Christmas and 1st Birthday

[Chamber587]

My boy will be 1 on 10 January. He's my first baby so was just wondering what presents I should get for Christmas and his birthday as they're so close together. I was thinking a trike for his birthday? How much would you spend? What kind of things would you buy?

My little boys first birthday is very early January too I'm looking at trikes for his bday too! Not sure what else it's a difficult one- maybe some garden stuff which will be suitable for summer when he will be 18months the little tikes cars for example?!?

DS is 3 now but was a January baby so also had his first birthday close to Christmas. Between the two he had an ELC wooden kitchen walker, a Plum wooden sand and water table and a beautiful set of Uncle Goose wooden alphabet blocks. The latter two are still played with regularly now.

We have also always had a summer birthday present of something outside which he gets 6 months after his birthday. When he was 18 months he had a Cosy Coupe.

My ds2 is the 20th of December. The 'big wow' gifts are for birthdays, Christmas gifts are more low key. We have three children so to do it any other way would make December prohibitively expensive for us. All of mine get a biggy for their birthday and less at Christmas.

Hi all thank you so much for replying. I like the bigger present for birthday and low key fir Christmas as I do plan to have more than one baby X

Ahh my dc1 is 10th January as well :-) she'll be 14 next year though and I've since had another January dc (the 17th!) and a Boxing Day baby!
We have the same budget for both, I tend to do xmas, dh does birthdays. Christmas is generally 4-5 smaller bits (around £20 a present), big ticket items (bikes, trampolines, tablets, phones etc) are for birthdays. And we never ever combine the two

Ah all birthdays close together! That's lovely. Yes he was due New Year's Eve but I was induced on the 9th and he arrived at 2am on the 10th! X

Excellent idea to think ahead and get summer stuff for the garden (my dd has an April birthday but all through her younger years got garden toys for her birthday). So a swing/slide/car/trike/little trampoline/water table. Tbh, they aren't just summer toys, once your dc is up and walking you might enjoy getting them wrapped up and outside for half an hour on a cold but dry day to play outside.
Budget is all down to you though. We don't really have a set amount for presents, if the dc want/need it (within reason) we get it. Over the course of their childhoods it will all work out evenly in the end.
Do bear in mind that he won't remember what you buy him and if he is anything like my dc, grandparents, aunts, uncles etc will all go ott and you won't know what to do with the amount of stuff you acquire on Christmas Day.

DS1s birthday is within a week a week of Christmas. When he turned one, we bought him a couple of nice 'skill' type toys (a hammering bench and wooden shape sorter, I think) and for his birthday, we bought a Little Tykes Cosy Coupe. That is definitely one of the best presents he has ever had - he used it in the living room until the next summer and still uses it in the garden now, and he's 5!

Thanks ladies lots of great ideas! I better start making a list

DD's 1st birthday was 26th December. (As have every other birthday since, to be fair! ).

As she was also the first grandchild on both sides, we actually held back a good bit.

I bought a copy of "Twas the night before Christmas" for Christmas Eve bedtime story - and she still insists on hearing that for the first time every year on Christmas Eve (she's about to turn 12).

We got her a few toys - a small round activity toy that lit up and made noise, a shape sorter and a tractor/trailer/cow and horse set. Her stocking had some chocolate, a second set of toddler cutlery (to reduce pressure on washing up) and a spare drinking cup.

Under the tree, we had an outfit wrapped from us - we always have a present from Mum and Dad under the tree, the same as we both grew up with so it doesn't all change hugely when Santa no longer comes (we both were the eldest of a number of siblings).

For her birthday, we got her 2 more books (one stories for bedtime, and 1 for her reading/playing with in daytime) and a jigsaw.

Also, she had the traditional first birthday cake in our family - a jelly, made in a pudding bowl and turned out, with the Child's name piped on with whipped cream. As not all small DCs like cake, but I've never yet met a DC who doesn't like jelly - and all small DCs should be able to enjoy their own first birthday cake!! We do go for more traditional cake for 2nd and later birthdays, we're not complete loopers!

DS birthday is 14 December and for his first birthday last year we got him a table and chair set for Christmas and a trike for his birthday... he's only just become interested in either of them! We probably could have got them this year for his 2nd birthday and saved our cash last year!

Oh, DGPs bought her a trike and a few other large enough bits (before asking us - luckily they didn't buy the same things!). Part of the reason why we kept it low key.

I would do special decorative items for Xmas which will last through their lives (stocking, snow globe, tree ornament) and maybe a Xmas book/s, and then toys for the birthday (a ride on/push along toy perhaps?) is it likely you will get lots of presents from other friends and family?

We are going to put some money in his bank account for Christmas, as no doubt his grand parents, aunts and uncles will go mental (we will have a gift for £10 ish for under the tree) and we will get him his first bauble from the garden centre (each person will choose a new one every year). His stocking will probably have some rusks in it as he LOVES THEM 😂
But his birthday is his special day, mid January (many arguments between me and DH, I think birthdays are special he thinks Christmas) so I'll be probably getting him the little tykes cosy coupe thing ... and again his relatives will go crazy so I'll wait to see what he's been bought and take him toy shopping after if it's needed xx

My ds birthday is mid Dec and so for lots of his birthdays and Christmas' I've bought him things that will last throughout the year, clothes for the next season, puzzles that are slightly older for him that I can put away and get out at a later date. Books are great gifts - for the first few years I bought a new Christmas book each year so I now have a lovely collection!
Garden toys are great too!

Hi, yeah grandparents will buy toys I imagine! I've also asked for clothes from others for his birthday as I don't have any 12m+ 🙈 I like the idea of a Xmas book that will become a tradition Xx

A box with wrapping paper for his first Christmas, cake and a plane journey for his birthday (early Jan DS).

(The plane journey wasn't a present. It wasn't very pleasant either, though my phone keeps wanting to autocorrect to that).

Christmas baby I'm our house...bought a bookcase for first birthday. Still in use and will be for a few years to come (it's a fun children's one with pictures on the sides). We love books and therefore it's used daily.
Use first birthday/first Christmas as a time to get essentials as they won't remember what they got and won't be bothered! Easy to get carried away though...! Happy shopping.

Tbh, for a first birthday, I'd consider just getting something small to open and save the big present for when he's about 18 months. At one mine liked the buttons on the microwave and opening doors best. By the time he got to eighteen months, it was all about cars, dinosaurs, diggers, rabbits ... And a year is a long time to wait for their next big present. If you're planning to get something for the summer anyway, I'd hold off buying it until you have more of a sense of who he's going to be next summer and what he'd really really want. No way I'd have bought DS a dinosaur last year, but it was a no brainer to get him one this year.

Cheerful that's a good point about waiting until later in the year. We have often bought outdoor stuff in late spring just because for DC1.

I'm really really struggling for ideas for DC2, lots of hand me downs in the house already. They aren't going to know anything about Christmas or their birthday. But I can't not buy anything or DC1 will ask questions.

I'm thinking, activity cube, blocks, toying with the idea of a jump and spin zebra.