn't need much at all. So I bought a few things to put away for the coming months...a Klean Kanteen sippy cup, some baby legs, soft soled shoes for when she was closer to a year. For a one year old, some of those items would work.

For DD's first bday and 2nd Christmas she got a Haba walker wagon (the RF walker wagon is nice as well and a little less $$), a Haba ball track (the one w/ a bigger wooden ball, not the marble-sized one), and a Spiel und Holz birthday ring (was fun to start a new family tradition with that). She got a few other things but that was most of what she got from us.

Bigger items that are nice for a one year old are train tables, play kitchens, etc. depending on your child's age. Those have lasting play value for years with many kids. My DS got all of the "big" items since he was our firstborn...with DD it has been more of a challenge to come up with ideas.

Nothing wrong w/ getting a few small things and banking the rest though! Or just buy one or two nicer things that have lasting play value. I usually just make a list of things I need/want them to have in coming months and work those into our holiday/bday gift giving plans. So they may end up with a few things like a ring stacker, some toddler friendly crayons, a simple jumbo knob puzzle, etc. that I consider fairly fundamental kid items, kwim? (eta: gertie/O-ball and kid CDs are both smallish gifts with some lasting non-junky play value and could be stocking stuffers that would work for a 1 year old)

[elektra]

I would say try to limit the Christmas stuff for your one year old. Maybe just get one "big" item, like brittone2 said. It's what we did with our DD. We got a bike trailer- so it was fun yet sort of practical too. ;)
The thing is, at least in our family, the relatives got her more than she could have ever wanted! She had plenty, and yes, she was really to young to realize it anyway.

The cash in savings is a wonderful idea.

[Melaine]

No, I'm sure she won't feel deprived. I like useful gifts but if you don't feel she needs much, you could just get one special gift; I like something personal, handmade, or personalized. I crocheted my girls blankets for their first birthday. It's nice to have at least one gift that you can photograph DC opening and know that that gift will be kept for a long time.
That being said, I usually go way overboard with gifts since my children get next to nothing from family gifts.

[WatchingThemGrow]

I did exactly what Brittone2 said - we got grandparents to give DD a kitchen, and it started getting daily use a couple months later. The firstborn got all the big stuff and the others get the benefit of it.

As for Christmas and birthdays, I try to do one non-junky thoughtful gift from us and show GP our wishlist for the other non-junky things we'd like. It works out well except for the SIL who just gets whatever she wants and gives us duplicates of stuff we already have.

[mecawa]

Just wondering, as I thought they care more about the boxes and wrapping paper at this age than the gift, and also they don't really know the difference if they don't get much/ anything. As this is our first child, though, I could be wrong. If we just get her one or two small things to open and put some money in her savings &/or college account, will she feel deprived ;)?

She won't feel deprived. We bought DD1 a lot of stuff for her 1st bday and Christmas (because our girls bdays are both sooo close to xmas, bdays and xmas are kind of one, unfortunately) but we didn't have ton of stuff for her already. With DD2, I'm going to do what you are doing, just a few things and money in her college fund.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Zero for ds1. :) Well, I think we got him a few little things for Christmas but nothing for his b-day. He got gifts from so many other people that he wasn't even close to deprived.

I have had to buy more for ds2 b/c ds1 would remark on discrepancies, especially where Santa is concerned.

Beth

[KrisM]

Zero for ds1. :) Well, I think we got him a few little things for Christmas but nothing for his b-day. He got gifts from so many other people that he wasn't even close to deprived.

I have had to buy more for ds2 b/c ds1 would remark on discrepancies, especially where Santa is concerned.

Beth

That is true here. We got DS1 a couple things, but DD got a few more. DS2 had about the same amount as the other kids did.

[kijip]

I don't know. We will have to sort this out because F is 1 year old 2 days after Christmas. T plays up Santa, but knows it is a myth. Still, I think some parity is an order so T does not see F not getting anything. But the truth of the matter is that I am having a hard time figuring out what for b-day and what for Christmas. This will be harder as he gets older I guess, and we have to make a big deal out of his b-day because so many others will roll it into Christmas.

Right now I am leaning towards a push walker wagon for Christmas and a rocking toy for b-day (I found this one for $20 today in nearly new condition- http://www.amazon.com/Mamas-Papas-Stanley-Snail-Rocker/dp/B000P5VTI2/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1254718437&sr=8-4). I have some small Haba toys, stacker and blocks to split out, and a classic FP phone pull toy. Since there is a big age gap, I am finding I don't have much from T to recycle to Finn at this age group. Later on, I have a ton of train, unit blocks, kitchen etc stuff to recycle.

[mommyp]

We run into this too, since DD's b-day is less than 2 weeks after Christmas. Last year we got her the FP Little People farm for Christmas and her Corolle Calin doll for her b-day. Both are played with a lot. Also some books spread between the two days. That was enough to keep her busy, the gift wrap and boxes were the big hit! She got lots of things for both from grandparents/aunts/uncles etc, especially since it was her first Christmas. The FP Learning House came from her aunts, riding toy from my parents, etc. I ended up putting a few things away and pulling them out this summer when she was more ready for them.

[daniele_ut]

I didn't *buy* much of anything for dd last year when she was 10 months old. I re-wrapped some of ds's old toys that had been put away for several years. She was perfectly happy with them. The exception was one toy that I got for $10 on Amazon.

This year it is much more evident that she has different interests than ds did at this age, so I will be shopping for some new stuff.