So I finally get a girl: - YouLookFab Forum

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So I finally get a girl:

MsMaven

Veteran

My family and friends seem to specialize in having two sets of boys and no girls. At last a girl--she's 8 months old now. I looked forward to buying tons of cute girly clothes, but everyone else has beat me to it. This girl has more cute little outfits than you can imagine.

So I'm thinking ahead to Christmas and her birthday, and I'm wondering what I could get her. Boys I know what to get, and I love sitting on the floor playing trains or dinosaur wars or else on the sofa with Angry Birds and now Minecraft.

Of course I'll ask family what she needs, but I'm kind of at a loss on what would be good, useful, and not something she'll outgrow or will be lost in cute girly clothes. I grew up in a family of only girls, but I don't think they have Betsy Wetsy or Toni Twin dolls anymore.

Any ideas will be appreciated.

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19 replies

Latest reply was from tulle

catgirl

Veteran

Books. A book you can inscribe and read to her now, that she can read later, will be precious forever.

Also a costume box with fun stuff is good.

And all kids love pretend food/kitchens - my son played "restaurant" forever.

She's still tiny, though, and will outgrow clothes, so buy her whatever you want!

rachylou

Veteran

Omg, you will find when you get out there girls are so much easier. Everything is made for girls. I'd go easy while she's so young, all too soon you'll be buried in stuff. Developmental stuff... Soft books, shape toys... Oh a set of those plastic keys they make for babies. Babies love keys.

Debora

Veteran

I love this Little Book of Names & Faces by Pinhole Press. It's a personalized photo book where you can upload your favorite photos and customize the text to help your child learn family names and faces. For ages one and up and perfect for little hands. (Sorry, having trouble with the link, but see pics below to get an idea.)
Happy shopping!

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cloud9

Veteran

Congrats on getting a girl! At this age I'd just go with board books, and Little People sets, Duplo Legos.

Laurinda

Veteran

Another book lover here, a customized photo book is a great idea!

I've also given music or story CDs (mp3s or whatever they use). Putumayo has some nice kid-oriented collections that are not too cloying for the grown-ups.

And Peter and the Wolf with Boris Karloff; it's never too early to get them started on Prokofiev.

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Dee

Veteran

I just wanted to say that toys like trains and dinosaurs aren't just for boys either! I loved them as a kid, and many of my friends' kids (of both genders) enjoy toys like that now.

Anonymous

Go figure, my DD never played with dolls except for Barbies. She loved leggos and k'nex to build things. When she was 4 she asked for envelopes because she wanted to send letters to her family.

My DD did have an extensive collection of books, like Berenstain Bears (she had a few of these signed by the author since we lived in the same town they did), Madeline, Angelina Ballerina, and of course, Dr, Seuss. If you did not know, a new Dr. Seuss book came out this summer called "what Pet Should I Get?". I actually bought it as a keepsake.

Doll houses are nice as long as the pieces and furniture are not small enough to fit in her mouth. My DD played with hers for a long time. And as a final suggestion, puppets!

elpgal

Veteran

Others have given you good ideas. Some other things - Go-cars (nice rounded edges and a handle), a rocking horse, Melissa and Doug play food, Little People sets, puppets, Sandra Boynton book set, stacking rings, largish dolls etc

rachylou

Veteran

Oh the book and song chicken soup with rice... Have had good success with that encouraging even non readers to like reading better...

AJ

Veteran

My daughter was very interested in baby dolls when she turned 1. I invested in a Bitty Baby by American Girl:
http://www.americangirl.com/shop/dolls/bitty-baby
DD will be 12 soon and she still has her doll and it has held up well.

I also recommend books, especially the kind where they lift flaps to see what's inside. Also books in which the person reading to them needs to make silly noises.

Glory

Veteran

I also love the idea of a costume box. I had this for my children. I purchased a wonderful box and just added as time went by. High heels, hats, capes, ninja - you name it. My children are now 19, 16, 14 but the box lives on for special events. I have given away the items that don't fit now but other things have taken their place.
We also shopped local second hand places together over the years, adding to the collection.

Isabel

Veteran

@MsMaven, congratulations. I was also going to mention the American Girl Dolls. They can be a slippery slope, though. : ) Many of my daughter's friends have gone sooooo over the top with this stuff.

My daughter has had one of the babies since she was about 5 months old. She is 12 now. Then she got another girl when she was about 5 years old. They can really be heirlooms to be passed on. If anything ever happens, they have the American Girl "hospital". When my daughter's "baby" had a bad accident, they fixed her up.

They have become so popular that you can buy less expensive clothes for them now too through other makers. : )

AviaMariah

Veteran

I have two girls, 3 yrs and 10 months. If you want to buy clothes buy the practical stuff like cute, footed PJ's, onsies, etc. Avoid dresses and skirts as it's hard for them to crawl wearing them. I had a TON of clothing given to me as gifts and I found I still had to go buy the practical items like I listed above because everyone gave me the adorable but really non practical clothing. I agree with books. My MIL gave my DD1 a book that had a recording of Gma reading it. She loves it to this day.

Anonymous

Congrats on the girl! You'll have a much easier time shopping, I do believe.

My DH and I have 4 DDs, one niece and one granddaughter; no boys except for 2 nephews.None of my DDs played with Barbie dolls. My MIL never got the hint. She kept buying them, and we had to act thankful. They barely played with other dolls. They mostly played outdoors, and one of my DDs was into skateboarding, paintballing, video games, and JROTC. (She now loves CrossFit and skydiving.) My DH and I always tried to buy educational products whenever possible. I wouldn't say my girls aren't feminine, but they certainly aren't girlie girls.

MsMaven

Veteran

Thanks, lots of great and creative ideas here. I googled best books for preschoolers for the boys and came up with a great selection that were very popular. I'll have to check and see if they have held up and which cousin has them. It occurs to me that the older boy cousin could read some of these early books to her.

I like trains myself and I'll bet there's a toddler version I could get for her. I like the idea of puppets and costumes as well.

An interesting plot twist: she's going to have a little brother much sooner than her parents had planned on!

Anonymous

P.S. All of my DDs had the American Girl dolls. The tomboy I spoke of ended up selling her first edition Josefina doll on eBay for $500. She asked me first, of course, but I told her it was her doll and that she could do what she wanted. My youngest DD liked that idea, so she bought a few dolls with the intent of selling them later. She just sold her first one, but not for as much $ as she wanted; then again, it was not a first edition. She got almost $300 for it, though.

Archer

Veteran

Lots of great advice that agree with here so no point in repeating. I don't think you will need to be tenderising the toys just to teach her she is different given that she is the only girl. She is going to get enough hot pick and little cooking books from well meaning conservatives any way.

Archer

Veteran

Correction - genderising, i.e. gender loading I guess.

tulle

Veteran

When my daughter was just a bit older than the little girl in question, my mother gave her a baby doll with eyes that open and close. This doll was carried everywhere and taken to bed every night (my daughter called her "Night-night Baby") for many years. Any realistic doll of a comfortable size and shape (like the Bitty Baby AJ mentioned) would probably be welcome.