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Christmas

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Christmas Eve box for baby

23 replies

user1485166754 · 13/10/2017 10:43

Hi

First Christmas with DD she will be 6 months. Really want to start new traditions as family of 3 and would like to do Xmas eve boxes - but what could I put in for DD at her age?

Any ideas welcome!!

Thanks

OP posts:
poddige · 13/10/2017 10:46

maybe spend the money this year on treating her to a nice personalised box, as she won't have a clue whats going on!

or add a festive sleep suit and a reindeer teddy?

LatriceRoyale · 13/10/2017 11:10

Festive sleep suit, Christmas rattle, decoration for the tree so they can start a collection, festive rubber ducks/bath toy?

KC225 · 13/10/2017 11:11

At six months!

Cheerybigbottom · 13/10/2017 11:12

Get a lovely box, not too babyish as you want it to last her whole childhood. Get her first Christmas sleepsuit and a lovely ornament to hang on the tree on Christmas Eve.

BertieBotts · 13/10/2017 11:14

PJs and a book.

SleepingStandingUp · 13/10/2017 11:15

KC225
At six months!
Well that normally how traditions start. When kids are babies Confused

GiveMeTheTeaAndNobodyGetsHurt · 13/10/2017 11:19

Get a personalised box that will last for future years. Put in a sleepsuit, rattle, small cuddly toy, and some rice crackers or similar. At six months it's far more about you and your memories of DD's first Christmas (not that there's anything wrong with that) so I wouldn't spend too much time or money, except perhaps on the box, but I think it's a lovely tradition to start. Even though she won't remember it, she'll enjoy looking at the photos in later years as she grows. Smile

allthegoodusernameshavegone · 13/10/2017 11:20

Excuse my ignorance but is this in addition to regular Christmas gifts? If yes, I would say why?

OccasionalNachos · 13/10/2017 11:22

Excuse my ignorance but is this in addition to regular Christmas gifts? If yes, I would say why?

Because it’s a sweet tradition. & when they get older it takes the edge off the over-excitement a bit. & new Christmas pyjamas along with a yummy hot chocolate are the best thing ever at any age, quite frankly.

ArcheryAnnie · 13/10/2017 11:25

Because it’s a sweet tradition

It's a very recent "tradition" that teaches kids the terrible lesson that every special occasion has to be marked by the acquisition of yet more stuff.

QuopQuop · 13/10/2017 11:28

I second the idea of investing in a nice box! She won't know what's going on so maybe just put pyjamas in it and a Christmas book? Maybe a treat and you could do the whole reindeer food/carrot thing for photo value xx

FAkenameforthis · 13/10/2017 11:29

No. She doesn’t need more stuff and won’t remember it. If you have to do something like it wait till next year. How about a tradition of packing up stuff she doesn’t need on Christmas Eve to donate to a refuge to get ready for new gifts the next day? (Obv you may already do this)

QuopQuop · 13/10/2017 11:38

I also have a tradition of the kids buying a new decoration for the tree every year. I have a buzz lightyear one from the year my son loved
Toy story, I have a doughnut from the year my daughter called
Them coconuts. Have Disney princess one etc. Last year my
Daughter picked a number 7 as she was 7...... you get the gist haha

It's lovely looking through them all and remembering things xx

Nicpem1982 · 13/10/2017 11:47

For my dds first Xmas eve box (3 months) we but in a festive sleep suit, personalised santa plate, Xmas stocking and a first Xmas Christmas decoration.

She didn't have a clue bless her but it started it for me and dh really and each year the plate stockings etc go back into the box and up the loft

Her Xmas eve box is added to year on year with bits and bobs that we see so no you dc won't know but it's a nice start for an ongoing tradition

Isadora2007 · 13/10/2017 11:47

I love the ornaments idea... really meaningful without being OTT

We don’t do xmas eve boxes- it does seem to be quite OTT and a bit wasteful too- we have xmas PJs but they get given in December so they get some wear out of them. We have xmas books which come out each year and often get 1 added to. These are read each night while the advent candle burns.
We don’t do santa so no need for the plate etc stuff.

I think Christmas is a hugely wonderful time, and so spreading it over the 24 days works best for us.

allthegoodusernameshavegone · 13/10/2017 11:52

So, they have a sweet treat everyday of December in the advent calendar, then a gift / gifts on 24th and many gifts on 25th and on 26th? Therapy to overcome the disappointment of no treats!

I agree about the hot chocolate though, yum, gonna have one now and I'm still in my pjs.

capercaillie · 13/10/2017 11:54

Don't do anything. Think carefully before instilling traditions that will cost money, raise expectations and fill your home with more stuff that you don't need.

My children have lovely handmade advent calendars with pockets in them. Do they appreciate them - no, not enough in my opinion. Does it become a chore that I have to find 48 little things or chocs to put them? Yes it does (thanks grandma who made the calendars). Christmas boxes fill me with horror for that reason.

One nice thing we do is paint a decoration each at our local pottery place. We have a box of lovely decorations that have real memories attached and are lovely to get out every year. Baby can do fingerprints or handprints.

Plus baby is 6 months old and won't remember any of it!

Nancy91 · 13/10/2017 12:01

As your baby is 6 months old I'm going to say this box is more about you feeling festive than the little one. Put the baby in a cute Christmassy outfit and take pictures you can keep as a memory. Don't waste money on things that will become clutter.

MiniAlphaBravo · 13/10/2017 12:02

I think these are marketing ploys to get us to spend even more on Xmas. I agree with pp that if you're gonna get Xmas books and clothes etc get them earlier so she can wear them in December. Up to you though!

Sunnie1984 · 13/10/2017 12:10

We have just started the Christmas Eve box tradition with our 5 and 3 year olds.

They get new (not christmassy pyjamas) on Christmas Eve anyway, along with hot chocolate and popcorn to watch a Christmas film before bed.

We only put those things in the boxes, but I like the tradition anyway.

Saying that, we have a budget of £100 per child for Christmas Day which includes stockings, so they don’t get an overwhelming pile of presents on Christmas Day x

BiddyPop · 13/10/2017 14:08

We use the same festive wrapped cardboard box every year (it holds decorations in storage most of the year). DD knows it's me who does this so there are no problems with "losing the magic".

It has DD's stocking and the family copy of "Twas the night before Christmas" for Christmas Eve bedtime reading.

It usually has her winter hot water bottle slipped in as well (she got a small HWB with a snowman cover years ago.
I also take her plastic Santa glass and plate from the kitchen cupboard (probably bought when she was 2 or 3 (she's now about to turn 12), and in use every year for December until the decorations get put away again, as it gets stored with those) - Santa's milk and cookie, and Rudolph's carrot, go onto those.

New things are PJs for us all (as new PJs are handy most winters - they are sometimes festive patterns but often not), a festive Lush bath bomb each for DD and I (and sometimes a nice shower gel for DH), and nice hot choc for us all. Occasionally, a Christmas beer (1 bottle) has found its way in as well for DH.

In our case, it comes out after dinner and after lighting the Christmas candle (and remembering the good and bad of the past year, and taking time to remember people who have died). DD sets out her stocking and Santa's snacks, then has her bath, and in her new pjs, comes back down for hot choc before we snuggle her up, cosy in a warm bed, to read the book and maybe another story and settle down for a "long winter's nap"!

I know others who have craft kits or DVDs as their comes out earlier and is to provide distraction for DCs on 24th while adults get things done. Or to watch the DVD or play a board game together as a family as part of their family celebrations.

We do have a decent collection of Christmas books that come out earlier for reading throughout December, but TTNBC is a special one that is always kept for 24th.

For a very first Christmas, I'd be inclined to maybe get a nice festive sleep suit or outfit for next day (which, tbh, you probably will buy anyway as FTPs - but can start your "tradition"), a Christmas book that you will read a lot next year in December, and if you see a plastic plate/cup/bowl or whatever somewhere, that might be nice to get now for many year's use. And maybe, if you were going to get one anyway, a "Baby's first Christmas" or a very special ornament with the year on it, to hang every year (that doesn't need to set a precedent of getting one every year - but you can always tell her later that it was in the box on that first Christmas).

QuopQuop · 13/10/2017 15:06

I always do Christmas pjs on December 1st then I put a new Christmas Day outfit in the Christmas Eve box then they hang it in their room ready for the next day z

Tinty · 13/10/2017 15:15

We do the Christmas decoration every year with DS and DD. We choose an afternoon and go shopping for them to choose a new decoration for the tree and have cake.

It is a lovely tradition which we started when DS was old enough to choose a decoration. The only thing is he has very questionable taste, so we have a fluffy pink flamingo, a spiky hedgehog, a poodle in a shoe etc, you get the idea, non of these are remotely Christmassy in my eyes, but they were in the decoration section of the shop.

DD came along quite a few years after DS and also has shocking taste in decorations! Now they are older they compete to find the worst, least Christmassy decoration they can. The only good thing is I have told them when they have their own houses they can take their decorations with them for their own trees. Grin.

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