Christmas trees with a 13 month old

[caspartherabbit]

Hello everyone

Quick tree question...

DS will be 13 months at Christmas, so naturally he will spend all day every day trying to climb/grab the tree

We have decided to get a 4 ft tree to sit on top of a side table to try and keep it out of his reach as much as possible (we usually have a 6-7ft real tree)

So my question is, do we get a 4 ft real tree, or will it drop lots of needles? Are real trees best avoided in the early years?

If we get a fake tree, can anyone recommend somewhere to get a really lovely one?
I've looked on john lewis website but the one 4 ft tree looks a bit sad.... recommendations would be great (although I will go and look in store at JL just to check)

Also, would people recommend pre-lit?

Thanks ever so much!

Hi,

Pretty much every real tree will drop needles it just depends on how much it will drop and how much you like using your hoover.

That said though a 4ft tree is small enough to get a potted one so should drop slightly less (as it's still alive) be wary though most trees that are sold as non drop cost more and given that they do still generaly drop, not sure they are the best economy.

There is nothing wrong with fake trees some are really nice and in the long run they are a better invesment.

However for me it got to be real all the way, nothing beats the excitement in our house of going and pick a tree, we tend to make a day of it (and that's just me) plus they make the house smell like Christmas.

Hope this helps

I LOVE real trees too...I think I will have to have at least one potted real one in the conservatory, just for the smell and the tradition.

Will bear in mind what you said about having a potted tree in the living room also, thanks for your reply

Look at big garden centres for good fake trees, their displays should be set up by the last week of this month. much better value for the quality than JL, which I think are overpriced. Also consider the decorations, everything must be unbreakable in case your DS manages to get his hands on anything, so plastic shatterproof baubles, and wooden, fabric, knitted/crocheted, metal things.

Having said all that, we had real norway spruce floor standing when DS was 16m and it was fine. It really depends on your own DS. It was a cut tree, but we used to stand it in a plastic bin full of gravel and water with minimal needle drop. Also don't put it next to direct heat from fire or radiator, and only put it up halfway through Dec, so that it will be fine until 6th Jan. It helps if you get a really fresh one to start with.

We had a potted tree on a table for years due to small kids and dogs. We had a table protector on the table under a short cloth. Worked fine, sometimes it was still small enough for next year to come back inside, others lasted till next year and stood by the front door with out side lights

Can i just say we tried this when ds was 15 months and the day we were due to put our lovely tree up on a table out of his reach he discovered how to drag a chair and climb onto a table - clever boy!!! :o

Always used to put mine inside the playpen along with the presents, actually I never used the playpen for babies, only tree and elder children doing lego etc safely away from younger sibs!!

I've always had real trees since ds first christmas, he was 5mo and crawling, the next year 17mo and dd was 4wks, you get the idea when they were small(er) it was all about placement, a corner so it didn't need to be walked past constantly, and I'd have it beside the couch and dump a toy box over the remaining front iyswim? That said the last two yrs with them being 2+3 and 2+1 I just left it. Had no precious ornaments at the bottom and made no fuss when it was touched, they got bored after the third prod with no reaction. Re needles we just hoovered while they ate brekkie, lunch and tea. Pita but worth it for the beaut of a 9fter we last year :)

Could you have your usual sized tree and guard it with a playpen? Or would that look awful?