Age range on toys? Do you believe it?

[cklewis]

How often do you find those age ranges on toys are legit? Sometimes I can figure them out -- like a toy that depends upon being able to sit up to enjoy it, so they put 6mo. Ok, I believe that. Or a toy the depend upon pounding/striking with a hammer (xylophone) and they put 18mo because developmentally kids like to pound at that age. Or those that are for safety -- like small parts for 3+.

But sometimes I don't believe them. DS has a "bike" that you have to bounce on to propel. My dad got it for him when he was born, but the age said 2. He's been loving it since ~14mo, and yesterday I was watching him, and he's certainly mastered the bouncing.

How do they figure it? When do you believe them?

C

[Mama Calidad]

I gave up on the age range things when DD was a baby. I bought one of those ring stacking things for her at 9 months...when the thing said it was appropriate...and promptly began worrying about her inability to stack the rings. :blush :rolleyes

[Heather Micaela]

I mostly just concern my self with whether they say 3 and up. Those toys are possible choking hazards. Other than that, i base it on each indivdual kid.

[OpalsMom]

I supervise my 16-month old with anything marked 3+, because of choking hazards. Aside from that, it depends so much on your baby and the manufacturer's whims that I pay very little attention. She likes some things marked 9 months and some marked 2 years. And sometimes it's stuff like a little wooden car that was marked 18 months on the theory that that's when you'd play with it "right" (pretending it's a car) but DD loved it at 9 months (same for a stuffed spider, she didn't care that it was a spider but she liked waving it around by the legs). She normally mostly likes things in the next age range ahead of hers and wears clothes in the age range below, despite being pretty well average in most things :shrug And her daycare plays just as fast and loose. She has a pop-up toy that's marked 12 months and up that almost all the 6 month olds love.

[julietx]

I agree the choking hazard thing for under 3 yrs I paid attention to, but otherwise I didn't worry about it.

[ArmsOfLove]

I think it depends on the toy and the company. some I think are to be a developmental guideline--some I suspect are because at some point they were sued or fear being sued ;)

Mostly I guage whether I think my child will be able to do it--my mom disregards the guidelines so much that she got something like a 200+ piece lego set for my 2 yo :wow Yes, I gave her a hard time for that one ;)

[jujubnme]

Yep, besides the choking warnings, we've often found the age guidelines skewed. Dh is particularly annoyed by this---but he can also tend to pick things out that are a little too advanced. Dh and I were in stiches earlier this summer, though, when we took Julius to our newly remodeled neighborhood playground and the *baby swings* had a sticker on it saying that "this equipment was designed for children ages 2-5"! Can we say fear of lawsuit?