November 26, 2019

What to Buy a Young Toddler for Christmas?



In case you want any ideas or, like me, are just super nosey and also have a weird tendency toward hating gift guides but also love seeing what people are buying and recommending.

None of these are affiliate links and I don't have time to make a collage today (thought about it, didn't do it), but I'm not trying to be click-baity. :)

In Wells' stocking, I'm doing a theme: food-related items. These are some necessities I've being meaning to buy him and transition to and I thought it'd be nice to put it all in his stocking, since opening them up wouldn't exactly be thrilling for a one year old. 

Camelbak bottle. I got the one with airplanes on it. I'm packing up the sippy cups. 

Snack containers. To make life easier for all of us...less spills and all, hopefully.

Silicone mat for eating in restaurants. A friend suggested this, and I've been meaning to look for something similar for months.

My "splurge" was a bento box. When we goes places like out to eat or the zoo or a museum, I pack up like 6 different packages of food for him and spend a lot of time doling it out. This will solve about 7 or 8 logistical problems, by my calculation. They're on sale right now on Amazon!

Also, a winter-themed book to open on Christmas Eve. I got this at Marshall's for $3.

VTech Puppy. Babies/toddlers love pull toys.

Little People Bus.  He has the zoo train and I thought about the airplane because he loves planes (they go over our house many times a day and he loves to watch) but the bus looks like his beloved Buster the Bus. And I'm not spending $$$ or space on an actual Buster. If someone else were to get him something like that, fantastic! That wouldn't bother me because he'd love it. I'm just not bringing it on myself purposely :) Maybe for his birthday. 

Puzzle.  Amazon doesn't have the one that makes sound, but I got that one at Walmart.

Magnets. More magnets. He has lost all of his animal ones by shoving them under the fridge and, as soon as I pull them out, he puts them back under there. So these may end up on a shelf for a few months.

My parents got him blocks and magnatiles. Those were things we wanted him to have, so they said they'd get them. 

We tried, as you can tell, to stay away from "big" things like riding toys, play kitchens, etc. We don't really have the room right now unless we suddenly start making use of our half-finished basement and, to be honest, he doesn't seem to need it right now. I'm thinking that a few of those bigger pretend-play toys would be great for his birthday next summer or Christmas next year, when he's doing more pretend-play anyway. 

What do you buy younger toddlers for Christmas? A 16-18 month old is so different than a baby but definitely not big enough to be trusted with or play with certain toys. 

7 comments:

  1. Kids are so easily amused - its a fun age to buy for

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  2. I buy young toddlers books, but I buy everyone books so...

    I also bought my friend's son this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B079B73T68/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 He loved it.

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  3. I regret to inform you while the snack cups are great, he will learn how to throw said snack he pulls out of it and still make a mess. I had a clean car until the twins one weekend with theirs 😂

    And the Camelback and bento are awesome, from an aunt point of view 😉

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  4. Zoe loves magnatiles! I did a stocking full of food related things in the stocking the Christmas Zoe turned one. It worked out so well. We still use the munchkin 360 cups and straw cups I got her then.

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  5. 18 months is a HARD age to buy for because, like you said, they’re too old for baby toys but they don't have much of an imagination yet for toys that require it. I’m struggling to remember what we got Imogen last year. I know we got her the Little People Noah’s Ark, and she still plays with it. My mom has an older version of that bus at her house and Imogen is obsessed with it so that’s a great choice for Wells!

    If he ends up being like Imogen and just peels up silicone mats to throw them on the floor, let me know. Ill send you a link to disposable place mats that stick to the table and therefore can’t be peeled up by little hands ;)

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  6. I don't like "gift guides" in general but LOVE to hear about what people actually buy (I guess I don't trust that anyone is actually buying anything on most blog 'gift guides'). ha! But it's so interesting what people actually buy. Cyrus is a little older, he will be almost 22 months at Christmas and we're going a little bit of the opposite route--he's getting a glider bike from Angel and I and my parents are buying him a play kitchen. I think both will be a pretty good fit for him at his current stage and we're not planning to move anytime soon (I hope). I'm not big on having bulky things to store because we have very little storage space, but my play kitchen is one thing from childhood I remember vividly to this day, playing with my siblings, and my little cousins actually still play with the Fisher Price play kitchen my grandma got me 25ish years ago...so I have a real soft spot for play kitchens. Stocking will pretty much be food stuff (that's the best for stockings!) snacks and a new sippy cup. Glenn will get his passport for Christmas (Okay, maybe that doesn't really count, but our Christmas break plans include a road trip to the embassy to get his citizenship and documentation so I'm considering that his big Christmas present of the year. That's what a newborn really needs, citizenship.)

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  7. Magnatiles are THE BEST. That was Gracie’s big present last year, and they’re one of the most played with toys. When she was about 20 months at Christmas, we got her a play kitchen and some Little People toys. Both were big hits.

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