anyone wanna join my toy-free tribe? - Page 8

[accountclosed3]

i think the idea of getting various fabrics is really fun. kids love to make costumes, and that's a good way to do it. it's live action role playing, similar to using dolls.

[amygabrielle]

dd1 LOVES playsilks and any kind of dress up dresses. I think it's a great form of imaginary play.

[SuzyLee]

My most beloved dress up clothes growing up were my mom's old bridesmaid dresses.

[accountclosed2]

Originally Posted by zoebird

NOS:

as a new, first-time mom (20 weeks pg tomorrow!), i'm curious to know what you have and use for your baby during these first months. i really only want to purchase (or have purchased for me) that which i will use.

most of my friends and such assert that they have a lot of stuff, most of it not used, and some of it even turned over to consignment unused! that's such a waste of time, money, and space to me!

so, if you could let me know, that would be awesome.

Zoebird, this is what we have used so far for our 20 week old:

Toys:

- Nothing before 3 mths
- Small stuffed sheep
- 2 teddybears (not much use yet)
- plain wood rattle
- "Horton hears a who" boardbook (favourite toy!)
- Books

Clothes:

Much less than we thought and what anyone suggested! Used more tops once she started slobbering, but that's all. Lots of dribble bibs. And disposables. For a lot of reasons we have ended up using them, despite not thinking we would. (we do EC anyway). Lots of nappy squares for everything except nappies!!! And BabyLegs legwarmers are great in a sling! We use Storchenwiege wrap, which is fantastic. Also using the Mountain Buggy much more than expected(it was given to us second hand, but my daughter sleeps in it every day). Carseat (it is illegal not to use appropriate carseats for under-5's here). And an old-fashioned bouncer, as LO hated being on the ground for the first 3 months! The best advice (if it was us) would be get some disposables (Tushies, Moltex etc are eco-friendly, and good for baby), and maybe a few clothnappies, maybe different types, to try. We have loads of nappies that we'll never use, because they just didn't work for us, an enourmous waste of money! Also get some kimono tops, some socks, a matinee coat and hat, and a night gown. That got us through the first month!

I have just ordered a few teething pegs and a couple of playsilks, but I think she needs more, as she is into everything.

Any ideas anyone? We want to keep plastic out as much as possible, and I really don't like the musical toys that do all sort of things for you (the worst ever: a plastic tractor with trailer. with farmer and three farm animals, which would play Old Macdonald had a Farm when the characters where pushed down in it, or yell something about the animals, but worse, would suddenly, if left for an hour or so, call out "Where is everybody?"). We have concerns about phtalates and BPA in plastic anyway. Also careful with paints on wooden toys etc. What about bath toys?

[clothmumma]

Hi everyone, I want to join in! We have toys, but 99% given to us, and what we have bought is wooden, and buildable. We dont buy toys for birthdays or xmas, we buy real life things, such as brooms, household items etc

[clothdipemomof2boy]

welcome clothmumma it is great you found this thread. I know I have enjoyed it.


Ladies last week we went to the zoo and had lots of fun but we also picked up membership info for Jacobs birthday and adopt an animal for the kids too for either birthdays or christmas. I am getting Evan a library card for his sixth birthday. Jacob will have to wait till he is six. I just thought that wold make great gifts for them.

[clothmumma]

Originally Posted by clothdipemomof2boy

welcome clothmumma it is great you found this thread. I know I have enjoyed it.


Ladies last week we went to the zoo and had lots of fun but we also picked up membership info for Jacobs birthday and adopt an animal for the kids too for either birthdays or christmas. I am getting Evan a library card for his sixth birthday. Jacob will have to wait till he is six. I just thought that wold make great gifts for them.

I was thinking about getting a year pass to one of the animal sanctuarys near me too....might actually do this

[foodmachine]

Great stuff. DD is 6 months old and I need the support NOW to keep the commercial stuff at bay. We don't have TV and already my MIL is saying I'll have to get TV for DD "of course". It is so easy to get sucked into thinking LO's "need" stuff.

But what about backyard swings, climbing stuff, slides etc? I figure if we have these things DD's friends will come here rather than she going else where?
Will our kids want to play at so and so's because so and so has TV, lots of toys, etc?

And we are all obviously on our computers part of the day. What about computer games?

There's so much to consider.

Btw what is a "Bilibo" and what does "MIC" stand for?

[foodmachine]

forgot to sub

[xekomaya]

Originally Posted by foodmachine

Btw what is a "Bilibo" and what does "MIC" stand for?

Welcome!

Billibo and MIC = Made In China

[accountclosed3]

But what about backyard swings, climbing stuff, slides etc? I figure if we have these things DD's friends will come here rather than she going else where?

we don't have a yard and we do have a community park, so that's where i am. if i do have a yard, i'm fairly certain i wouldn't have this equipment anyway and would go to a park or whatever.

growing up, i didn't have those things (or a lot of things that others had) and yet my friends tended to like to come to our house more. i think it was because of how cool my mom was as well as how we could just play and be creative without being hounded by toys and such.

Will our kids want to play at so and so's because so and so has TV, lots of toys, etc?

i n ever did really. i mean, i would go to others homes to play with toys and what not, but TV and computer games and what not were not really fun for me with my friends. i found a lot of "kiddie" TV to be really boring and would rather be outside on my bike or whatever!

What about computer games?

i dislike computer games. beyond using the internet as a learning tool (includin gmessage boards!), i don't see the computer as an 'entertainment' vehicle. it's a tool.

i use it mostly for work, as does my husband, and there are times when we are really *done* being on the computer!

i've never been one much for computer games of any kind, and DH agrees that we won't have games here.

[AngelBee]

:

[foodmachine]

Hi, how are things in toy-free world? I have my eye on some wooden blocks (by Brio) and maybe the shape shorter for DD. Will try to get them used though. I guess I'm toy-critical as opposed to toy-free
Someone bought her an xylophone at her "release party" but pointed out that it's a tool not a toy. That made me smile. Music is BIG part of our lives.

I'm not falling into stuff abyss am I? My brother's house looks the toy r us giraffe throw up.

[wife&mommy]

I'd like to dwindle our supply a lot. We have WAY WAY WAY too many. Our biggest problem is little cars like hotwheels. DS LOVES and I mean LOVES them. And a majority of the ones he has are DH's from when he was little. We have so many. Oh and trains. Cars and trains are so huge around here. I don't even know where to begin with those. He knows each one and the make/model some of them the year. It's a slight obsession with both him and DH. :sigh:

[SuzyLee]

WRT outside toys: We have a yard with random crap in it (like the old owners leftover landscaping rocks) that our neighbor kids like to play with. We built this year a "playhouse": with branches that got blown out of our trees in a storm. We planted climbing vines around it to grow up the playhouse and cover it. The only commerical toy we plan to get is a slide.

[Smalls181]

MIL... sigh..

Dont get me wrong, I love my MIL immensely! She is a wonderful woman and has so much to help us in these last few months. But before we moved here, I made it a point to get rid of DD's toys by about 75% or more. It was great!! But since moving here in May, MIL has brought that toy stash back up to pretty much where it was before!

And what to do about my DD's obsession with My Little Ponies and Care Bears? She is 2 1/2. She looooooves animals. SO MUCH! And so I gave her my old Care Bears from when I was little. She took a liking to them, and then before I knew it, she had 12 of them! Same with the ponies. She had, maybe, 2... but then people keep finding them for her at yard sales and thrift stores, and now we have 10.

Anyways, I know MIL usually does a great job of finding fun, unique toys for DD, but I dont want them to take over our house again like they had done before! It is just ridiculous, and unneccesary.

I dont want a materialistic family. Absolutely not. So besides the obvious limiting stuff, what else can we do? Is it inevitable?

[accountclosed3]

i think that you just have to tell them that you want to control the clutter and reduce the amount of toys that the child has.

also, my mother would help us by purging what we didn't play with when we were little, and then when we were older, we had to purge with her.

and this makes me a life-long purger (married to a toy collector no less!).

i just counted our current baby's toys: two wooden rattles, one wooden pull toy, three stuffed toys. so far, so good.

[Smalls181]

I think once we get moved in, Im gonna take a lot of the stuff down to the consignment store.... at least maybe I can make some money off of it and put it towards something useful. A swim class, or a toddler tumbling class...

[foodmachine]

Originally Posted by AislinCarys

I have just ordered a few teething pegs and a couple of playsilks, but I think she needs more, as she is into everything.

Any ideas anyone? What about bath toys?

I think we have to just make our homes safe so the "everything" they get into is ok. I don't think the answer is to buy stuff. They'll want the "everything" else anyway
But DD is only 7 months so I'll let you know...

But speaking of bath toys, my friend has the coolest giant rubber duckies. I think DD needs rubber duckies...or maybe that's me again
DH just bought some nice colored containers from a kitchen store for pouring (he called to ask first ). They are plastic (BPA-free) - wood in the tub doesn't really work.

[glendora]

Originally Posted by TeresaZofia

Lately, however, she's become interested in "making" her own dresses out of blankets and playsilks that she ties around her body. She also loves trying to wear my clothes and jewelry. For her birthday I'm going to get her a trunk-full of shiny, sparkly, fabulous fabrics to tie on herself. I can also help her sew the fabric into home-made skirts and dresses (nothing too fancy, I can't really sew ).

http://kiddley.com/2007/02/06/no-sew-tutu/