Share memories of your baby's first Christmas and tips for surviving the festive season with a newborn - £300 voucher prize draw! NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

As the festive season approaches and we all get a bit nostalgic about Christmases past, Nurofen for Children would love to know what you remember about your baby's first Christmas.

Did you do anything special to mark the occasion? Did having a baby change how you celebrated - or give you an excuse to rekindle some family traditions from your own childhood?

And if you were hosting visitors or travelling to see family and friends, how did you get organised with a newborn in tow? Was there mad mild panic as you tried to pull things together? Or did you hand over the festive stress to others so you could make the most of the special time?

However you spent it, we'd love you to share your fondest memory, and any advice you have for those looking forward to their baby's first Christmas this year.

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one Mumsnetter will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher!

The new Mumsnet Baby Bundle app, sponsored by Nurofen for Children, provides parents with a handy toolkit for your child's first years. Information, advice, wisdom and wit are all close to hand - whenever and wherever you need it. Download the app now - tiny.mn/1kCoMoT

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MNHQ

Our son ended up having a lie in for the first time ever on his first Christmas so didn't wake us up early as usual so we all overslept and had a really short time to open presents, shower and have breakfast before we were due round my moms. It was a lovely morning though

My son's half-birthday falls on Christmas eve so we baked him a cake to celebrate, he got socks for christmas (well everyone does don't they) and I filled in a little memory book for him about his first christmas where it had spaces for christmas dinner photo, opening presents photo, all wrapped up for a winter walk photo. So I will always have that to look back on.

first christmas was a stay at home, no one round affair. Lovely and cosy

My DS was six months old - he was sitting on the floor propped up by a few cushions in amongst alot of used wrapping paper, he seemed very quiet and content then we realised he had got hold of a long yellow toffee from the Quality Streets and was sucking it through the paper. His only other food until this point had been baby porridge and puree.

DD was 4 months old, I packed up everything in the weeks before christmas for a visit to my mums, wrote a list to make sure I wasn't stressed! It was her first Xmas last year and she was the first baby in the family for 16 years so it was really special, everyone made such a fuss and it was lovely. Can't wait for this year where she will understand!

Sort out the breast feeding - everything else will follow! My advice is to feed on demand, put baby to one breast, nappy change, other side; sorted!

We used both years with a new baby as a good excuse to "dial down" the festive prep... Everyone's presents were bought online (and we used Christmas bags and festive tissue paper instead of wrapping) and we didn't have the traditional roast, opting for meals which could be cooked/assembled in advance and reheated - festive lasagne and Festive stew! X

DD was 4mo for Christmas 2009, we were at the inlaws that year. She came to me for feeding and was palmed off on the grandparents the rest of the time. She slept more than usual and I ate her chocolate gifts so it was win win all round.

DS will be 6mo this Christmas and we are no longer away on Christmas Day as we want to do our own Father Christmas and Christmas morning traditions, particularly as DD is now 6yo. We'll be travelling before and after but my mum has helpfully already brought their gifts up to us which saves on car space. The inlaws have lots of baby equipment and toys so we won't need to bring a highchair etc to them, which is also helpful.

My Christmas advice is to remember that you can buy any supplies you need at your destination, e.g. nappies/wipes etc, or ask family to pick them up so you don't need to travel with them. Also plan to wash clothes while you're there so you don't need to pack as much and/or can return home with mostly clean clothes.

Definitely write a packing list so you don't forget anything, it means DH and I can focus on different areas (packing, household to dos) with no overlap.

We did too much travelling for my son's first Christmas- we were knackered by new year! For his second Christmas we are staying home

My youngest has just turned one so it was her First Christmas last year. We kept the day quiet- well as quiet as it could be with a 9 year old and a 4 year old! We went to my Mum's for dinner and spent the day playing and spending family time together. I would recommend doing the least amount of the dinner or tidying up and just concentrate of the fun side for the day.

First Xmas is one of the most frustrating for me. The kids don't know it's Xmas, don't appreciate anything, make a mess, ruin their toys. Haha, it's just a disaster in the making.

It was a bit blurry with a 10 week old. I do however remember her falling asleep at Christmas lunch and we have a lovely pic of her asleep at the table on her daddy. No chance of that now, at 4 she cleared her plate with second helpings and was especially keen on the cranberry sauce!

I went to my father in laws so that I didn't have to do any cooking or cleaning, that made it easier. I prefer xmas now the kids are older, as we have created our own traditions.

We made sure to get a festive photo by the Christmas tree - asleep in a baby bouncer or moses basket!

DD2 6 months only started weaning a couple of weeks before Christmas Day. She managed to coincide waking up from her nap on Christmas Day and Boxing Day with the serving of the main meal so she was happy and hungry. It meant 2 perfect dinners with our 2 sets of parents. And she's decided herself she's doing baby led weaning so guzzled down strips of turkey and roasted parsnips.

My tip would be to use the long car journeys for the baby to nap so there's more awake time with the people you're visiting.

Our DD sort of had two first Christmases as she was born 23rd Dec. Her official first Christmas was a blur, getting home from the hospital 11pm Christmas Eve and being a zombie Christmas Day while she slept and are but nothing more.

This Christmas she turned 1, already a confident walker and up to mischief. We traveled 3 hours so did it at night so she slept most of the way and instead of a proper stocking we got a gift bag which she then played with it for the rest of the day.

My son was 11 months old on his first Christmas so he knew something different and exciting was happening. It was fun as we went to my parents house for Christmas dinner so I did not have any of the stressful preparations to do. If I were to do it over again I might only have bought him one present to open. He go so many from family and friend (all plastic and ginormous) that we were swamped with gifts which took over the living room.

My baby was almost 1 on his first Christmss. He had two festive outfits, naturally! He was an elf in the morning and a reindeer in the afternoon!

We went easy on presents as he doesn't need much but we made sure that we took everything out of the packaging before wrapping it so that he could play eith them straight away.

He was fascinated by all the lights and decorations. My tree ended up being decorated only from the middle up because he took everything off at the bottom!

DS was 10 months old for his first Christmas. We spent it with my parents, and it was a joy. He got a few lovely presents, such as a wooden rocking horse and we have lots of fantastic pictures of him looking super cute in a Christmas pudding bib. Precious times.

My first baby was 3 weeks old on his first Christmas. He wasn't putting on weight, we were in and out of hospital because of it, I was terribly depressed and putting all the pressure in the world on myself that it was all my fault. Everyone was telling me what a wonderful Christmas we would have. I just wanted to run away and hide. It was fairly shit

TeaPleaseLouise - we had the same problem but the other end!! Our DD was only 5 days old and I would say my top tip is DON'T be pressured into having your MIL to stay for 9 days and DON'T host a 10 person strong family Christmas OR Boxing Day lunch!

My tip is to spend it at home. And if they're young and still napping lots use nap time for any food prep. Also do as much as you can beforehand so that you can relax on the day.

My son was born in Oct 09 and a couple of months later we were in the grip of one of the worst winters in over 50 years, we were still settling into our new rural and isolated house and all you could see for miles was snow with no sign of it stopping. The snow got so bad that we lost electricity to the house and with no fireplace to keep us warm the temperature started to drop until it was as cold inside as it was outside, after over nighting with no heating or electricity we decided to move back to the city and stay with family until the weather passed, we were away from our house for 5 days, when we returned the electricity had just been reconnected and it was like a winter wonderland. It was a harsh first Christmas introduction for a baby not even a few months old, now when we show him the photos (he is 6 now) of his first Christmas he finds it hard to believe but tells us it looked magical which helps us get over all the stress that we went through.