Making Christmas Special for 1 year old

[Vsah22]

Our little boy has his 1st birthday a week before Christmas and I’m trying to get ahead with ideas for both his birthday and Christmas as well as coming up with suggestions for family members. Appreciate he won’t remember it and doesn’t need lots as he’s still small but any advice on ways to make it special please? He was only days old last Christmas so I see this as his first proper Christmas and want to make it special even if it’s more for us to remember.

I couldn’t find an advent calendar suitable for him and obviously chocolate is a no for now but struggling to get my creative brain into gear. Are there any suitable for a 1 year old or do I need to do an DIY one?

Any ideas, tips, help would be greatly appreciated. As new parents we have no idea where to start and if anyone has tips for how to keep birthday and Christmas very separate I’d love to hear them as I’m sure in years to come it will be more of an issue.

I like the wooden advent calendars that you keep and fill yourself. The first year you can put bells in to hang up rather than chocolate coins.

Keep it simple, not too many presents. The grandparents bought far too much in the early days and the children found it too much.

At that age, they like pretty lights and empty big boxes to play in.

Book advent calendar. Either DIY with a felt advent calendar from Etsy or Amazon or lidl/the works have them usually

Don't bother not putting the tree up until after his bday or any of that as he's so young. One of my DC is boxing day- we used to take the whole tree down and redecorate etc but then decided to do up the tree with birthday decorations instead. Pinterest has some great ideas. We also do a half birthday celebration in the summer, a theme park trip or something. It's a long wait for presents!! Obviously using different wrapping paper for the birthday presents, too.

A homemade cake and some pictures of him enjoying it would be perfect! Or you could do yummy cupcakes/fairy cakes with a candle in and decorated.

Play tunnels, busy boards, wooden jigsaws etc, a ticket to local farm/play centres are fab gifts at that age for the entire year

DD was about 11 months last Christmas, and she loved a tray of jingle bells, and these bath toys, but they never actually made it into the bath. She also loved the “Peekaboo Santa” book so much that we’ve had it out all year. she also loved exploring a string of colourful fairy lights which I kept solely for that purpose, but obviously they’re not safe so that as only ever when DH or I were in the room sitting next to her.

I bought some wooden tokens for an activity advent calendar so that we could say we had them from her first Christmas, but we didn’t do them all (and I did some of them, like “eat a Christmas cookie” for her).

My little boy turns 6 the week before Xmas and he’s a big Christmas lover (like me and his dad) but I do distinguish where I can. I always decorate the living room for his birthday with either banners or balloons or I’ve made backdrops for him so when he walks in in the morning yes there’s a Xmas tree up etc but it’s also very much in theme which whatever he wants for his birthday.

We don’t do Christmassy activities the weekend near his birthday like see Santa etc we do things that he wants to celebrate like have family over or maybe cinema or bowling etc. I also don’t put Xmas decs in his room until after Xmas which he loves because after his birthday it’s like the north pole explodes in his room.

i agree you don’t need lots of stuff this year but you should try and maybe start with the things you’d like to continue, maybe a Xmas walk, or reading a story the night before etc. I wrote a letter that first Christmas and put it in his stocking that I could read when I got it out the next year and I do that every year now.

These are great ideas, thank you! Love the ideas of a book and activity advent calendar.

That's a really good tip about the weekend of their birthday too and making it just about the birthday, as you say not a big issue right now but I don't want them to hate Christmas by it overshadowing their birthday.

Any recommendations on busy boards? There seem to be so many!

My DS is a December baby ( he'll be 25 this year )

Lights - twinkly , all colours

We had a Mothercare BackPack carrier that DH wore so DS was high up . If he fell asleep he was able to sleep happily , high up and warm ( and so much easier than a buggy on stairs )

Christmassey Pyjamas and a nice bubbly bath (OK this is more for you to get him settled and off to sleep )

This year he won't 'get it' but next year and the year after , he'll be on it

My little boy turned 1 a few days after Christmas last year so a very similar age and he absolutely loved this advent calendar. I kept it out of reach when we weren’t adding the new bauble together due to the magnets but he was able to stick them on with only a little bit of help and was so excited to do it everyday. I’m really looking forward to getting it out again this year and having it as a little Christmas tradition.
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We’re still navigating the whole birthday/Christmas thing so I have no suggestions for that yet but I will say that as a December baby myself I’ve always loved it. My parents were always really good at keeping the two days separate though and pushed for no joint presents with relatives which seemed very important to me as a child and something I intend on doing with my own little one.

This book was a real hit with him too.
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Oh and an excellent Christmas tip that a friend gave me that I share with everyone is to get two identical stockings, one to hang up and one to fill so that you can just swap them over. It won’t be an issue this year but if like us you plan on using the same stocking every year it’s worth planning ahead!

There will be toys that are suitable for 18 months plus that you could whisk away once he's opened them until the middle of the year. He won't remember.

Too long ago for me to have specific ideas but people might be able to help on here or you could start a separate thread. Also things to play with outside when the weather is better.

Ours had a sandpit with a lid which could be filled with water, they played with it for years .

For those of you with older DC, I'd consider asking them if they would actually like a Christmas things up on their birthday. My mum never allowed any Christmas stuff until the weekend after my birthday - I think at least in part because she didn't like 'all that clutter' actually

But it was a source of secret sadness to me as I loved Christmas and especially loved Christmas trees and really wanted one on my birthday!

Bear in mind that you get Christmas and birthday inflation over the years - it's hard to rein it in, it'll only get more demanding so start out modestly!

He'll just want attention from you. They like twinkling Christmas lights at that age. Just spend time together and be cosy. My DC got crinkly marathon blanket (like the silver ones runners use) one early Christmas and they loved it - rolling and playing. Cost £2.

If you can find anywhere with a lit up lights walk, they are great for little ones. We also like to visit some reindeer at a local garden centre- it might be worth looking around if there are any nearby.

Tinsel, ribbons and lights at home are great for supervised sensory enjoyment. We also started reading a 'it was the night before Christmas' book on Christmas Eve at 1- I realise they didn't understand it but I wanted to start our tradition.

Find out if you can join any carol services. The church never minded us having babies in the service. I found they were quiet and transfixed listening to the singing, they didn't make a scene, and it made me feel very christmassy as well.

Oh yes I agree with @Barleysugar86 , I went with a friend to a garden centre when she had her grandson in a pushchair and he loved the lights & singing reindeer. I also love the idea of buying them a Christmas bauble each year. He won't appreciate the first couple but later maybe let them choose one each year. They will get pleasure from hanging their own collection on the tree when they are older and take them into adulthood with them. Wished I'd thought about that when mine were little.