How many gifts for birthday?

[AlbrightRC]

How many gifts or how much do you typically spend for a birthday for your child and does it matter if they are also having a party? My son will be 4 at the end of June and isn't haveing a birthday party. So far we have two automoblox minies, a leappad game, melissa and doug chef dress up set and a melissa and doug money set all purchased on sale and put away for him. I also won this which i'm hoping will be here in time for his birthday.
http://www.step2.com/p/Extreme-Coaster
I debating getting him other stuff. He could really use a soccer goal for outside and I know he would love some pirate dress up stuff. I guess I could use birthday money from grandparents for that.

[SnuggleBuggles]

My boys have family that spoil them so we don't get a lot of items for b-days. We do tend to buy 1 really nice thing though, and usually spend around $100. One year we bought a DS and that was closer to $150. Usually ds1 gets a nice Lego set. Ds2 hasn't gotten $$ presents yet b/c he doesn't know/ doesn't care. This year he already asked for a DS. :) It's hard to remember when ds1 was an only . We likely spent around $100 then too but more items for the money.

[KrisM]

My kids get 4-5 gifts on their birthdays from our immediate family. Two or 3 are from DH and me and 1 each from the siblings. In total, gifts are valued between $100 and $200 typically. I spent right at $100 for DS1's last week - a TaeKwonDo belt display, Ripstik, Spy camera, 3 books (put as 1 gift), a bike computer.

They also get 4 gifts from extended family, and from friends at a party. They typically have 3-5 friends, so not tons. DS1 had a party with 3 friends.

If family and friends were giving gifts, I'd likely give a couple more if there are things he'd really like or needs. But, not too many.

[sarahsthreads]

We usually do one really nice, very wanted gift or a couple of smaller gifts that somehow go together. Each sister gives the other a gift on their birthday as well, sometimes it goes along with our gift, sometimes it's completely independent.

I don't necessarily try to meet a dollar amount, and I'll be honest and say that DD1's gifts tend to be more expensive than DD2's. This seems really unfair, but they both get the things they really want and are happy with them. I have no doubt DD2's tastes will become more expensive as she gets older!

If there are specific things I know they would like, but I've already bought a gift from us, I suggest those to people who ask what they want. So in your case with the soccer goal and pirate dress-up clothes, if my brothers asked what they could get, I'd suggest the soccer goal to one and say pirate dress-up clothes would be a huge hit to the other. They don't always get my suggestions, but being kid-less at the moment are happy to have a starting point.

Sarah :)

[iaam]

Within the family, this is what we tend to do: we typically do one "big" gift, which one sibling gives to the other. DC also get one "pretty big" gift each from DH + me, my parents and my brother + SIL (typically, I come up with the gift idea, based on what the kids want or what they need). Often there will be 'smaller' things too, from any combination of the abive adult gift givers, like clothes or books.

This year, for her 2nd birthday, DD got the Loving Family dollhouse (the big one) from DS. My parents gave her eight furniture/accessory sets to go with it. My brother + SIL gave her a tricycle (from my list) and also a smaller toy and some clothes. DH and I gave her two Corolle dolls.

She got a ton of other stuff from our close family friends (two families) and her nanny as well. She did not have a party this year (but will next year, when she is in pre-school).

We do not aim for a dollar amount.

[rin]

DD's only two, so we've only had a few occasions to see what works for us, but so far we've been giving her 1 or 2 smaller gifts. My parents always get her 4 or 5 different presents, plus she gets things from other family members, and it just gets overwhelming. This year we got her a froggie backpack for her birthday and she never opened the second present (a wooden puzzle). I was going to get her a mini trampoline, but decided to hold off. Maybe for Christmas!

[lmwbasye]

It depends. On what I find on clearance and have stocked up...on what they want...on how expensive the items are...etc.

I would say around 5 - 7 from us...maybe as high as 10ish when DH is gone because of the guilt factor, LOL.

[swissair81]

We usually do one really nice, very wanted gift or a couple of smaller gifts that somehow go together.

:yeahthat: Often I will let my in-laws and parents in on our idea, and they will either help us spend more on a present than we normally would, or they buy accessories or something that somehow goes with what we bought. One year, DD2 got a Calico Critters house, and the grandparents bought animals and furniture. The same year, DD1 got an art table. One set of grandparents helped me pay for the table, and the other set bought some art supplies.

[AlbrightRC]

My son is an only so no sibling gifts..both sets of grandparents typically give something. Aunts and Uncles its hit and miss. It seems to depend with two of them on if we have set something for their childs last birthday..one aunt and uncle have never gotten him a birthday present and the other uncle does sometimes.

[ljackson]

One gift from us and the price varies between $20 and $90 depending on what we think they want/need.

[ahisma]

Two. One big one (around $100) from us, one smaller one from siblings.

It's their day - they pick the meals, the activities, etc.

We throw them a party too.

[Jai]

DS is 3, and this past birthday is the first time we gave him gifts. We gave him two--a big tub of Kid Knex and a Meet the Sight Words dvd. His birthday is right after Christmas, and when he was turning 1 and 2, I couldnt think of anything more he would want or need. We also had rather large parties for his first (with family) and second (one with friends in town and another with family where the inlaws live) birthdays so I didnt see the need to do/buy anything more.

[edurnemk]

From us he only gets one gift. He's had parties every year, but either way he'd get only one, maybe a more expensive one if there was no party. He's spoiled enough by the GP's on both sides, and his bday is very close to Xmas.

As a kid I only got one gift as well.

We spend anywhere between $20 and $100 on the gift.

[misshollygolightly]

DS will turn 4 in June. From us, he's getting a set of Cars-themed bedsheets (which is both a need and a want), a second-hand Radioflyer scooter, and probably a Cars-themed bike helmet. My parents got him a Cars-themed bike (his first bicycle!). Not sure what in-laws are getting him. He'll likely also receive a few very small presents in the mail from extended family (SIL, Great Grandma, etc.). I have an Automoblox mini set aside that will probably be for DS "from" DD. He's having a party, but it will be a joint b-day party for DS and DD and I haven't yet decided how to handle the issue of gifts. His previous parties have been no gifts (a few close friends showed up with very small token gifts, which was fine). But DS is old enough that I know he'd enjoy opening gifts at his party. Either way, b-day gifting among our circle of friends tends to be smaller and not as over-the-top as I hear about on here. I'd say most people would spend about $15 for a b-day gift.

What you have already sounds fabulous, IMO! Honestly, that roller coaster thingy is awesome and I wouldn't add any other major presents (soccer goal, etc.) b/c I suspect they'd get lost in the excitement over the roller coaster. Maybe you can suggest the soccer goal and other things you'd like to give him as gift ideas to your parents or in-laws. Or, if it looks like the roller coaster won't arrive in time, go ahead with the soccer goal and save the coaster for a rainy day later this summer.

Even at almost 4, my DS would really only focus on/play with a few flashy new toys at a time. We'd do better to save the extras back for a rainy day later on.

ETA: The pirate dress-up stuff might be fun to save for the fall (if he'll dress up for Halloween, anyway).

[tribe pride]

Well, I guess we're cheap! :D For DS1's first birthday, we bought him a ride-on firetruck, which was about $90. Other than that, we've typically spent between $30 and $50 on the boys' birthday gifts. DS1 is getting his first "real" party with friends this year (he'll be 4), and we're giving him 2 books, a hand-me-down radio flyer tricycle that friends are getting rid of for free, and a Thomas Train from DS2. So maybe $20. We're spending a lot less in part because he's having a party (granted, the party is in our front yard and won't be tons of kids, so we're only spending maybe $50 on it).

We honestly just don't have a lot of money to spend on the boys' birthdays. And they get plenty of gifts from grandparents. They have more toys then they need or play with at this point. We'll see what happens when they get a little older and start actually requesting specific gifts. For now, we're fine with being cheap- the kids could care less. As long as they have a couple of things to open and a cake, they're happy campers.

[wellyes]

You have plenty. He'll be so happy. :)