To worry about my child being born around Xmas

My bday is 30th Dec and i’ve always hated it!

I am a Christmas eve baby and It's a bit rubbish tbh. As a young kid I didn't mind too much as my mum made a real effort and hosted parties at our house mid December. It must have been a pain, cos it's extra life stress at a really busy time of year. I did have a party in an old tin mine, when I was 10, that really stands out as the best party ever. It's apparently drier and more accessible for in the winter.

As a teenager it was crap. My friends couldn't really celebrate with me on the day, as they were with their family and most clubs are closed on X mas eve.

As an adult its much improved, my birthday lunch is the official start of Christmas proper. All Christmas prep has to be done before then so my whole family is relaxed. Hubby takes on more of the patenting for the day, not an easy task with two over excited kids.

There are a few in my family. Half birthdays are a good idea for all winter born children. My brother and I have winter birthdays but the year we got bikes they were bought at the start of the summer holidays and just a token present on the day.

Keep Xmas and birthday separate in some way. I like the idea of Xmas in the morning and Bday in the afternoon.

One of my relatives as a child they had a sort of cardboard tree to display Xmas cards and birthday cards were displayed.

One problem is other people giving one present for both Xmas and Bday, the half birthday sorts that.

I was born just after Christmas and I love it. It’s an excuse to continue the celebrations once the ‘big day’ is over and I’ve never resented it. My only pet peeve is that people have been known to send me a Christmas card with a ‘p.s happy birthday’ written in, instead of an actual birthday card!

This, a million times over.

My daughter's birthday is between Xmas and NYE. It's absolutely fine - we generally have a party with her friends mid-early December and then an extended family based celebration on her actual birthday. Two cakes - she loves it! Helps that all the extended family are fine about not combining presents / using Xmas wrap on the birthday presents.

Yeah, it can be a real problem. I know someone whose mum's birthday is on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, mum is a selfish cow and every single year made their Christmases a bit shit by refusing to celebrate her birthday on a different day - even the day before or the day after. Nope, totally refused. Her birthday had to come first over Christmas Day, one year she refused to even have Christmas lunch at home but insisted they went out to a restaurant instead, so the little girls didn't get to open their presents or have any Christmas fun until the afternoon. This shit is still going on and they are in their 40s now.

Anyway, have a plan in action. If it's too close to Christmas make sure you celebrate it a couple of weeks before Christmas each year, or a couple of weeks after once people have had a chance to recover from Christmas or New Years - or another appropriate time that won't mean it's lost in the Christmas season.

And do make sure the child gets the right amount of money and appropriate fuss made of them, people tend to skimp on Christmas birthdays because everything else is already so overwhelming and expensive.

And a top tip, another woman I knew had a birthday near Christmas and it really really really bothered her that people always wrapped her birthday presents in Christmas paper. She was so touched if someone remembered to use non Christmas wrapping paper.

It can be fine IF you plan ahead. It will be a problem if you don't.

We have also done half and ‘un’ birthdays. Great fun!

My DD has a just before Christmas birthday, she’s 19 now, she absolutely loves it and always has. My biggest complaint is that she was due in early feb and I planned to buy her clothes in the January sales…. She just couldn’t wait.

We always make sure she gets separate presents etc and a party when she was younger. We often did it the week before but that’s not unusual at primary as birthdays fall midweek so are celebrated early or late etc and/or people can’t get bookings on the ‘right’ weekend.

What can you do about it OP? Just chill, it's fine.

Mines 1st January and I love it - always have the day off work/school and I tie it in with a new years party! Best way to start the new year is with a birthday. It also gives me something to look forward to once Xmas is over. It makes the whole Xmas period feel much longer rather just being one day.

My DC’s birthday is in that period as are the DC of my NCT group. It’s fine as children - they’re just as excited as it’s their birthday so they have cake and presents etc and so they don’t really notice when small. It’s also been fine having their party earlier in the month when people are still around as it extends the birthday feeling. I’d also reframe it that as older kids / adults, you will likely get it off school / work and if on NYE etc will always have people wanting to party with you!

My birthday is end of January and tbh with dry January and people having no money / feeling depressed in January, everyone is feeling much more celebratory around Xmas than they are a month later!

I know someone born on Christmas Day. When he was young, we celebrated his half-birthday in the summer, so he wouldn't miss out on having a day just about him. I think he liked doing it that way. As an adult, he has gifts and a birthday cake on the actual day, along with all the usual Christmas celebrations. He seems fine with it.

My son was born on Boxing Day, we have some little traditions on the day like having a cooked breakfast with pigs in blankets and he picks his dinner. But we do the proper birthday celebration in June, he has a party and presents then. All friends and relatives have got the hang of the half birthday celebrations and a June party gives us more options e.g. outside activities.

This is either too much dabbling with AI or too much dabbing with 🍷.
As PP has already said, totally bizarre.

Growing up I had a friend born on 25/12 & later on another on 26/12.

25/12 young woman celebrated right at the end of the December school year. She did tell me less children attended her birthday party growing up as friends had family Christmas things on.

The 26/12 lady had a summer birthday party & just had a cake & a few gifts on the actual day

Like most adults, they can see positive & negatives.

Children with birthdays term time want theirs in the holidays & vs versa. People are never happy. As long as your child gets lots of attention on their day, they will be happy.

My mother felt that my brother & I should have been born on each others birthday month. I am January, him, June. My birthday was grey, but not that cold, we could have played outside, but behaved inside.

My brother & his little friends spent his summer birthday inside, in the rain, driving my mother to despair.

Congratulations on your baby.

I have a very nearly Christmas birthday and I've got to be honest it's shit. Luckily I married someone who has a birthday just before payday in January. He thought that was awful before he met me. We now celebrate our birthdays together in January xx

Im 12th December. We always had a big party in December for my birthday and santa came. It was awesome. Just set up your own tradition.

Downside was the relatives who gave joint presents for birthday and Christmas but it was a very small present. Also having to wait all year for anything i wanted

DD is a Christmas Day baby and she loves it. All family is there every year for her birthday, the adults are off work and we make sure to carve out birthday time. Birthday presents are wrapped in birthday paper and she gets a proper birthday cake, not Christmas desserts.

A Christmas Day birthday is actually significantly better than the days leading into Christmas or between Christmas and New Year’s Day when people are either travelling, madly preparing or sleeping off the celebrations.

I thought she meant that all people’s highest single risk date for death is the day they are born because of death in childbirth, still births etc. She was then speculating about the skeleton staff over Christmas to assume it might push up that risk.

That womans 'advice' was utterly bizarre.

..... you're over reacting. Just hope baby is healthy and safe ??

I have two adult friends who do a 1/2 birthday party together every year. It’s always a great party, right at the end of June in the sunshine.

They both tend to go away after Christmas (born 27th and 1st) and enjoy a holiday for their actual birthday with family. I didn’t know them as children but would say they both make the most of it now!

As a child, a friend was 31st Dec and her party was the pantomime matinee every year. I think the parents must have loved it as we were all out of the house for the afternoon. Her parents just had to sit with us in the dark theatre, where children are allowed to be a bit raucous anyway. At the interval and the end, the theatre had a room we would go to for juice, biscuits and party games. It was fab.