Ideas for cosy first Christmas with a newborn 🥰🎄

[Friedbanana]

Please indulge me with all your cosy ideas and what you’d do over the Christmas period if it was just you, your partner, your pets, and your newborn (as first time parents)! 🎄🎄🎄

I absolutely love Christmas, it’s my favourite time of the year and I love decorating the house and all the ambiance it brings! And this year we will have a newborn (due date is 1st December!)

For a few years now (ever since Covid) we have done Christmas just me, my partner and our dog, and we absolutely love it. We then tend to see family over the following days, it’s about an hour drive to both sets of parents who live in the same village, so we usually hire an Airbnb for a few days.

So just really looking at how we can adapt our usual traditions to suit newborn life and bring in any new cute traditions!

Here’s how our usual Christmas unfolds. Christmas Eve we do any last minute bits, eg a bit of wrapping, filling the Christmas crackers, setting the Christmas table, then we go for a nice meal just the two of us, walk home just as it’s getting dark past the village tree, then take our dog on her evening walk just after dark (I love this part as loads of people still have their windows open and love peeking at everyone’s decorations 😅) then we have a super cosy evening at home. We put on matching Christmas pjs (including our dog 😅), take some Polaroids by the tree, light alllll the candles, then watch the bbc Christmas ghost stories special 🎄 then we will both go read in bed before falling asleep 💤

Christmas Day itself our usual routine is opening stocking presents in bed (our dog also has a stocking 😅), then we come downstairs, do any tree presents, and dp will cook us a special breakfast whilst I put a bit of makeup on, then we will head straight out with coffees in flasks to take our dog a walk to the local beach (about a 1.5-2 hour walk). We’ll always take our Polaroid camera and get some photos at the beach! Then home, and we have a really leisurely few hours cooking the Christmas dinner together. We do a proper feast with alll the trimmings even though it’s just us 2 😅 (one year we didn’t, we cooked on Christmas Eve instead, and the day felt a bit flat as a result), so dp sorts the turkey/potatoes/gravy, and I do the veg/yorkshires/etc. It’s really lovely and feels like a nice relaxed team effort, we have music playing and it makes it really feel like Christmas! Since it’s a team effort we can take breaks etc so I’ll usually call my family too. Then we have dinner, by this time it’s usually around 4pm, and after a quick clean up we normally take our dog on her evening walk, and we usually play a board game once we’re back home. Dp will then normally watch NFL on Netflix and I’ll either do a Christmas jigsaw in the same room or I’ll have a lovely Christmassy bath with candles and new bath stuff.

Boxing Day we usually hire an Airbnb near both sets of parents, pack up the car with presents and go to SIL for her Boxing Day party. We then see both sets of family over the following few days.

Obviously I know things will be very different with a newborn and we will need to adapt a lot! For starters I was thinking we could swap the Christmas dinner from scratch for M&S, I’ve never done that before so any advice appreciated! I would absolutely love to keep our walks in if I’m physically able as these are some of my fav parts of the day!

I feel lucky we have already set a precedent of spending Christmas Day with just our tiny bubble so won’t have any external pressure for the day itself. But I’m not too sure what to expect for the days between Christmas and new year, if people will still expect us to travel to see them, or if we should leave the invitation open for people to visit us instead?

My advice is to leave yourself lots of options, but consider that you may be so tired that you just want to lie on a sofa feeding the baby.

Going for walks could be magical, but if things are difficult you should give yourself permission to get by however you can.

A cute outfit for photos is nice though!

Your previous Christmases sound really lovely. I would mainly say go easy on yourselves and don't try to do too much. You don't know how you're going to feel, and if your baby is late then they might only be a couple of weeks old.

We were in that situation and stayed at home for our first Christmas as a three. DH tried to cook us a proper Christmas dinner, which was very thoughtful but it definitely took too much effort. We were still knackered and adjusting to our new life at that point, so some nice M&S food and snacks would have been very welcome 🙂 it was really nice being just us though, and we are doing the same this year.

With wider family, if you're up for visitors then I would suggest they come to you as travel with a newborn can be tricky. But again, maybe see how you feel!

id scale back plans. It’s cold and flu season, keep it simple as you don’t know what type of birth you’ll have either. M&S for dinner and lots of films and cosy times x

Good call on dialling back the fancy dinner. I had an experience of being left with the baby for a few hours while DH cooked a feast. I appreciated the feast but solo with the baby was a bit lonely and flat feeling, compared to usual social Christmasses with wider family. Hope you can have a nice walk or two together each day, with the baby in a sling for cosiness. Lots of sitting around! Maybe you can have time for a game or a bath while the baby is napping. Good point by PP of avoiding colds and bugs at that time but if close family are well then they could pop in with snacks before new year?

Congrats on your pregnancy, it will be a very special first Christmas as parents however you spend it.

I’d recommend lowering any expectations - not in terms of enjoying the day, but in terms of what you expect it to look like. As others have said, be flexible as you don’t know how you’ll feel, how the baby will be, how tired you and your DH will be at that point etc.

My DD was about 10 weeks old for her first Christmas, and I had all these lovely ideas of what it should be like, but honestly I remember very little of it. I think my husband cooked a chicken? I think your idea of nice M&S bits sounds perfect!

My other top tip is to have a notebook handy when opening presents for your baby so you can write down who bought what, because there is no way your brain will be able to hold that information and everyone expects the lovely thank you and photo of the baby using whatever it is they gave.

I’m sure you’ll have a lovely day, and hopefully you’ll remember it more than I can!

I had three of my babies at Christmas time and I’m sorry to say that on at least two of them, I didn’t even put the tree up because I was consumed with looking after a new baby.

My baby is 10 weeks, so I'm just coming through the newborn phase!

Totally agree, no plans 🤣 go with the flow. Great idea to get loads of m+s bits. Definitely get a walk in, but maybe reduce the length. If you have a section it might be as simple as a walk from the car to the beach, or go somewhere local.

Matching pjs is cute- if you want my advice buy matching trousers and white t-shirts (don't show up reflux!), because you'll go through many, many tops 🤣🤣🤣

The tip about a notebook is invaluable- and goes for baby birth presents too.

I'd put the tree up before you are due!

It's amazing, but it passes in a haze

As a back up plan, I would do some batch cooking before the birth and make some really nice tasty options that would do to just pop in the oven for Christmas dinner - a beef bourgignon, chicken pie, coq au vin, goose fat roasties, mince pies etc. You might be exhausted and just want to stick to the cosying up with the Christmas tv.

You need to lower your expectations op. Having a baby is like having a (nice) bomb chucked into your life,

Smaller decs, prepped food, be prepared for no beach walk as you’ll probably be bleeding/may have had a c section.
Get multiple sets of very comfy pjs in. On a practical level is there someone who can walk the pooch if needed?

My firstborn was due on 8th December, and came on 23rd.

My advice

• Do all your Christmas shopping and preparations early.
• plan a low key day
• M and S food sounds ideal
• I spent Christmas morning waiting fir the midwife to arrive, then sat on in-laws sofa all day with baby
• Having a baby is a huge, huge change in your life, so go with the flow.

My second was born December 18th so he was a week old Christmas day. We didn't visit anyone, nobody visited us and we spent it at home. We obviously text and kept in touch throughout the day.
The thought of travelling and interacting with a week old baby did not appeal to me AT ALL. And the baby getting passed around like it's pass the parcel.....no. just no.
Just see how you feel at the time and do whats best for you. I love Christmas too. No matter what you do it will be cosy and magical as it's your babys first Christmas xx

Definitely get all Xmas decorations up before your due date, cos you simply won't be up to doing it after the birth (and orchestrating it from the sofa usually leads to frustration, especially when you're both sleep deprived!)

Definitely buy and freeze whatever food you want to eat for Xmas Day, so it just needs bunging into the oven.

Definitely batch freeze normal meals so that it's quick and easy to sort a meal after Xmas Day is done too, as you're both going to be shattered, for a long time.

Think about visiting your parents and In Laws this year and whether it'd be easier to just drive there & back instead of having an Air B&B? It's easy to say 'We need to leave now , so that we can get baby back home, fed & bed, rather than trying to furnish an Air B&B with everything you need for baby for several days? Also, it's a great excuse to leave a bit earlier than you usually would if it's all getting a bit much for you & for baby?

The Xmas Eve and Xmas Day will look a lot different this year, so expect that.

The lovely routines you've had with long walks and relaxing bed times will likely not happen this year, as days/nights simply kind of all merge together when you've got a newborn. That's normal.

Keep the basic principles of;

1. We'll pre-prepare what we can. (Decorations/food etc)
2. We'll plan to do as little as possible e.g Cooking/cleaning.
3. We'll accept help if we are offered (A few uninterrupted hours of sleep are priceless!)
4. We can still do some fun stuff if we have the energy (PJ pics etc)
5. The dog will be fine with shorter walks if necessary.

Prioritise yours and the baby's needs first. Then simply do what you'd like to if you have the energy.

Just remember, a Xmas as new parents won't be like your previous ones, but it'll be extra special simply because you're new parents.

I'm sure you'll have a load of new lovely traditions to start in 2027, once baby is 1yr old and will enjoy some of it with you.

I had an 2 month old last Christmas, so a bit older but still in the newborn stage.

Everything takes longer! Think about what is important to you and prioritise one activity in the morning and one in the afternoon.

Things like opening presents and cooking are no fun for baby. We cut back to one present to each other and one present for her, which we didn’t wrap. That was fine (until we went to family!)

Be firm with family that you aren’t making plans in advance. You might find yourselves feeling very able to travel and keen to see everyone. You also might not feel up to leaving the house. Set expectations low as they will most likely be hyped about the baby.

My ideal would be for family to visit you between Christmas and New Year and for your parents or PIL to cook everyone a nice meal.

For food, have you looked into COOK? Similar prices to M&S but imo better quality and more options. They have a new parent club with discount.

Good luck for the end of your pregnancy and birth!

How special!

I'd keep everything as simple and easy as possible with no pressure on yourselves. So get lots of easy but delicious foods you can enjoy with minimal effort (maybe things you cant have while pregnant - nice cheeseboard, smoked salmon, pate?) Hopefully you can get out for a walk but no stress if not.

You seem to enjoy a few photos, so why not get some cute Christmassy outfits for the baby and maybe look up how to get some of those cute silhouette shots in front of the tree and how to use Christmas lights to get nice photos? Maybe invest in a tripod for some shots of the 3 of you (and the dogs!)

Now is a great time to look on Vinted for Christmas baby clothes before everyone starts buying them, you'll be going through loads of babygros per day so grabbing a few cheap on Vinted will help.

Try to manage expectations re visitors - you won't want to be travelling far, a lot of newborns hate the carseat and you just can't get anywhere on time between feeds and nappy changes plus you could be tired or just not feeling great depending on the birth and how the night's go/if you're breastfeeding.

Let people come to you, but only for an hour or two. Tell them you'll pop the kettle on but they're welcome to bring their own snacks/sandwiches!!

Enjoy the rest of your pregnancy and I hope your first Christmas with baby is the start of new and happy family traditions for you!

You usually do all of that whilst working. You’ll be on leave! Loads of time to make it lovely and take it easy. Don’t overthink it