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We just got her a small gift, a little bongo drum. She was thrilled and it cost like eight dollars.

We got her a couple of small things- a ring sticker and a little pull toy. Both were inexpensive. Like you I knew she would be gettig plenty of other stuff.

As an adult, I can say I'd much rather my parents have made a contribution over a keepsake gift.

I think contributing to a college fund is a great idea, especially if your LO doesn't need anything. My LO is also turning one soon and I plan to wait until after her party before getting her anything since I expect she will receive alot from relatives.

I don't think that is lame at all!!

I don't think it's lame. She won't remember who got her what.

DH and I are taking DD for her first trip to the zoo as her first birthday present. We'll have a special memory (and some great pictures) and it won't be just another toy to add to the collection.

We got a family zoo pass for DS's birthday, and we just went to the zoo and had a special lunch afterwards (nothing fancy...just a place where DS loves the food) on his first birthday. No gifts. It was perfect!

A contribution isn't lame at all! I think that's awesome. We did that cake knife poem and the cake knife was our gift to her but that's it (so not really a gift that she can appreciate now). She got so many gifts from friends and family that I didn't feel the need to get her anything else.

If you wanted something tangible my sister's godmother did something I thought was so beautiful. One her first birthday, she wrote her a letter and bought a single pearl (which isn't very expensive) and tucked it away. She did that each year without ever saying anything. Then on her 18th birthday she gave her all the letters and had the pearls strung into a necklace. Inexpensive, sentimental, easy to store, and she'll end up with a real heirloom.

That said, I think contributing to the education fund is a wonderful idea. Paying for our educations was the single greatest gift my parents gave us.

Yep - do what you want! We viewed our gift as being the party we threw for her (since it cost a fair bit of money). The gifts she got from family and friends were more than enough. I just made sure to make/give her a nice card that we can save.

@Charm54: we didn't! I was going to get her an activity cube, but then my mom bought her one of those. I told my husband we'd have to think of something else big to get LO and then he nicely pointed out that we could just save money and not get her anything, since my goal was for to have an activity cube, and that was now accomplished.

You know, no need to consume just for the sake if consumption....and he was right! Now I'm glad we didn't buy something just to say we did.

I found a couple puzzles i knew he would like used at a consignment store, so i spent maybe $10? If it hadn't been for that we would have skipped the gifts. We did have a party though.

We got a few very small things - a corn popper, a handkite, and a couple of books. Family members went nuts with gifts and he truly didn't need anything. We also didn't do a big party.

I didn't get b anything. We spent quite a bit on her party and she just didn't need anything. I hate buying for the sake of buying so I'm waiting until she needs something. I also put some money in her savings account which we will transfer into rrsp's.

You could do a photo book for her, either one of her first year or one in more of a kids book style like with photos of family or an ABC book. It's tangible and sentimental but nothing over the top.

Our kids' first birthday parties were their gifts!

A little off topic but my DS was a Sept baby so for his 1st Christmas at 3 months old and his 2nd at 15 months old I filled his stocking with his toys from the playroom He had no clue - I just wanted to take some cute pics