From what age do you leave stockings by bed?

[Wildpoppies]

My kids are 2 and 4. If I left stockings by bed I imagine everything would be broken by time I found them, with satsuma and chocolate smeared over the walls

Yeah I was worried about this so I...sorry, Santa hangs them on their room door handle...

When I was a kid we had an actual stocking (a big wooly sock) stuffed with tiny treats left at the end of our beds, as we didnt have a fireplace. It was very magical.

We hang our kids' stockings on the fireplace on Xmas Eve, then fill them and take them down and lie them near the hearth. I cant trust them not to wake up at 4am and tear into their stockings if I left them on the bed!

Ours are downstairs. We all go downstairs together (we film it!) and they open them last as they're their favourite! I normally hide them behind a cushion etc and every year they forget about them until I 'find' them.

Can't remember from what age but left on bedroom door handle and then opened in our bedroom.

We leave them on the end of the beds and have done since the DDs were about 2. I remember opening my stocking in my own room as a child, but my girls have always brought their stockings through to sit on our bed and open together. As another poster put it, it's a favourite memory of mine and I hope it long continues (despite neither of them believing in the Fat Man anymore).

Then we all get dressed and head downstairs to see them open their (small) sack of main gifts and then to share out the gifts from under the tree from other people.

When DD was 2.5, the first year she really understood Christmas, we put her stocking downstairs.

When she woke up and came into our room she seemed really sad, we were trying to get her more excited and suggested going downstairs, but she was really lethargic and not interested.

We sat her on DHs knee and asked what was wrong. She said she must have been bad as Santa hadn't left a stocking at the bottom of her bed

So wherever you put it, make sure they know!

Ours have been outside their bedroom door since birth. They know they bring them straight to our room and we open them in bed. I don't think they would consider doing anything other than that. last year ds ran straight past his stocking ( a huge stuffed full pillow case) to ask if Santa had been yet.

DS has always had his on the end of his cot/ bed. Last year we did adult stockings for the first time, as a way of dragging the day out further and ensuring we got to church on time (main presents are done after the pub church)
This means that stockings are laid out downstairs instead so we can all meet together (my DPs will be here as well)