Are Christmas trees and toddlers compatible

[Gangle]

DS is 20 months and into everything - really want to get a lovely Christmas tree but suspect it won't last longer than an hour in our house before he's either pulled it down or swallowed a bauble. What does everyone else do?

DD was 11 months old last xmas and we put the tree up and put a table in front of it.
Worked well and even stopped the cats climbing it. Am planning to do the same this xmas too.

When DS was nearly 2 we had a smaller Christmas tree on a table, rather than a big on the floor.

He still reached up and pulled it over.

It's the only argument I can see for those ridiculous upside down ones that hang from the ceiling!

We have always had a tree. And 3 children have never managed to cause havoc with it. Be sensible - we only had a small tree for several years, and we put it on a little table behind the sofa - but don't deprive your ds the joy of his very own tree with pretty lights.

Am debating this. DD is 22 months and into everything. I'll be gutted if I spend an evening decorating only for her to pull it down in one swift movement the next day...

We've had a tree every year since dd was born. Her first christmas she was 7 months old, all I can say is every nappy change was a sparkly event due to tinsel ingestion.

we bought a decent fake tree when dd1 was small, it has been going strong for 6 years now, dd2 only 7months so it will see a bit more service yet! I am looking forward to being able to have "proper" one again in few years, but for us it was a worthwhile investment. (A decent fake really doesn't look too fake!).

For my DD's first Christmas, they were 5 months old and prolific rollers! They kept rolling under the tree and by Christmas Day, we had rearranged it so all the baubles etc were near the top.

The next year, they were actually really good about it. They helped decorate it and made some things to go on it, so they spent of the time admiring it. We did get some of the soft Christmas decorations that ELC had in store and they were allowed to get these down from the tree to play with.

DD was 5mths old last year and not mobile so the tree was safe.

This year she is 16mths and im sure will be very interested in it! We plan to put ours in the corner of the room with the sofa one side and a chair the other so its aliitle bit more protected.
Thankfully DD is very good and learns quickly what shes allowed to touch or not.
Ie.. the TV.. she goes up to the power button, touches it then turns and says Noooooo, shaking her head! Very funny.

I think she will love it this year. The decroations and tree's in the shops shes seen so far are "Pretty"

We might adopt the same strategy as we did with the cats... nail the tree to the wall.

We have a small tree on a table and tie a piece of string between the top of it and the wall to stop it fallling over.

My advice is not to use glass baubles though... Yeah I know it's obvious, but as a naive first time mum I was holding my 18 mo DD and showing her her reflection in the lovely new Heal's bauble I had just bought and she took a big bite into it. It shattered and we had to go to A+E for x-rays and everything to make sure she hadn't swallowed any glass. Nightmare.

The cats caused more destruction to the Christmas decorations than my DD, but our friend's boy...

When dd was 15 months we put the tree on a small table inside the play pen which kept it out of her reach

Reading this thread with interest as I have an 18 month old dd and was wondering where the feck I'm going to put our tree... Thanks for the tip ramblingmum, in the play pen it will be!

DS is 16mo and I've been wondering about this too. I like the idea of barricading it in - we could do that quite successfully.

Thanks for the tip about the soft decorations, will have a look in ELC.

We've honestly never had a problem with ds and the christmas tree which suprises me after reading this thread and knowing what he is like .

We have no room for a playpen round the tree. Tbh we don't have much room for a tree now we have Happy Land and night garden all over the front room. Was thinking of getting the thinnest pencil tree I could find and hoping dd wouldn't notice it...

Expected big trouble 2yrs ago and had bet on as to whether DS(just 2 at time) or kitten would be at the top of the tree. Surprisingly neither bothered with it.

This year we have new kittens and one is a climber - bets are being taken again

I put the tree on a coffee table with the playpen around it last year. Worked to a point. The point where DD realised she could push the playpen towards the tree, making the lower branches/ornaments eminently pullable.

No definitely not!!! Ours is still relagated to a corner with sofa pushed up to stop any mishaps, between cats and kids..

Sorry that's the tree in the corner not the toddler!

Rockbird, we have the same dilemma. The normal 'tree' space of yesteryear is home to whizz around mountain, a pretend barbecue, ikea kids table and chairs and my own body weight in plastic play food.

I could stick a star on whizz around mountain I guess...

put precious/sentimentally important decorations out of reach at top of tree, ditto chocolate decorations (unless you don't mind them all being scoffed)
only thing I wouldn't advise is those thin bits of loose tinsel!

I second that, DS pulled the tree over and smashed Christmas Elvis

Just thinking about this today, DD3 16 months and as she is DD3 mut have be fine with the other two.

Will probably just tell her NO a few times like I did with the stones in the fireplace but we shall see.......