Help!!! Baby & the Christmas Tree

[ethansamuel]

My ds#2 will be 11 &1/2 months old when Christmas is here. He is crawling really well and pulling himself up on anything he can get ahold of so that he can stand.

I NEED SUGGESTIONS FOR THE CHRISTMAS TREE...All of you moms out there...should I play it safe and just get a table topper tree this year or do you have any hints about dealing with a baby with a full sized Christmas tree?

ALSO...I have ds#1 who has a birthday 20 days before Christmas and ds#2 who has a birthday 17 days after Christmas...since it is so close to the largest gift holiday of the year, do you have any suggestions for fun birthdays where the kids don't feel left out of the presents but don't get reams of gifts just before and after the holidays?

Thanks for the help!

Sandra

[kellywombat2]

Hi-

I run a daycare in my home and have always had a christmas tree- I just put the tree in a corner- and use a gate system I have- it's like a portable play yard- it has like 8 panels that fit together and I just put that around the tree and make sure it's pulled out far enough so they can't reach over the gate and get to the tree. I also have cats and they used to like to bat the ornaments if I hung them low on the tree- so I just didn't put anything breakable or anything that couldn't handle a little rough treatment! It did look a little funny w/no ornaments on the bottom but it worked for me!!

HTH,
Kelly

[barbszy]

That solution has worked for me in the past too!

I am hoping to keep my 20-month-old out of the living room level during the time the tree is up. I live in a split level home and usually he is not allowed loose on that level anyway. Once Christmas is over I think I'll have to break down and take the gates off. He does stairs well enough and I'm killing my knees climbing these gates!

As far as the birthday thing, I have one child born 12/27 and another born 1/15 so I can sympathize! DD thinks the whole week of Christmas is for her since invariably when we are visiting, someone will stick a candle in the dessert and sing to her for her birthday. I usually have one family celebration for the 2 kids, around the first weekend of January. If they have a party for their friends, that's done after school resumes. As far as the gifts thing, YES, they get all their gifts in one shot. It's tough. When they were little I'd put stuff away and take it out later, but they're bigger now and I can't get away with that!

[Juliecc913]

We did the table topper tree thing--I'd always wanted one anyway. I figured the tree was something I could use for years to come and a big gate wasn't. We also put lighted garland around the doorways throughout the house which added to the festivities. My little one was 14 months old at that particular XMAS so my other kids were 12, 13 and 15. We all survived without a big tree that one year.

As far as the birthday issue--can't help you there. Sorry.

[ethansamuel]

Thank You Ladies!!! I appreciate the responses to my question. We will probably get a table topper. I don't have one of those baby gate systems and don't want to buy one since the little one will be past that pretty soon. Being a mommy is great but challenging too...so many problem solving tasks!

Have a blessed Thanksgiving and Christmas season!;-)

Sandra