Share memories of your baby's first Christmas and tips for surviving the festive season with a newborn - £300 voucher prize draw! NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

As the festive season approaches and we all get a bit nostalgic about Christmases past, Nurofen for Children would love to know what you remember about your baby's first Christmas.

Did you do anything special to mark the occasion? Did having a baby change how you celebrated - or give you an excuse to rekindle some family traditions from your own childhood?

And if you were hosting visitors or travelling to see family and friends, how did you get organised with a newborn in tow? Was there mad mild panic as you tried to pull things together? Or did you hand over the festive stress to others so you could make the most of the special time?

However you spent it, we'd love you to share your fondest memory, and any advice you have for those looking forward to their baby's first Christmas this year.

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one Mumsnetter will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher!

The new Mumsnet Baby Bundle app, sponsored by Nurofen for Children, provides parents with a handy toolkit for your child's first years. Information, advice, wisdom and wit are all close to hand - whenever and wherever you need it. Download the app now - tiny.mn/1kCoMoT

Thanks
MNHQ

[chumbler]

We are looking forward to out baby's first Christmas. She loves ripping paper so can't wait for her to open her presents! And our top tip is going to baby sales to help with the cost :)

[elvisthehamster]

DS was born on a week before Christmas day - our first Christmas with him was a whirlwind but just lovely ..I think DH and I were still in a hazy fog of baby bubble love and pure exhaustion but sitting down for Christmas dinner just the two of us with this amazing little new person was pretty amazing!

A few years later DD1 was due on boxing day (yes our timing is amazing!!!) and decided to kick off with some contractions on Christmas morning ..I huffed and puffed on the sofa whilst DH tried to distract DS with all his new toys and cook Christmas dinner...by late afternoon everything had stopped and I was absolutely fine to enjoy DH's hard work-poor DH was a nervous wreck though , DD actually waited until a few days later to arrive and we came home from hospital to a lovely new years eve with our new little family of four with prosecco , party food and the neighbours fireworks in the background -perfect.

DD2 was a summer baby thankfully!! :)

[CMOTDibbler]

DS was 7 months his first Christmas. My favourite memory is him sitting at the table at MILs eating his roast as fast as I put things on the tray. MIL was agog!

[foxessocks]

Dd was 10 months her first Christmas so not a newborn but definitely a baby! I remember giving her her stocking and her pulling things out one by one and of course being excited by all the wrapping paper! We had Xmas at home as we wanted to be surrounded by familiar things and for to have a nice afternoon nap (and us too!).

[MagicAlwaysLeadsToTrouble]

Christmas with a baby is so fantastic!!! All those visitors to help out, the baby gets mega fussed over and you get all the chocolates! ;)

The trick is trying to get your baby back when you need to feed them!

[eternalopt]

Ds1 had a really bad cold for his first Christmas, and was so bunged up, mucus came out of his tears ducts! Christmas dinner was paracetamol, Christmas supper was ibuprofen and the best Christmas present was a box of tissues! Hoping ds2's first Christmas this year is better

[CopperPan]

DD was just starting to crawl at her first Christmas, she loved exploring around the tree, and once the gifts were opened, we made little tunnels for her to crawl through out of the bigger boxes! We spent Christmas at my parents and it was lovely to have all my siblings together with a new baby in the family.

[CheeseEMouse]

My daughter was 4months old for her first Christmas. What was really good when visiting my family was that we had a lunch buffet rather than a very formal meal so it meant we could take turns looking after the baby and eating. It was really stress free and a fun way to share cuddles and eating! This year my son will be 8 months old and therefore big enough to have some of the roast!

[EasterRobin]

I'm looking forward to my first Christmas with DD who will be nearly a year old then. Based on her other presents, I'll be making sure she has a paper bag, an empty tin and a bit of card to play with in amongst the more expensive presents. She neither knows nor cares what is brand new or expensive - I'll make sure to appreciate this while it lasts!

[TattieHowkerz]

Dd was 6 months old for her first Christmas. My mum made her a mini Christmas dinner with mashed up parsnips, carrots and roast potatoes. She loved the lights and decorations. Wasn't too interested in opening presents. How times have changed!

[NerrSnerr]

It was our little girl's first Christmas last year. We spend Christmas Eve and Boxing Day just me, my husband and my daughter. She was 3 months old. We went to see some Christmas lights on Christmas Eve and wrapped up warm for a walk around the canal. On Christmas Day we drove to our inlaws. She screamed through dinner so I ended up watching the Queens speech cuddled up to her on the settee while everyone else ate.

We are looking forward to this Christmas as she will know more and we can do more Christmas stuff with her.

[ouryve]

DS1 was only a few weeks old for his first Christmas. I'd been seriously ill, after his birth, so it was all a bit of a blur. Everything was still very grey and drab, when I first went into hospital to have him and unseasonably warm. When I finally got out for good, almost 2 weeks later, everything was cold and frosty and sparkly. Christmas had very definitely landed!

I didn't have a lot of energy and we spent Christmas day with my parents. All the same, we took advantage of being able to put the big tree up for the last time in a long time. DS1 loved to lay in front of it and watch the lights :)

[putthePuffindown]

I'll let you know on the 26th! We're due at the end of this month, so we'll definitely have the best Christmas present ever

[DartmoorDoughnut]

We had the whole family over, much excitement in the build up. My poor DM ended up cooking Christmas dinner as my DS wouldn't stop cluster feeding and he slept through the present opening looking forward to Christmas this year as he's a toddler now!

[Prettyinblue]

We have four kids, I always get the older kids to give the new baby some of their old toys wrapped up. They love doing it and it stops the house getting filled with toys.

[BellaVida]

My 4 DC's were all born overseas so their first Christmases have all been spent travelling to the other side of the family's country. Each Christmas got progressively easier juggling a baby or babies (including a set of twins) onto planes, with push chairs and all the baby paraphernalia. We have it down to a fine art now!
With our first DS we just didn't know what to expect at Christmas. He was only a few weeks old, so I felt I had to look great and be the perfect first-time mum. We were staying with family, so didn't have all of the 'kit' we had at home. I discretely took myself off to breastfeed, painstakingly wrapped loads of gifts he wouldn't know how to play with for months and tried to make it extra special. By the time we got to number 4, we still got the cute 'my first Christmas' outfit, but it was more about us all being relaxed and enjoying it. If the everyone is in pyjamas until lunch, so be it. If the food takes longer than expected to cook, so what. If the kids want festive pants and a stack of cardboard boxes for Christmas, then that's okay!
The only thing we try to do is have our own little family Christmas rituals from both countries which we have done since our first was born, because those are the things children remember later in life.

[Catsgowoof]

i remember a christmas miracle, my non napping 6 month old had a massive sleep so i could get all the food prepped xmas eve

[AbeSaidYes]

My DC was born nine days late, three days before Christmas after more than two days of labour during a heavy snowfall. He was born at around 2 am and taken straight to NICU. I didn't see him for several hours and when I did he was fitting. After a lumbar puncture, investigations, and days of antibiotics we got him home just in time to see in the New Year.

On Christmas day we left him in hospital and drove to visit my MIL who had rented a cottage in the middle of nowhere and had been expecting us to join her for a big family Christmas. We stayed for half an hour, then we popped in to see my mum before rushing back to hospital so I could feed/pump.

A really marvelous friend spent all that morning preparing a fantastic Christmas meal - one we didn't expect to have and hadn't prepared for. He provided all the food and trimmings so when we arrived back from hospital later that afternoon we were able to sit down and at least enjoy a little bit of Christmas before heading back to hospital where the nurses had gifted him a teddy bear and a soft penguin and we brought in a few little toys and a blanket.

DS is almost 5 now and we celebrated his first real Christmas the following year where he was utterly spoiled and had a blast. Christmas will always be a very special time - the whole week before is too - but I will never forget being on the ward on Christmas eve trying to decide if it would be better for me to stay in hospital with my firstborn or to discharge myself and go home.

He is completely well now.

[Cambam2010]

My DS was 8 months old on his first Xmas and we spent to in Scotland with his paternal GP. It was lovely as his Spanish cousin was also there so it was a big family affair with everyone helping out. All the attention was on the 2 babies and my MIL is a perfect host so there was nothing left for me to do other than put my feet up in front of her roaring fire. It was blissful and having snow whilst we were there made it all the more special.

[sharond101]

My ds was 7 months old for his first Christmas and we went way over the top with gifts. Now for dd's first Christmas we have toned it down and only a few toys will be given and the attention will be on her big Brother. We try and stick to our normal eat/sleep routine but don't get to caught up if it doesn't work out.

[vixo]

Slightly cheating, but my third was born on dec 21st, so her first Christmas was a bit of a blur of trying to make sure everything was organised and fun for the 4 and 18 month old. I have fond memories of being 3 days post partum and realising I hadn't packed myself any spare knickers for our stay with my parents, and having to take her for her heel prick test and baby check on Boxing Day!

[christmasmum]

I had my first baby on Christmas Day at 4 in the morning. I have vivid memories of looking down at the midwife (who was wearing reindeer antlers) while the other midwife's Christmas earrings played Jingle Bells. They were very keen for me to call her Holly but we resisted.

Meeting my little girl for the first time has to be a pretty special way to welcome in Christmas morning... Though I have to admit the presents under the tree didn't get opened until New Year's Eve :-)

[christmasmum]

Sorry I forgot to add my tips for surviving Christmas period with babies...

Relax - Christmas is no longer about you! Your tree will not be beautiful, the table will not look like something out of Good Housekeeping magazine. It is now about sneaking round the house trying to leave presents in children's rooms without waking them up, snaffling the whisky left out for the big man and embracing the chaos of Christmas morning.

Wouldn't have it any other way!

[FattyNinjaOwl]

DS1 was 8 weeks old on his first Christmas. I was 17 and still lived at home with my mum. I just had more presents to buy. Mum did everything else.
DD was a week old on her first Christmas. I went to my mums for Christmas dinner.
DS2 will be almost 5 months. (Summer baby) again I am going to my mums.
So I guess my top tip is get your mum to cook!

[katienana]

My ds was 3 months old. He wore an elf costume and looked incredibly cute if slightly ridiculous!
We stayed at my sister in laws house which was lovely as no prep for us to do. He even slept quite well!
My top tips then are get someone else to do all the hard work, and get a silly costume for the baby!