How Many Toys Should Be Enough for 15 Months Old Toddlers?

Could you afford to finish off the basement or at least make it a safe play environmnet? Or even one of the bedrooms could become a playroom. Maybe you could move her toys down there and keep them out of the way. You could also put some small things to make it comfortable for you in the basement as well. Put a nice chair down there or a desk or tv. As she gets older and grows out of certain toys, it will be easier to get rid of stuff that piles up. You may want to keep the kitchen toy upstairs so that when you are cooking dinner she can play in that. Toys do make a house messier but most guests understand that you have children.

I'm not sure of your townhome's layout, but are you able to maybe move some of the living room toys towards your kitchen? that way you're not necessarily adding more toys altogether, but so that you still have toys to keep your daughter occupied while you work in the kitchen. Also, if you decided to have another child, and you threw away (or gave away) all of your daughter's old toys, you might feel compelled to purchase new ones for the baby. As a compromise between you and your husband, maybe you could pack away a few toys she no longer plays with as you gradually add new toys. If you never have another child, you can always sell the older toys at a yard sale (at least make a few dollars off of them). Also, how often has your husband been home with your daughter by himself and tried to get some basic household chores done? Maybe he should try and he might get a better understanding of why you have 2 or 3 "toy stations" situated around the house.
My husband also got annoyed at the few toy stations we have in our house, particularly the small box of toys in our bedroom (which I had for our son to play with while I finished getting ready for work in the morning). But after he had to get ready with our son in the morning wihtout me around to help, he recognized the value of our little toy box.
Good luck...I hope that helps a little!

For my son his kitchen "toybox" was a low, deep drawer full of *his* kitchen tools. They included plastic spatulas, wooden spoons, small pan, plastic cups and lids. At first he just loved pulling everything out, putting items inside each other, making noise with them, etc. We later added some plastic play food items when he was old enough to *play cook*. When his stash got too big we moved it all into a plastic dish pan and put it the lower part of a cabinet that he was able to get to. He learned that he had to put all his *tools* away when he was finished.

I don't think toddllers need many toys. we have one basket of toys, a ride on and a stand up play station. my son still seeks out the remote controls, keys, basketball, cat ;) and etc. I get tempted to splurge at Buy Buy Baby and buy Noah new toys but I have to remind myself that he will be sick of them in a day or two. our (his) latest fun is emptying out the drawers and laundry basket and no colorful toy is going to distract him from that, unfortunately. toddler minds see EVERYTHING as something new to discover and explore.

If the issue is too many toys in 1 place you can try "rotating your inventory" so to speak, on a monthly basis or whatever works for you. My suggestion to go along with this is that it should be your husbands job to decide which toys are taken out of use for the time frame and his job to rotate them. My husband said the same thing a month ago and I'm still waiting for him to go thru my sons toys and decide what to get rid of. And in the meantime my son has plenty of toys to play with!

I agree that toys stimulate a childs imagination. Hope this helps!

Hi Sumataya L,

I agree that there should be a limit and yes you should get rid of some of the older ones. I raise 5 children and in todays world I think kids are to spoiled and they don't respect what they get if they have to many things. All they know is I want. they don't seem to learn that they need other things beside toys, or when they are older they think that everyone owes them everything that they get. I realize that your daughter is only 15 months old, but she needs to learn at a young age so that when she is older she doesn't expect you to buy her a toy everytime you go to the store. Hope this helps

Who knows...does he have tools? How many tools are enough?! haha
One suggestion, we did this for my daughter till she turned 3...we made one cubbard (down low) for her toys in the kitchen...then she could bang around in there while I was cooking and it was "hid" out of sight when when dad was home and the kitchen work was done. A gossip bench that is a decorative feature to the living room but can be used to store toys as well, or maybe a cedar chest...all serve a dual purpose...things like this make clean up a snap. This will all pass, please assure your husband that by the time your child is 8 the toy issue will be in the past. wink

I would make an area in the house just for toys like the basement or have a box of toys in the living room where she plays. The rule about getting rid of some when you get new is a great idea. I always gave away toys when i got new ones. Most of her toys should be in her room but i would keep a box or shelf in the living room if that's where she spends her time but trade off and on with the bedroom so you don't clutter the living room. I would have to agree the toys shouldn't take over the living room OR bring more down during the day when he's at work and plan a clean up each after noon just before he gets home. That's what i also do when my husband is on his way home. It's a good lesson to learn for young children that there is a part of the day where you clean up. They can help VERY EARLY ON about 18mo. Starting. I know alot of people sing the clean up song it works....

I don't think children need that many toys. I think that space to create their own games is more important than having a room bursting with toys. Children have an active imagination and giving them a blank slate, for the most part, lets them express creativity more than if they are given toys that tell them how and what to play. But toys do have their place and they do help children. I also think that if too many toys are given to a child they begin to get the mentality that they deserve everything just because they are them and nothing has to ever be worked for. Also, kids tastes get more expensive with age, it is going to be so much harder to change that mindset when they get older and if for financial reasons you then have to say no to something. Having a strong family unit is so much more important than having a toys r' us in your basement. Hope this helps.

One thing you can consider, if it's possible, is storing some of her toys in sealed bags or boxes and rotating them periodically. Leave certain "core" toys, ones she's shown to be favorites, for all the time and take others to put away and bring back out every so often.

I also agree that should you decide to have more children throwing toys away now means you'll end up buying those same toys in the future. Do you have attic space? If so, box some up. There are some really great toy storage solutions you can look up online that can take what was once deemed a mess of toys and make it look nice and neat. That might appease your husband.

Too many toys at one time causes a child to go from one to the other without spending enough time to really ''play'' with a toy, especially if the toys are almost the same ----like block sets with different designs. My thought is to give 3 or 4 choices of very different toys in each playroom of your home unless the rooms are right next to each other.

Spend a little time playing with your child to show them how to use the toy and then let them have time to play alone. Put some of the books away and after a few days take them out and put the ones your child has been reading away. Same with toys. Re-cycle them. Also help your little one learn to clean up by singing a song or whatever works. Maybe tell your child that you will get the kitchen set out or whatever toy after the blocks are cleaned up. Make it fun! And remember that the best playthings are sometimes the simplest-maybe the cardboard tube from a roll of paper towels-pretend it's a horn or let your child drop toys through the tube and cheer when it falls out the other end. Always make sure the pieces are not too small. When you read books to your little one point out things that are like toys you have in the house. Remember to have patience with your child if you want your child to have patience with you. One last thing encourage your husband to talk to your child about the toys and share what he thinks is nice or fun-children love to know what parents think about the baby world! HAVE FUN.