Fake Christmas tree or not and how to toddler proof?

[seven201]

We've always bought a real Xmas tree but good ones are quite expensive. I love the smell of new ones. I am thinking about buying a good quality fake tree but am worrying I'll regret it. Anyone switched from real to fake and regretted it?

Also, am semi contemplating not doing one at all this year as dd is 1 1/2 and likes climbing and destroying things! I don't want to not have one though. We don't have a big house so we definitely don't have space to cage one off. She's not good at the word no and just carries on doing what she wants every time (we do move her away and explain why every time)! I think I'm leaning towards just not putting any breakable or dangerous decorations on the tree and hoping she doesn't hurt herself or the tree!

What should I do?

We replaced our artificial one last year with a pre lit bulb one. The artificial one we replaced was 30 years old, so it had its monies worth!

Could you get a smaller table top tree that can't reach? You could also buy a small tree and her own set of cheaper soft decorations so she can decorate that and remove it and it might distract her from the main tree.

DS is also 18 months so we've decided to skip having a big tree this year, we're going to get a mini one on the windowsill that he can't reach. Hopefully by next Christmas he'll be less of a whirlwind and might understand enough to be careful around it.

My toddler was amazingly ok with the tree and didn't go near it! Just carry on as usual m

We put a play pen round the tree when the DC were that age. They could look but not touch then!

I did as pp and put my tree in the playpen. Worked a treat. It was a traditional wooden one though, not sure how a modern one would look.

We have a 3.5yo and 17mo and switched to fake two years ago. We got one with the lights built in with the plan that if our then-18mo DC1 was a bauble-grabbing nightmare we could strip everything off bar the top decoration, and it would still look nice (ish). It turns out she wasn't too grabby so we put up all the less delicate and non-sentimental decs without issue. I'm not sure we'll be as lucky with DC2 this year but I'll give it a go!
It's not as nice as a real tree, and we'll go back to real eventually, but this is a good compromise for us in the meantime.

We've managed to keep a real tree until now. Our now 3 year old wasn't too bad and we just had the tree as normal. This year we also have a 15 month old who very much likes charging around at top speed pushing his walker, with his brother in pursuit on the ride-on. As his navigational skills aren't yet fully honed the tree will be smaller and on a coffee table.

We just swapped the glass edecorations for cheap £1 land plastic ones -

Never liked a real tree!

We always have a real tree, and we had 3 kids, who never had the urge to destroy or climb it, also numerous visiting toddler cousins and friends...

I think they somehow know what to do and what not to do, (as long as you take reasonable precautions with putting your most precious/ dangerous ornaments a bit higher up on the tree).

We had a wooden pen too, Maiden. It looked fine!

We’ve always had a real tree. Children just learned not to touch it.

Our son's not a toddler by age but is autistic and toddler-like by nature We've always had an artificial tree, but swapped a conventional for a fibre-optic tree so that there are no strings of lights that he can pull. We have plastic baubles rather than glass. The tree goes in a corner of the room, he can't pull it out from the bottom as the power cable restrains it, and we (discreetly) tie the top of the tree to the hook in the wall so that he cannot pull it over.

My DS is a similar age. We don't have a real tree, but have decided not to put the glass baubles up this year. Instead I've got a few more toddler friendly ones (lots of scandi type fabric or wooden decs about this year). I'm a bit worried the tree will be sparse as you don't know if you've got enough until it's up!

Thanks so much everyone. I like the idea of a mini fake tree that's just hers and then us keeping our own (with no glass or ceramics on!). My mum did that with me when I was a teenager as I loved tinsel and she wouldn't allow it on her tree! Still not sure about switching to fake. We don't own a playpen and we'll need our travel cot over the festive period. Don't have a table to put a small tree on either.

My 3 never went near it, neither did our cats, the first year we had a kitten she investigated the tree and got pricked on the nose she left it alone after that. Another cat used to drink the tree water and sleep under it. Al other cats ignored it too

We bought a felt tree this year. We’ve put it up on the wall and are letting 2yr old and 1yrold dds play with that. They are loving it. I’m hoping once my tree goes up on the first they willleaveit alone for their little felt one

We had three ds who were all lively and inquisitive! We have always had real trees but I always put the hardy decorations at the bottom and the more precious ones at the top. I found wooden and metal decorations worked well ! I used to find that by the end of Christmas the bottom of the tree would be rather empty and the top rather full as I just moved the decorations up if they messed around with them. Luckily neither ds or cats ever climbed the tree!

We've always just put up a real tree as we wanted. I think over the four children it's been knocked over twice, a few bits and bobs have been moved/removed/broken and lots of needles knocked off but nothing major, they just get used to it.

Thanks everyone. I will have a think

I've got a small growing Christmas tree in a pot. My son has left it alone the past two years (now 2 and a half).

The Christmas where our DS was toddling but too little to be trusted to not eat the tree, we didn't try putting up a tree and then fencing it off etc.

Instead I got a giant roll of green backing paper (like they use on wall displays in schools) and drew a giant tree shape on it on the kitchen floor. DS and I then decorated it with paint handprints, he used a brush/rollers/fingers at random in some patches near where he was sitting and I painted a few stencilled stars and baubles onto it too.

We then blu-tacked it up on the wall in the living room, and then all round the edge I added those Sellotape brand sticky hooks that come off when you pull a tab. We strung our (no-heat, LED!) fairy lights across the tree from one hook to the other all the way up, and also added tinsel cut to shape blu-tacked on across it at various points. We piled the gifts at the foot on the tree as usual.

It looked nothing like a real tree in that it was flat and bright green but it did look really striking and (I think) pretty cool. I liked that DS was involved in the tree rather than kept away from it, too.

We have big fake one since before we had our dc. Never had problem, even it was placed within reach of my dc.