1st birthday party help

[JanaMc]

hi mums, i need some help. My boy will turn 1 soon and i need some ideas where to held his party? Home, private room in a pub, soft play. I dont know what to do. also do i need to prepare special food for babies? does anyone have a venue to recommend in south east london?

Thanks.

Are you inviting enough people to justify a venue? I have always done simple home parties.

For DD we did an afternoon tea party at home with her close family and a couple of my friends whose kids she regularly played with.

Snacky food, fruit and a few mini sandwiches for the kids as most were still having milk and didn't need a proper meal.
Scone with clotted cream and jam and a sandwich for adults.
Birthday cake after.

Just got a ball pool, balloons and all her toys out across the lounge and garden.

Cheap and cheerful and everyone loved it!

When I did mine I did it joint with all my antenatal class friends. So about 8 babies. We hired a hall did a buffet suitable for parents with weaning appropriate food fir babies and to be honest at 1 most of ours were eating pretty much what we were anyway. We took toys along from home so had a mini ball pit, a tent and tunnel, walkers, balls, some musical toys etc.

I think where will depend on how many people you're inviting, how long you want it to go on for. If it's smaller numbers home might be the best option and you can put ds down for a nap if needed. Soft play is expensive and at 1 they either love it and climb all over but require close supervision or there is little for them to do. Totally depends on your ds and what the soft play is like for babies. And the age of other children going.

What would ds enjoy most? Does he love soft play? Or would he be happy at home? Do you have a garden so if it's dry you've got outdoor space? Paddling pool? Outdoor Toys if it's nice weather? Then some of the money you would've spent hiring somewhere you could get a few toys that he can keep? Paddling pool, small slide, tent and tunnel? Obviously depends on space and if the weather is good or not.

My DS has just had his 1st birthday. We held it at my grandparents house and invited family around. We did the usual presents, big meal, cake etc etc. I didn't want to go all out hiring somewhere because most likely he would get grumpy half way through and want to sleep or something so would miss out

I'd probably suggest saving party planning energy for when they're old enough to remember and really enjoy it

Soft play babies/toddlers aren't well catered for, often with a tiny area to play in (plus adults to squeeze in too), you're also likely to be paying for food that parents won't want to feed toddlers and you won't be using the huge play area that you're also paying for. Can be noisy and full of boisterous larger children especially if you go at the weekend or in the holidays.

Private room what is the benefit over your house? Will the floors be suitable for babies/toddlers to crawl on (thinking sticky pub floors!). Will it need baby proofing, presumably you'll need to bring toys from home? What will you do in the space?

Have a few friends over to yours (split over a couple of days if you want to), presumably you're already baby proofed, got a few baby toys and get a cake. Adults can enjoy a chat while sat on your sofa and eating cake, babies shouldn't be able to get up to too much mischief if in a baby proofed lounge. Parents will definitely thank you.

We did a simple at home cake eating for DD's 1st birthday. My parents came up one Saturday and in-laws the next, no other children were there. She had her first proper party when she was 3yo and she asked for it. We went to a lovely small soft play at a farm park and invited some family friends with children DD knew. They were old enough to play in the bigger soft play bit, ate the food, DH did balloon animals and we played some simple party games. Much better value when they're old enough to really enjoy it and also DD remembers it too.

Picnic in a park works well at that age