13 month old at Christmas- Survival tips

[Janers]

I'm a FTM and I have no idea how to survive Christmas with a 13 months old! Here are my 2 questions:

1. How do you stop your LO from bothering the Christmas tree? She's 10 months old right now, and she's into EVERYTHING I can't imagine how to stop her from ruining the tree, or worst, hurting herself somehow! Do I maybe skip the tree and just put decorations up out of her reach? It feels very wrong to me not to have a tree!

2. How do you get through the busy day full of friends and family with a baby, any hints on how to keep her happy and not too overstimulated?

I'm sure i'm just over thinking this... I over think pretty much everything

 

[Lotty]

I thought i would have a problem with my LO last year at 1.5 with the tree (my tree is 6ft and on the floor covered in decorations), But all i did was firmly say No and he never touched it after YAY Success

 

[Janers]

Really? I mean I know things will change between now and then, but my daughter pulls apart everything she can get her little hands on!

I hope your right, we didn't put up a tree last year, (we were too busy being sleep deprived zombies) and I really missed it!

 

[FAB mama]

I'm expecting at least one baby meltdown with all the stuff going on, but as for the tree I was thinking of only putting up non-breakable ornaments and trying to keep him away from it. I'd like to know if anyone has other tips too!

 

[Mum21boy1girl]

some people put play pen gates around the tree, we are putting ours on the table this yr, my youngest is 9 mths old and i know how you feel with the touching everything lol

i have never had a prob with family gatherings with any of my three kids, with my youngest i take her stroller and enough bottles etc so she can nap in her stroller while we are out, or you could take a portacot if you have one.

 

[happilyhappy]

Our lo was 1.5 years last christmas and he really didn't bother with the tree. We just out non breakable ornaments within his reach just in case - I have more trouble with the cats hooking the baubles off than lo!

We took a travel cot to my mums so he could still nap. To be honest he had a whale of a time, lots of people to play with and keep him occupied. If he was tired there were lots of willing arms to cuddle/ rock him etc.

 

[Kay_Baby]

My son was 15 months last Christmas and it was way easier than I was expecting.

I made sure that all the breakable ornaments where high up on the tree and he got told off for pulling at the decorations. I knew he couldn't pull the tree over as our base is solid metal and I need two hands to lift it.

I spaced presents out some in the morning most after his nap. Even then some rolled over to boxing day.

Remember it is Christmas and kids are what really makes it fun and every adult there is all about the kids

 

[leoniebabey]

my 1st lo was 1.5 and he never touched the tree howevr harveys is alot more of a monster so im not sure he will be the same im just gonna put the breakables at the top

 

[shambaby]

The main thing is to relax and remember the point is for you all to enjoy yourselves, so don't stress about it!

On Hayden's second Christmas he was 15 months old. Although he wasn't quite walking independently he was absolutely capable of getting at the tree! So, rather than taking any chances we put it in a corner behind a coffee table, which actually worked really well - he could use the table to cruise over and have a good look, but he couldn't reach it. Think we will have to do the same this year - Zoe will only be 9 months, but she is almost crawling now so will be mobile by then, and she is much more of a grabber, too!

As for the family gatherings, we tackled it by not going! On Hayden's first Christmas we went to my parents for lunch, then the in-laws for the afternoon and, although it was nice not to have to cook, all the traipsing about was a bit much (we also visited my sisters and their kids). So, now our family Christmas means the four of us stay home and anyone who wants to see us can come to us. I learned from the first time to keep lunch as simple as possible and prepare as much as possible in advance, as I spent too much time in the kitchen, missing out on Hayden enjoying his presents, but last year was fab. All I had to worry about was a little bit of cooking and just enjoyed the day so much more. And - particularly when they're a little older - kids don't want to go out and leave all their new toys anyway!

Hope you can figure out a way to enjoy it, rather than 'survive' it!

 

[Bex84]

Last year we used the sofa to corner it off so she could see but not pull over. Year before that i had a 3 ft tree on a table and that worked well for us. We get non breacking decorations as cats pull them down anyway. At the base of tree last year i put a box of christmas books and she was more interested in that rather than tree

 

[Miss Vintage]

My son will be 15 months at Christmas, and we're just going to put a little tree on a table out of reach, and go nuts on wall/ceiling/mantlepiece decorations so it still looks magical. If we had a proper big tree he would pull it over for sure, he's a tornado. As for the family thing, I agree with PP, it's great having lots of relatives around willing to cuddle and play with LO, it's more of a novelty for them!

 

[baby25102011]

I had a walking 15 month old last Christmas but i can't remember there being an issues with anything ...

That was no help at all was it! haha

Put everything up as normal and then if there's bits you need to take down do so.
Also make sure that a nap gets in there somewhere.

 

[lornapj83]

I was thinking this too my boy likes grabbing a lot of things and was worried about the tree so I'm hoping he will leave it alone we normally put the tree up in November but think I'm gonna leave it until middle of December lol ill take tips from here thank you

 

[Janers]

Thanks ladies! Our living room as very tiny, we have just enough room for put a tree up and that was before we had all our babies toys out! So I think I'll try and get a little tree that will fit on a table out of reach.

I love Christmas, I love family, but I always find Christmas Day to be exhausting myself, so I'm hoping to make it a fun (but less exhausting) day for my LO.

I appreciate all the suggestions! I look forward to hearing what others say!

 

[motherofboys]

I have been extremely lucky tree wise in that my boys have all left it along apart from touching the odd decoration. I had a smaller tree which we put on the nest of tables when they were little. Last year we got a bigger one.
Now I have said that next year I'll probably be tearing my hair out because the baby will be 14 months old and wont leave it alone LOL
The only problem I've had in the past is when we used to go to MILs for a big famimly Christmas on Christmas Day was getting them to leave their presents and getting them to sit at the table to eat. In the end I stopped bothering with the table thing. I'd plate them up some food, bring them to the table and let them go back and forth between toys and food. It is just one day after all. Then we started having our own Christmas at home so it avoided a lot of the situations that can arise from having loads of people around and they didn't have to leave their presents.