Christmas stockings and light sleeping children

[Misty9]

How?! Not only is ds, 3.3, a light sleeper but his door drags on the carpet, so how do I put his stocking on the bed? Or do I just put it inside the door?

It's the first year he's been old enough to get it and, as we completed our Xmas eve to do list, you could see the belief growing and growing in his eyes. Last thing I want is for him to catch me or his dad with the stocking!!

Put it downstairs. My friend had 3 under 6 who woke up 3am and ipened their stickings and didn't go back ti sleep

Let them keep it outside the door, not in the room. Then if caught red handed, just say "Just checking if he's been!"

(This happened to me with the tooth fairy once.)

For the love of God hang them up downstairs.

Last year when ours were 10,10 and 9 they went to sleep at 2am and woke at 4. By then dh was begging me to dump and say "look what I've just tripped over". Finally did them at 5, no idea if they knew,was past caring but one thing I do know is I wish I'd always stuck them up downstairs and never started the end of the bed thing.

Learn from the mistake of others.

Downstairs, always!!!!

Yes, downstairs by the fireplace, next to the sherry and mince pie!

Another one here for downstairs
Ours stems from dd's fear ofSanta going in her room but actually makes our life heaps easier!!!

It's never occurred to me to do anything other than leave the stockings downstairs. That's what happened when I was a kid too.

Ours are outside the boys' bedroom door. Much safer than trying to get them at the end of their beds.

And they're under strict instructions not to leave their room until the sun comes up on their gro-clock. Then they can check if FC has been and bring stockings into our room to open.

That's in an ideal world, but DS2 (3) is poorly so likely to be up half the night

We've always done them on the beds, partly because it keeps them upstairs for longer, partly because you just can't beat that feeling of a heavy filled stocking by your feet when you wake up, I loved that as a child. I also love the excitement of creeping in, getting the stocking, filling it and putting it back. However they are staying up later and later as they get older (10 and 8 now) and I can see me throwing the towel in and going with downstairs at some point. It never occurred to me when they were younger though, I thought everyone did them on beds.

I never leave them downstairs as then they just get lost amongst the other stuff, by opening them upstairs it keeps it special and gives us half an hour to wake up as they open them on my bed.

I leave them outside the door.
The year I tried to put them in their room was the year I nearly died of a stress induced heart attack! I swear I've never been so stressed, my blood pressure must have been through the roof. Never again.

We always put them downstairs, as we did as children. Ds1 is (like I was) a bad sleeper and early riser so it's easiest for them to be out of sight if he does wake.

We leave stockings downstairs by the fireplace. I don't think ds would go to sleep if it was in his room.

I have been known to buy two identical stockings so that I can stuff one full of presents beforehand and then simply swop empty for full.

We gave out them downstairs this year after dd2 woke up last year just after I hung it on her door. Much easier.

i do the swap thing.
dd hangs hers on door.

I wish I'd thought of the swap thing when they were younger and I bought the stockings (been using the same ones all their lives). Not going to go out and buy 4 new ones now though.

They're hanging downstairs as otherwise we'd have to say Santa went into his room... must say I never questioned it as a child and that feeling with my feet at the end of my bed to see if he'd 'been' truly meant Christmas for me as well.

Ds is coughing away though so a night waking is likely and having his stocking to play with would be irresistible! So I'll go with downstairs for this year.

I have nearly just given myself this cross to bear " so darling, where shall we hang the stocking" cue nightmarish thoughts - " I think we hung it down stairs last time didn't we...lets just do that"

Having said that i thought whole point of stocking was to wake up in bed to it...

We've just come up to sort our dcs stockings only for our usual heavy sleeping child to get up for a wee! Thankfully we hadn't removed it or filled it as both scenarios would have been a nightmare. So now we wait another half hour and try again lol - got to say I might spend that half hour trying to trace duplicate stockings for next year!

I always had mine on the end of my bed and still remember that wonderful feeling of the heaviness in my feet when I woke. We've always done them on beds for our dc too, but every year I wish we'd done them downstairs instead!
And the dc decorated pillowcases years ago meaning i can't switch one for another identical one.
I snuck in earlier, brought them downstairs, filled them and then have put them back. I felt sick the whole time. Next year I'm just going to tell them. I say this every year

Have always put them under the tree. All 4DC's have never questioned this. I put one present at the foot of the bed which keeps them occupied if they wake early.

Still sat on the end of my bed mumsnetting to make sure dd 1 is asleep before I go in, she was still restless last time I looked.