Christmas baby

[Bobadi]

Hello. I am due my second baby 3 days before Christmas, I just wanted to see if anyone else here had such a close / possible Christmas baby and what it was like? My daughter is 4 and I still want to make it as special as possible but it seems harder to make big plans like days out or event that need to be pre booked / paid when I'm not sure if baby may come early etc. Would anyone have suggestions on how best to plan? I know I will need to be super organised with presents and wrapping etc ! Thank you in advance !

Can you make use of grandparents op? So you book and plan a Santa trip with granny, which could become a sweet tradition for the future as well? You won’t be wanting to traipse round shops or attractions at that stage yourself I imagine.
Going for a walk after dark to look at local lights, with you/dp/friends. Again just do it if you feel like it.
Lots of easy fun things at home. Soft blankets and a Christmas film with snacks together. I still love The Gruffalo (my kids are older but I insist). Decorating biscuits or cakes, trying to make a gingerbread house together. Decorating the tree together. Get her to help choose a little gift for the baby if she wants to.
And of course, get all the shopping and food sorted early. Keep it very simple this year. You have the best excuse in the world!
Good luck!

For days out, book well in advance, and spread out - events seem to start in November and often go into January (like lights trails) so you can spread out trips away from your expected date. Don't tell her anything is booked so if you have to cancel she won't be disappointed. Presumably there is a dad around? Split between you and dad. But try to have grandparents/relatives/friends on hand to step in to take her if possible.

For presents and Christmas Eve/Day activities specific to her - also plan well ahead. Have Father Christmas presents bought and wrapped so if you're new-baby-exhausted all you need to do is put them out.

Cook and freeze food to defrost/heat/eat.

Plan some fun home activities around the day - Christmas film watching, drawing and colouring Christmas cards, writing letter to Father Christmas, that sort of thing, that you can still do with her even if the baby is there or even if you're still waiting and exhausted.

Have a contingency plan in case you actually go into labour on Christmas Eve/day and your own delivery clashes with Father Christmas! Will someone stay at your house or will she stay somewhere else? Who will put presents out? Should she open them when she wakes up or will you ask for her to wait until you get home?

I was due a dd Xmas eve. Sheer will power kept her in I am sure!! She arrived nye instead! Tbh we just had a normal Christmas!

I've got a Christmas day baby. He's going to be 18 this year. Always have separate presents, no joint presents. This goes for extended family too. We do Christmas presents in the morning and birthday ones in the evening. He sometimes saves some presents to open on his sisters birthday 2 weeks later.

My cousin is a Christmas Day baby and at a fairly young age proposed himself that everyone who wanted to give him a birthday present should give it to him on their own birthday - so now as an adult he still gets presents throughout the year instead of double presents on Christmas Day!

Thank you so much to everyone for your comments they are really helpful and lots to think about. My husband is here yes and my parents , the plan is my daughter will go to her grandparents if baby does start to make an appearance christmas eve/ day. I'm really excited now ! I love this time of year.

I was also due 3 days before Christmas and ended up with a January baby! So I'd try and plan as normal as Christmas as possible just in case. I ended up doing lots of the normal things on the run up (Xmas lights, Christmas lunches with friends etc) and just went with the flow. If I didn't end up making a booked event due to the baby arriving, I don't think I'd would have minded too much ;) if anything I wished I planned more stuff to do after Christmas as it would have taken my mind off the fact I was sooo overdue