How early should you send out invitations to children's birthday parties?

[aloha]

Ds has a birthday mid-sept - when should I invite people? And how do you invite children at his nursery if you don' t know the parents?
Ta

a couple of weeks in advance is the norm I think. We got an invite to a mid Sept party at the end of last term lol

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Will he just have started nursery, or is he already there? The class teacher usually can provide a class list for invites. Don't think "knowing" a parent has ever been a criteria for inviting or not inviting when my kids had parties at nursery.

I don't want to invite everyone at his nursery - big class, he goes two days a week and doesn't know everyone, plus it's at home. What's the protocol for actually inviting them? Ringing the parents? Invite in their tray? He's been going for a while.
Realise, as usual, am horribly out of the loop on this sort of thing.

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I would hand invites for any nursery friends to the teacher and ask her to hand them to the parents. Especially if only a few are being inviyed. saves that awful scenario where some kids walk out of class with invites and some don't.
If it is mid sept I would do family/friends invites now, and hand out the nursery ones on first day back.

I would have the party a week later than the birthday I think to give a bit longer to get to know people and set-up.

(3 of my kids have Easter birthdays and it is a nightmare )

I asked the nursery staff for a list of the children that my dd plays with and then invited them. I also asked them to put the invites on their pegs as i didn;t know all their surnames. Oh I also included my tel number on the invites in case they felt they needed to talk to either dh or myself.

Could do invites this week as it is a private nursery hence doesn't have terms. Obviously this is a good idea. Will talk to staff when I take ds on Thursday. Oh, bloody hell, more STUFF.

oh.. i handed out the invites 2 weeks before her birthday.

I am grateful honest. But all the stuff around parties really does make me want to lie down in a darkened room. Is it just me?

You're not alone aloha. I foolishly promised ds2 a party this year as he's not had one yet (he'll be 6). His birthday is end Sept., baby no.5 is due mid October and ds wants a party in the garden with a bouncy castle and all his class. Aaarrgghhh - why did I get my timing so bad?

lol.. you'll survive. At dd's party i had 13 kids including friends and family and 15 adults. I am just grateful it was a hot day and everyone was out in the garden. I just kept the food and drinks flowing......

Yes, the drink...that's the answer!

baby no 5, robinia? Blimey! I was going to mention having had DD1's 3rd birthday party when 40 weeks pg with DD2 but it was indoors, in March, and of course I didn't have 3 others too!

aloha, no it's not just you but I'm afraid you will just have to soldier on (for the next 10 years, lol....)

Aloha, I find a large gin and tonic helps me get through children's parties. But this year we are having a magician instead!

I MADE THE MISTAKE OF INVITING ALL OF MY DS FRIENDS FROM NURSERY 30 of them,

because i worked at the nursey aswell and was quite friendly with most of the mums outside work, plus ds was always invited to everyone elses.

never again i tell you

nightmare!