to wonder how you have a Christmas tree AND toddlers

[PrettyHairClips]

My toddler has just pulled the xmas tree down for a third time (and broken numerous ornaments in the process). I didn't have a xmas tree last year for this reason. A lot of people said, "awww no Christmas tree, that's a scrooge". But what's the alternative? Decorating the tree every day because it's been pulled down??

To those with toddlers - what's the secret??

We have a strange toddler! At risk of sounding smug DD will not touch things that aren't hers, even toys at places like toddler groups she always looks at me for approval first.

No idea why we got lucky, possibly because I never baby proofed?? Went to a wedding when she was 13 months & just walking, it was a very small affair with low coffee tables for people to put wine glasses and food on & she didn't touch a single one.

The cats however have an annual pilgrimage to the top of the Xmas tree.

I never had a problem with toddlers, it was the poxy cats.

I tied the top of it to the wall - screwed a cup hook into the wall, tree tied to it, it never fell very far if it did get knocked over/climbed

I agree with Meglet - a prickly real tree solves the problem!

We have a classic, super-prickly tree, with a really heavy water-filled base.

This doesn't stop him pulling off the tinsel and baubles (which are slowley migrating further and further up the tree), and squirming behind/under it to hide.

It's really pretty though, and it's been years since I've been in my own place, in a country where I can have a real Christmas tree at Christmas, so I will do whatever it takes :)

Saying 'no' depends on the child. Dd1/3 never bother(ed)and dd2 was still trying to climb it at age 5.

175 quid on decorations! With a toddler!

This is why I have Tesco cheapies (and who can tell in the dark from a distance really anyhow)

DD was 2 in october. She was allowed to decorate the bottom third of our 7 ft fake tree. She totally respects the tree & knows that now it's decorated she's not to touch it or Santa won't come. At 13 months last year she also knew not to touch it.

Cheap decorations so I dont cry when DS takes them off tree and uses them as footballs. He's getting bored of it now though.

We have a small one with no lights until a few days before Christmas. Then we sacrifice space by putting the playpen around the large tree.

cheap tree and old decorations (the ones we like are still wrapped away)

Last year we put it up on Christmas Eve, as DS was still in the "grab the shiny things!" stage of toddlerhood.
He's 2.5 now, but we're still not putting it up until Christmas Eve - partly because seeing his little face at a tree appearing overnight will be fab, but mostly because kitten + toddler + tree = disaster waiting to happen!

Buy a real tree. The combined weight of it, the stand and a couple of litres of water makes it pretty stable.

Mine have always lost interest after a couple of days, and I put the decorations that might break near the top so they are out of reach.

I am boggling at you having spent £170 on decorations - what on earth are they?

Real tree in a bucket - quite a short one - if it is a real pull over risk.

To be honest, I have a real monster toddler, climbs everything, and pulling over of the tree hasn't been a problem. Touching the decorations for the first couple of days was but ....

Nice ornaments outside of reach. Cheap plastic ones in reach.

I've also brought him a small portable tree, red sparkly reindeer and a box with tinsel, plastic baubles, light sticks and other shiny shite in.

The rules. The tree is Mummy's. The box of tat is DS4's. Repeat every time he rubs his tummy on it to see whether the rules have changed.

The shiny red wrapping paper rolls has been another issue mind. I came down this morning to find he had red carpeted the stairs, the hall and the living room. He was very proud.

No toddlers here but a dog that likes to eat baubles once everyone's gone to bed As a result we have 90% of the decorations on the top third of the tree. Might it be less tempting if the decorations were out of reach?

Another Play Pen fan here - or behind other furniture (had a few years of toddlers in the house with 3 dc).
But equally, there's nothing on my tree that would get broken if it were pulled/knocked over, and certainly nothing that cost more than about £1.70 I don't think, let alone 100x that

When the dcs were toddlers we had a real but small tree with cheap decorations on it. It was put up fairly high so as not to be too accessible. Being a real tree, it was spiky to the touch so even ds2 (who was a noted tinkerer about with anything and everything) did little more than touch it.

dgd was 11.5 months old last Christmas and also into everything. So the tree was carefully placed behind an obstacle and weighted down! To be fair, she didn't make a serious attempt on it and now, at 23.5 months you can reason with her and she understands that it is a lovely thing to look at but not to trash. But in neither year has ds2 or ddil put expensive decorations on it because that's just tempting fate.

PS. The dog is more of a nuisance with Christmas trees, tbh. He wants to piddle on real ones and chew the baubles on fake ones. He is not a puppy either. Little sod.

When mine were toddlers we used to put all the unbreakable stuff on the lower half of the tree hung without metal hooks. We have a 7 foot tree and they never pulled it over. I used to go around collecting ornaments a couple times a day and putting them back. After a few days they lost interest and only pulled an ornament off occasionally. Dd is 7 and spends every evening re arraigning the ornaments she can reach, this is more annoying than when she was a toddler.

I don't think it ever occurred to me it would be a problem, so didn't have any safety precautions. I don't think I have an exceptionally well behaved child, he likes climbing on and messing with things as much as the next toddler, but there are lots of things in the same room that are more valuable that I don't expect him to pull over/destroy, such as the tv, the laptop, the bookcases - I suppose I treat the tree in the same way, and it' s been fine touch wood

We did involve him in putting it up, let him help me get the decorations out of the bags, hand us baubles, and I lifted him up to put the star on top. I haven't restricted him touching it, I let him take things off and look at them if he wants and help him put them back, ask if he wants the lights switched on etc so don't know if any of that helped. None of it is particularly expensive though, so easier to be relaxed about it I guess.

Never had one pulled down although I have had it redecorated on a couple of occasion so that all decorations and baubles and the star was hung in 6 square inches! Really quite a remarkable feat and it didn't fall over either

Sorry, another one who never had the thought that there may be an issue with kids and Christmas trees. We've always had a tree and loads of decorations around and been fine. Maybe we're lucky as I've never moved ornaments, glasses, etc. just because we had kids around. They have to get used to keeping their grubby mitts of nice things!

last year told my toddler "no" (17months) a few times until she got the message and left the tree alone!

this year at 2yo I have told her that Santa doesn't bring presents to anyone who touches his tree!!

plus I put all the gorgeous baubles at the top and the lowest branches have cheap plastic tat shatterproof baubles at the bottom

I've had a tree every year, both beofreand after DD was born. SHe's 16 now and has never even looked like she might pull the tree over. I don't get it. Why are they doing it? Why do you have to worry about this?

Same, cardibach.

My five year old likes to rearrange the decs every so often bit he us careful and it has never tipped. It was decorated without issues by the seven, five and two year infant without issues. They have always done it. They stand on chairs to reach higher (but it is only a four/five foot tree) . But then, we aren't at all precious about the tree. It is for them and they feel so proud to have decorated it.