Your baby’s first Christmas is magical. Odds are it won’t be as magical for them as it is for you. The baby’s first Christmas is more for you and your family than the baby. Your little one obviously won’t remember any of it, and depending on the month your baby was born, may not even grasp the concept of Christmas. But this, like a first birthday, is a great memory for you and your partner as parents.
{ This post is sponsored by IncrediBundles }
Baby’s Age is a Big Factor
Babies born toward the end of the year will be very tiny for Christmas, obviously. My cousin’s daughter was born a little over a week before Christmas. If you have an itty bitty baby when Christmas comes, you may want to stay close to home and not travel too far to visit relatives especially if you’re worried about the baby getting around too many germs.
Summer babies will be old enough to sit near the presents and may try to open them. But they will definitely need some help. Toot is a July baby and was more interested in the shiny wrapping paper than the hundreds of dollars of presents we got her. She had just gotten the hang of sitting with support around Christmastime, so that made for some cute photos. But she wasn’t quite into the whole Christmas idea yet. I was left with a completely magic-less feeling during Christmas because I expected it to be amazing and for her to love it. It turns out that I was imagining her second or third Christmas, and I was disappointed when that’s not what happened.
If you’re lucky enough to have a January baby (like my parents!), your baby will practically be a toddler for their first Christmas! I was 11 months old for mine. For obvious reasons, I don’t remember any of it. I don’t even remember what I was doing 20 minutes ago. (I knew I came in here for a reason!) By 10 or 11 months your little one should be closer to understanding Christmas and opening presents. There will also be quite a bit more gift options for an almost one-year-old, and they’re easier to travel with.
Toot did NOT like Santa
Traditions to Start
Do you have family traditions that you want to continue with your own little family? Great! Keep them going! You can even revive a tradition from your childhood. Ask your partner if they have traditions from their childhood that you both could continue for your baby. If you don’t have any or want to start a new one, you can totally do that too!
Here are some examples of holiday traditions to start:
- Open one present on Christmas Eve.
- Everyone gets a new book, new pajamas, and hot cocoa on Christmas Eve.
- Create an advent calendar.
- Make a paper chain to count down the days to Christmas.
- Read a special Christmas book together.
- If you’re religious, attend a service on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
- Take photos with Santa.
- Take the plunge into Elf on the Shelf.
- Make an annual donation to a charity or donate toys to Toys for Tots.
- Everyone gets a new ornament for the tree.
- Watch classic Christmas specials.
- Bake Christmas cookies and give them out to friends and family.
Photos to Take
Since your baby isn’t going to remember their first Christmas, you’ll need to take lots of photos. Here are a few moments you don’t want to miss:
- Photos with Santa
- Baby with the tree
- Family photos by the tree
- Baby with Christmas lights (here’s a DIY tutorial from Spit Up and Sit Ups)
- Baby opening presents (with some help!)
- Photos with grandparents
- Generational photos
- Baby with her stocking
- Baby’s face when she sees the tree or lights for the first time
- Family in front of the house with decorations and lights
- Baby with all of her gifts
Gifts to Give a Baby
I think the best gifts for babies that are too little for toys are just things you need. Clothes are a definite need for babies. Toot got so many sleepers and onesies for her first Christmas. You can even buy ahead to next year if you want. Toot just started wearing her fox jammies I got her last year. You can also buy toys and books to grow into. Babies will also love teethers, rattles, blankets, and board books.
Check out these gift bundles for babies from IncrediBundles!
You can also create your own bundle with whatever you want from their website such as toys, books, bath essentials, sleep products, and even diapers, IncrediBundles graciously let me try out their service and I created my own bundle for Toot for Christmas. It included two Melissa and Doug toys and The Day the Crayons Quit which is a book I’ve been wanting since before she was born! I can’t wait to give them to her!
How are you celebrating your baby’s first Christmas?
Let me know in the comments below!
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You’ve inspired me with your awesome lists! Time to write down the traditions I do and want to make sure I remember each year!
Yay! Thanks for reading!
I wish I had read this last year! I have a Halloween baby, so Christmas was not very memorable at all. Anyways, I am pinning this to my Christmas pinterest board. Thank you!
This is a very helpful post! I love all your tips. My baby was born three weeks before Christmas and we made a trip up the east coast to visit family. It was crazy!!
OMG I can’t even imagine traveling with a tiny little baby!
Wonderful ideas!!! I wish that I had realized with my first how important traditions can be 🙂 they help create the excitement and memories of holidays, events and families!!! One of our favorites is reading our Christmas books; 2 per day from the 1st to the 24th. Their
Favorites are the recordable ones
My parents made for
Them! Even though granny
And grandpa aren’t
Close by they can read to them
Every day 🙂
That’s great!
I love these ideas!
Thanks!
We love Christmas traditions! However, I’ve also realized that it’s okay to wait on some of them. I have very fond memories of an elaborate advent calendar my mom did for me with activities every day, but I’m holding off on it until my older son is four and will be able to appreciate it more.
That’s a good idea! We don’t have any super elaborate traditions. I want to do elf on the shelf but I’m waiting until at least next year for that.
I wonder if you live in my area. The Santa in your picture is the same as in our picture.
White oaks mall?
Yes! White Oaks Mall.
Ahhh! That’s so cool! How’d you find my blog?
Pinterest. It’s my January baby’s first Christmas.
Awesome! What a small world!
We adopted our daughter when she was 13 years old two months before christmas and since she was having daytime wetting accidents and bedwetting at night we put her into cloth diapers and rubberpants right away 24/7.For christmas,we dressed her up cute in a poofy,top of the knees,burgundy and white dress with white tights and black mary jane shoes and did a pink bow in her hair.We did a pair of pink rubberpants with baby prints on them over her diapers and they showed thru her white tights and looked very cute!