Do you buy toys for your DC all year or just holiday/bday?

[pittsburghgirl]

My DH and I are having a "discussion" on this. Do you buy your DCs toys during the year, or just for birthday/holiday?

[Mamma2004]

To an absolute extreme (which may not be a good thing), DS receives new toys for Christmas and then for his birthday in May. I figure they're nearly half way through the year so every 5-6 months he gets some new loot and gives some away.

[SnuggleBuggles]

He gets toys throughout most of the year. I stop buying toys in October in the run up for Christmas. At various times throughout the year I declare a "no new toy" month (or longer depending on my mood). I institute those months when it seems like ds just has too many things or is being unappreciative of what he has. His b-day is in June so it is 1/2 from Christmas. We like to buy toys though so I don't limit it to those 2 occaisons.

Beth

[hillview]

Throughout the year. Bdays don't net a lot of gifts from us (2?). Christmas is an issue and trying to cut back!!

So far this year have books only.

I do have a pretty full toy closet with older kid games/puzzles that I got on sale etc.
/hillary

[brittone2]

So far primarily on bdays and Christmas, but we find some good 2nd hand stuff and they'll get that throughout the year.

I'm always on the fence about whether it is better to limit how often they get new stuff (so that they aren't always asking at stores, etc.). Currently DS (4.5) doesn't really ask for much at all in stores, etc. and I'd like to keep it that way LOL. But...I don't like getting carried away for holidays/bday. We usually keep things fairly modest for holiday/bday gifts.

I see pros/cons to each approach!

[elliput]

I am always on the lookout for new toys. DD's b-day is just a couple weeks after the holidays, so I like to add new things in during the year as her interests and ablilities evolve.

[zephyr]

My ds gets toys year round. We don't go crazy for christmas and b-days, although we do celebrate them and I try not to focus on all the gifts/stuff he gets but about the actual holiday/celebration at hand. He also has some stuff I have found that was very inexpensive and I do buy ahead (gets stashed away in a closet). So if I happened to see a wooden dollhouse on craigslist, I would probably buy it but it would be in stashed away for later when he was old enough to play with it.

[greatcanuk]

Sigh. I'm a toyaholic and I buy toys ALL THE TIME (always things I've found at an amazing price, of course.) Therefore, I have a huge toy stash. So I'll give something to DD somewhat at random. For example, I'll break out a new toy if she is expressing an interest related to something I have already in my stash. Or is she was extraordinarily patient, or had an extraordinarily hard day, sort of as a bonus (not as a bribe though).

For big occasions (Xmas, b-days, graduations, etc), I'll maybe do 1 big item usually bought ahead, supplemented with some medium or small items.

Camille

[C99]

So far primarily on bdays and Christmas, but we find some good 2nd hand stuff and they'll get that throughout the year.

I'm always on the fence about whether it is better to limit how often they get new stuff (so that they aren't always asking at stores, etc.). Currently DS (4.5) doesn't really ask for much at all in stores, etc. and I'd like to keep it that way LOL. But...I don't like getting carried away for holidays/bday. We usually keep things fairly modest for holiday/bday gifts.

I see pros/cons to each approach!

This is pretty much us as well. My kids don't ask for things in stores all the time either, which is nice. They do ask from time to time, which I think is normal. But there are no tantrums when the answer is no either.

[bubbaray]

All the time. I use small things as behavior rewards/bribes.