I don't want baby presents, what do I say to people?

Question

***I know this is extremely trivial and materialistic***
My daughters 1st birthday is coming up. She got a ridiculous amount of presents when she was born (close to 100) and barely got to wear half of it. I'm expecting another girl so it's fine she can wear them. 
I've had both sides of the family ask what to buy her for her birthday. She still has unopened Christmas presents but plays with the same few basic toys that she loves. I don't want a house cluttered in toys. 
I don't want to come off as ungrateful but I don't want her to be spoiled with toys and not appreciate them. I'd rather practical things. I'm only having a small party for her with just family, not inviting friends or their kids. 
I'll then be facing the same thing when my next girl is born. I don't want people wasting their money on clothes she won't get to wear. 
So any suggestions on practical gifts instead for both girls? Thanks 🤗

Accepted Answer

My best friend always puts on invitations to her boys’ birth parties that they have enough toys and would like “experiences” instead. We all give them cards with places we’re going to take them or things we’re going to do with them inside. Some family members get them things like state park passes, summer pool passes, and zoo and/or museum memberships. I think it’s a great idea and am wanting to do it for my daughter.

Answer

We have the same issue. We actually opened up a college fund and on invitations wrote something similar to this:

Answer

You can let people know that if they bring a gift, it will be donated to a child who is less fortunate.. and then pick a homeless shelter or an agency like Toys for Tots. Or you can always have a garage sale or sell the older things online so your child can have a few new items.

Answer

We had books as cards given with messages to our son in them.

Answer

You could ask for books/puzzles maybe? Or ask instead of gifts being given to your child, you could ask for gifts to either be dropped off and then donated to a charity or just be donated. The other option would be to ask for money to save for their future? The only other thing I can think of is instead of gifts ask for them to bring letters for them to read when their older.

Answer

We just donate the unwanted toys and we also rotate toys. I hide a box and they play with a certain box of toys then in a couple weeks I hide that box and break out the other one. My 1yr old and 2yr old don’t know the difference they just think they have new toys lol.

Answer

We plan on asking for activities over toys, like passes to the zoo. You could ask for just books, or tell people your kids are already so blessed & pick a charity to have people donate to in her honor. We have a local charity that does birthdays for kids who would otherwise not get one.

Answer

This can rub people the wrong way, so we do it like this: 
First and foremost, grandparents are VIPs. They can give whatever they want because it gives them so much joy to do so, way more than they would get at giving a gift card. They feel a sense of pride when they see my son enjoying something they gifted, so if nothing else, I take a picture of him with the toy and quietly return it (say it broke or he outgrew it). 
For everybody else, when they ask, I laugh and send them a pic of my living room and say something playful like “girl I’m DROWNING in toys, when do they start collecting Pokémon cards or small things?” That usually gets my point across and we start chatting about how he doesn’t need anything, and I can tell them in a lighthearted way. 
A Facebook post or adding it to the card is received in whatever way the recipient wants to receive it, and that can be risky.

Answer

I will also say for my niece & nephew we opened a college savings account and put money in that for birthday & Christmas instead of toys, because they get so much crap. Our hope was other people would join in, but they haven’t.... not sure how it would go over (probably depends on your family) coming from the parents, but we just emailed everyone with information on how to give to the account and let them know it was an option. We also said that anyone who gives is more than welcome to the account statements etc., but as I said no one else has ever gone that route.

Answer

Keep this in mind, a lot of things come from Walmart. You can scan items with the app to see if they came from there, if they do just exchange them for something you’ll use instead. Even if it’s diapers you decide to buy. Target has a similar app I believe. Also, my sister in law creates a birthday wish list on amazon for my nephews every year, it’s genius! Even if people don’t buy off of the list, if they look at it they could get more of an idea of what you’d like or need. You could just let everyone know on a Facebook post or something about the amazon wish list and how it will give them an idea of what your kiddo is wanting or needing. People are going to want to buy things, might as well try to control the situation! I’m going to do it with my daughters birthday.

I don't want baby presents, what do I say to people?

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