At what age did your kids stop believing?

[PeppermintLatte]

hi, just really interested to know what age your kids were when they stopped believing in father christmas? or what did they start becoming sceptical? if your kids are still young how about nieces/nephews or friend's kids etc..

i dread it! i love the magic of it all and will be devastated once DD starts questioning it. hopefully i have a while yet as she's only 3.

We told DS who is 8 about a month ago. He's heading into year five and we were worried he'd be made fun of.

DD1 was sceptical at 7, and a non believer at 8 but is very good at not mentioning it and playing along (for my benefit I think)

DD2 will be 9 this Christmas but shows no signs of being a non believer (although of course she could be pretending, there is an element of them knowing but not sayin 'just in case')

she is very imaginative and I think she has convinced herself

I'm suprised they have left it so late as I was a non believer at 4 (after my big sister decided to share her new found knowledge) but as long as they don't wander round high school saying the believe in Father Christmas, I won't worry about it too much

Dd2, 6, still believes. I think Dd1 stopped believing at 5.

It was ruined for me when I was 3 and my parents said it was like all the magic was extinguished. I want to keep that alive as long as possible.

I'm almost 100% sure that DD (just turned 7 a few days ago) has been "playing along" for the past year-year and a half. I am just as sure that DS (just turned 9 a few weeks ago) is a true believer.

ds1 was 11 when he confirmed that he didnt believe. ds2 is 11 now and i think he desperately wants to believe. he hasnt mentioned anything. the girls are 7 and 6 and believe totally.

DD asked me to tell her the truth about FC a few weeks ago. She had told me on previous occasions this year that various of her schoolfriends had said that FC didn't exist and that parents filled stockings, but "That isn't true, is it, Mummy?" was her response, so she clearly didn't want to acknowledge this information! When she asked me a few weeks back, she started from a different position and asked me not to lie. So I did confess. She was a little sad, but OK, and I told her about it being a wonderful fiction that parents all over the world enjoyed creating for their small DCs and that she would love it in her turn as a parent.

The best bit was when we were talking about it later with DP and the DSSs. DSS2 (15) did a wonderfully convincing show of disappointment when DD let him in on the secret that FC doesn't really exist. I think she still believes that she was the one to tell him!

DD is 7, will be 8 in November.

DD13 has only just clicked on (or was very good at hiding it) and DS10 still believes.

My argument was that NORAD wouldn't waste defence money tracking something that doesn't exist and that while santa is real, he couldn't get all the top notch pressies by himself or he'd get done by health and safety for over working the elves.

So, to help Santa, parents send the pressies that are meant for the kids to him via courier company and he delivers them at Christmas

I'm 27 and believe and I'm not even joking

DD is nearly 7 and definitely believes. Am less sure about DS who's nearly 9. When he was 7 he seemed quite dubious but last year at 8 he seemed more convinced.

I remember that I definitely knew by the time I was 9 (found receipts for presents I'd got and the box where stocking presents lived) but was still very distressed when my mum and dad told me at the age of 10 (they sat me down and told me - I didn't ask them). So unless I am directly asked, I wont volunteer any information.

thanks for responding, everyone.

Miranda i agree, i won't be volunteering any information either.

i can't ever remember being told it wasn't true, so i still believe!

it looks like around the age of 7 is the last year you can guarantee it really, anything after that is a bonus.

I think I need to tell my 11 year olds the truth this year. They have just started secondary school and I don't want the, going up to an older kid saying "what did father Christmas bring you"