In think that most children don't stop believing in Father Christmas at 5 years old?

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On Mumsnet, there seems to be a large contingent of posters who claim that children over the age of 5 don't believe in Santa and if they do believe then they shouldn't. I have never met a 5 year old who didn't wholeheartedly believe in Santa, elves, everything. I think peak believing years are actually age 4 to 8. It's actually sad because if a child doesn't believe in Santa at 5 then they never really have. I wasn't a particularly naive child but I was 10 when I worked it out. My ds was around 9 I think. To me believing up to age 10 or so is entirely the norm -vor am in the minority in thinking that ?

I was 9 DH says he was older. Our 9 and 11yo have certainly questioned the last couple of years.

I don't think young kids just 'figure it out'. They get evidence that it's not true. The kids that haven't 'figured it out' just haven't had the evidence.
One could say pretty much the same about people that believe or don't believe in various religious figures.

ASD eldest absolutely believed (until we intervened and told him at 11) because "NORAD tracks santa, and they are in charge of nuclear weapons. Do you think they'd be wasting time on this is he wasn't real?? "One of the many quirks of rigid black and white thinking.

DS2 believed until we explained it to him at 10, but then, my brother said "if you look top credulous in the dictionary, it's your photo, little dude" and DS2 didn't realise he was being teased. He's a very sweet and naïve kid, got pranked a lot by more world peers.

DD had it sussed at 7.

I would say most 7 is when most kids at least start to doubt although some believe longer. I know someone who believed until yr7 at nearly 12 and found out badly and a family friend's son who was very imaginative, creative and dreamy believed until hitting his teens I think! Although he had much younger brothers they had to keep up the magic for which maybe helped extend it. My colleague reckons it's her 8yos last year believing.

I believed until 7 I think. I have a summer birthday so yr3 would have been my last year of believing for definite at least in the run up to Christmas. I definitely had doubts but played along for presents and test it out for a couple of years after that!

My DD is 9 and she still believes,I think this will be the last year she does though 😔.

YANBU. My DD has just turned 10. She says she doesn't believe in Santa and knows it's me and DH, but has written a letter to Santa anyway, "just in case".

I think there's an element of truth to what you're saying. The parents who tell the truth the very first time they're asked will have kids who learn the truth at around 5/6. The parents who give vague answers might get another few years. The parents who go full hog adamantly answering that Santa is real could well have kids who believe still at 9/10.

What I don't understand is - don't they just Google it? Surely even reading a forum page like this would give it away (if he weren't real, which he obviously is....).

I just googled the question "Is Santa real?" And top hits were Wikipedia and articles on what to tell your kids, so...

I think it depends what you mean by evidence. My DS never saw us sneaking around or anything like that but last year when he was 5, he asked a series of questions which I don't think relied on any "evidence":

How can Santa know who celebrates Christmas and who doesn't?
Ok so what about xxx who is Muslim but his parents have a Christmas tree, does Santa go there?
How does he get into our house when our fireplace is blocked up?
If he can get in, how do I know burglars can't?

Etc etc. It was a long evening. There's only so many times you can say "magic" without it being a bit thin.

It's probably fair to say that I didn't go to enormous lengths to make up more things to "keep the magic" or whatever but I don't think it's unreasonable for me to say he figured it out and with the same evidence available to other children.

I'm not trying to say he's cleverer, I think being a sceptic is maybe more of a personality trait.

And maybe he gets it from me, my family was very religious but I remember thinking it through when I was 8 and deciding that on balance I didn't think there was evidence of a God. Still keeping that quiet from my parents and I'm 40 😂

To clarify - I kept up the "it's magic" thing in the conversation but he concluded "I don't think Santa is real"

My 8 year old was bereft when I explained Paddington on the meeting with the Queen was a computer animation.

I know my 9yo WANTS to believe. She wants magic to be real, to get her Hogwarts letter next year, and stuff like that.

And overall, its harmless, so why not let her enjoy it?

11yo... knows its really the parents but likes Christmas Magic.

We minimised the gift giving bit of the Santa myth from when they were toddlers so they don't believe for presents. Its for the fun.

Yes, that's were I'm at.

Yeah I reckon most still believe until 8ish? I wasn't 100% sure until I was about 10 though! I had doubts earlier sure but part of me still believed...

I think it's rather sad if children of 5 dont believe 😔

Mine is 11 and while I'm sure he knows it's all bollocks I'm not going to sit him down and have a "just checking you know santa isn't real" chat.

I'm keeping the Christmas traditions and magic alive...mostly for me 😊

This is it really. How does an innocent 4 or 5 year old not believe? It must mostly be down to parents telling them or not making efforts to maintain the magic.

It seems to vary quite a lot but I agree with you that if you stop believing by age 5, you can't have understood the concept at all for much more than a year or so. It always baffles me when well-meaning strangers in shops go up to mute babies and toddlers in pushchairs anytime from November onwards and ask them questions about what 'Santa' is bringing them. The babies have no idea what is going on!
I never made much of the whole thing with mine, but one worked it out for herself at a very young age, the other continued believing until far too late (secondary age) I had to tell her in the end as it was getting ridiculous.

My older two have never questioned it one 13 and one 11 but both clearly don’t believe one sends me elf ideas for the little.

I'm in Ireland and I think kids believe a bit older here, maybe coz they move to secondary school older. My 11 year old (still in primary, turns 12 early next year) doesn't believe for the first time, but my 9 year old does.

I would say 8-10 is the usual non believing age. My friends DC still believed the Xmas before starting seniors (he was 11 in the Oct before the xmas) she had to tell him before the next Xmas as she felt he would be made fun of if anyone found out.

My dc are all normal intelligent children and were all around 10 when they stopped believing, 5 is very young but it seems to be a badge of honour on here if your child stops believing at 18 months or so. 🙄

I sussed him out at age 4 once we had central heating installed.

Bye bye chimneys and fireplaces.

I reckon most kids question it from about 8 upwards and don't really want to say anything but some genuinely have no idea. My nephew was 9 last Xmas and absolutely believed 100% still.

We had a magic key for Santa to get in that we hung on the outside door handle because we had central heating 🙂

5 is peak time to believe, IME. I figured it out about 6 or 7 but was in cahoots with my slightly older sibling, I probably wouldn’t have on my own.