Great birthday gifts for a one year old...

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If you are stuck in a rut and confused on what to buy your one year old or a friends one year old for his/her birthday, do not feel alone, I was too in your shoes. But, many toys are a great hit with 1 year olds. Many babies love toys that make noise, but be sure and check with parents before actually buying any loud ones. They could get you in big trouble otherwise. Also, when buying toys be sure to check the label for an age recommendation. Some 1 year olds are ready for toys that say 18 months + but many are not. If you don't know the baby well enough to know what they are and aren't capable of, just stick with the toys that say 12+ or younger. Babies get too frustrated by toys that are too advanced for them. Books are also a great idea. Most 1 year old children love simple, colorful books. When looking for books for children, it can be a little trickier than toys because most don't have age recommendations on them. For a 1 year old, you should definitely look at construction. Babies tend to put anything and everything directly in their mouth. Board books and cloth books are both excellent choices for babies. Also, look for books with just a few words on each page. Too many words cause babies to get bored before someone gets all the way through reading each page. Pictures of babies and/or animals always seem to be a hit for babies as well. Movies are a good gift, as long as you choose carefully. Toddlers have very short attention spans so you don't want to get them movies that last longer than about 30 minutes. Most won't even be able to watch for that long. I've found that on average, my son will watch TV for about 20-25 minutes, tops. Full length movies are still much too long for him at this age. He does enjoy watching Baby Einstein movies and Nick Jr episodes on DVD, though. Sesame Street ones are favorites along with Disney channel's early morning line up as well. They are all short and simple. Hopefully this has helped you in your decision on what to buy. What did you buy for your one year old or your friends or familys one year old? I usually bought blocks and big tonka cars, the rubber ones for boys(since I have two boys).