Christmas Tree and Toddler

Dear S.,

Who's the Christmas tree for? I never kept my child away from the tree; I shared time with him to look at it together, and in the lower ranges I put ornaments that could't break easlily and which he was allowed to touch and hold. He could help me decorating by passing on things and telling me where he wanted them. And yes; a 18 yr old todler keeps you fit anyhow, so stay close to guide him in what he can cannot do, as you always do.

Hi S...
What We did is put the orniments higher on the tree so he couldn't reach them. also i touched his hand to the branch to let him feel that it was rough and said ouch to him, he really never went to pull any orniments because he associated it with ouch. Good luck!

What I do is put soft, unbreakable ornaments towards the bottom so he can play with those ornaments. Good luck!
-P.

We worried as well when our daughter was that age.

Instead we changed our ornaments, she was just fascinated with the tree-and we felt why fight it.

We switched our ornaments for the time being to: red velvet, shiny blue, silver, gold, and green tie on bows;string looped w/assorted nutcracker men, string looped-large plastic snow flakes, and string looped santa claus'. All of these items can be purchased at the $1 store as well as Walmart. Plus we used yarn to hang them on instead of the hooks.

This way she participated, wasn't a big deal if they broke, plus they were big enough to not worry about being in her mouth. (she was passed this stage but just in case.)
She would on occasion move them around.

We told her the lights were hot and not to touch them-this kept her from trying to move the string. We also skipped the icicles.

hi! Last year I put the tree in the corner between couch and love seat, which are at 90 degree angle, and then pushed the two couches together to basically pen the tree in. The tree will need to be a fairly narrow one, and you need the right furniture arrangement, but it worked very well.

All the best!

C.

hi,
we always had christmas tree on little table in the corner, so than the tree is higher, it looks biger it touches ceiling, so the room seems to be full of tree which i think is beautiful and like a bonus your little one can't reach!!!
L. Olivers mom months

that's sucha good question and i don't have the answer! LOL! i'm trying to figure out the same thing. i think we might get a very small tree and keep it up high. my son is 2.5 and my daughter is 9 mos and they are both veeeeery mobile. i think its going to be 5 or 6 years before we can have a big tree. my kids are really good about me not having to be on top of them all the time, our apt is tiny and totally babyproofed, so they often play in the living room while i'm in the kitchen or on the phone, where i can look in on them but don't have to stay in the room the whole time; but i think a tinkly bright tree is just too much to tempt them with. i can't skip it altogether especially as we have a menorah also, so i guess i will just have to get an eensy weensy one.

hi, my daughter is 19 months, and last year at 8 months she was pretty mobile (maybe not walking, but still gettin around) and she would grab at just about all the ornaments. i made sure to put the ones that were less easy to break, and/or she was allowed to touch at the bottom. this year i had SOME concerns, but only that she would try to get higher ornaments (or throw a tantrum because she couldn't reach the ones she wanted, and isn't allowed to have) so i really like the idea of tying some fishing line in the middle of the tree and attaching it to something in the wall. i'll have to inform my husband on the one so he can start thinking of HOW to do that. other then that part...i think just making sure that there are some things on the bottom 1/2 of the tree that they can play with SHOULD make things easier. also, being that i'm in a small space i'll have to put her in her crib when i CAN'T be with her (like goin to the bathroom, or preparing food for her) just so she can't decide to go and climb the tree. but honestly, i think she's going to be fine as long as i give her SOME leeway and put some things on that aren't "NO-NO ornaments". good luck, and if you don't want to worry about that, the gate sounds really good. a friend used to do that for her dog, and so happens that when friends kids would come over, the gate would keep them out too. she chose one that looked lie it was a fence, so she could have her little village under the tree, and ppl could look in through or over the fence and see the village "come to life". good luck with the situation.

You can buy the round playpen gate. I've seen it pictured around christmas trees.
Mine is going to be 7 months this Christmas, but I've already been thinking about how much he'll be getting into the tree next year...
Happy Holidays

Be sure to tie the tree from the center with a rope, to something stationary.. this way, if he pulls on it it won't come down.
Careful with small ornaments within reach.. You may want to put soft ornaments (beenie babies) on the bottom where your child can reach..

My son was 18 mon at his 2nd x-mas to and we didn't put any breakable ornaments on the tree that year. My son is very active too and we really didn't have any problems with him and the tree. We just continued to remind him not to touch it.

When my daughter was that age, I had a large Christmas Tree. Well, while I was in the kitchen making dinner she went under the tree and tried to climb it! She got entangled in the lights! I took down the tree that minute (after I got her out) and put a very small tree on my dining room table. At the age they don't remember if there was a tree or not, and for safety reasons alone its best with a small tree put up way up high.

We were worried about that very same thing with our very busy and curious 13 month old...but it turned out to be much less of a concern than we thought it would be! We simply put the breakable ornaments out of his reach and put the non-breakable ornaments on the lower branches. He pulls one of those off every once in a while, but otherwise he just likes being able to look at the pretty lights and carefully touch the pine needles. I think the fact that pine trees are so prickly helps too - it can hurt to get TOO close!
I really think it would have been more of an issue if we tried to barricade the tree in with gates or furniture or placed it on a table or something. Because we didn't make a big deal out of keeping him away from it, he lost interest after the initial awe and wonder faded and he's been really great with it.

How about a small table top tree- just for this year... next year you can reason more with him .... OR, put a gate around the tree and you can have a big one?

H.

Last year we didn't put any breakable ornaments on the tree, and didn't put the lights on the lower part of the tree. We let our toddler play with the lower branches a bit.

i know it sounds weird but my friend put hers in a play pen not sure if they still sell them or you could put a gate around it i was lucky none of my four touched it really mostly the cat :) and you can show him the ornaments and have him help put them on and tell him not to touch unless with mommy, good luck and have a wonderful christmas

Set it on high, out of the childs reach.

Don't know if this will help, but when my girls were toddlers, we set our Christmas trees up in the foyer and then gated the foyer. I've heard of people only decorating halfway up the tree too, but it made me nervous to think of them pulling on branches and knocking the tree over!

The best advice is to put all breakable ornaments up high, but leave a few ornaments within reach that your son can play with. The tree may look "top heavy", but your son will enjoy moving ornaments from branch to branch. Be careful that he does't pull on the branches, however. I've always made my husband "tether" my tree to a nearby bannister using rope, so no-one could pull the tree over onto their heads!

The first year my son was an active toddler, I hung plastic ornaments to be on the safe side, leaving all my nice glass ones in the box for one year.

Try putting an XPen or superyard around the tree.

I know gates aren't attractive, but that's what we did. Or, could he have a little tree of some kind of his own with a few toddler-friendly ornaments. Or a felt Christmas tree with felt ornaments? I haven't tried those, but distraction or giving my son something similar that he is allowed to touch works better.
Hope this helps!
Mo

I have a toddler too (she's 2) so I'm curious myself. But I have a small tree from my old apartment which I will make hers. I'll let her decorate it with all non-breakable and edible ornaments. Then I'll remind her to stay away from the big one. Just an idea. Hope it works. Good luck!

I suggest baby safe tree. perhaps make ornaments out of paper instead of the ones that can be broken. If that's not an option, then one of the gates that would go around so he can't get to it. My son was 1 last X mass, and was not interested in the tree at all. I'm also curious to see if things are changed this year since he is a lot more active.

My daughters were also toddlers for their first Christmas tree experiences. My major advice... you MUST anchor the tree.. even if it means relocating it to do so. I also agree with everyone.. unbreakable, child-safe ornaments at the bottom.. the playpen idea is also great ( I wish I had thought of that!)

Safety above beauty.. It's the beginning of a long life of compromises we make for our kids...

We put non breakable ornaments on the lower branches,(as high as our son can reach) so no one gets hurt if one gets knocked off.
Also, last year we attached the tree to the wall- after it almost crashed over! To do that, we used monofilament- fishing wire- and wrapped it around the trunk about 2/3rds up, then attached it with nails to the wall behind. The fishing line is practically invisible, and should keep the tree from toppling.

Get some of the baby gates and put them around the tree...that may work!

I don't believe you can get him to stay away completely, the only thing I would suggest is that you put all the brokeable ornaments on top and purchase some non-breakable ones for the lower level. That is what I did and I didn't have that much of a problem just empty spaces when my two kids would rearrange the ornaments.

my sister-in-law used an accordion-style baby gate around her tree one year when her kids were small. we purchased the same gate and have used it countless times to barracade off certain areas (computer desk, fireplace, etc.) in our home. you don't have to fasten it as a complete "circle". We found it at Babies R Us. Check it out at: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2266978. It is called the "Superyard XT" gate. It may give you some peace when you are not in the room with your son, but can be removed for pictures around the tree or for Xmas morning, etc.

good Luck!

For starters try a play yard put up aroun the tree to keep them back. Of course if they are determined they can still do damage with this.

My best advice is somethign we started teaching mon son around then, that is a way to interact without an issue.

Don't use tinsel. Teach him to "blow" on the ornaments instead of touching. This moves them and makes the lights sparkle, but then no one is touching. After a few looks trying this they tend ot lose some of the wonder. Also I reccomend using a real tree as some artificial needles can be poisonous if swallowed.

I also used ot put a playmat an acceptable distance away and letting him play near, supervised, but far enough away with books and trucks. This worked the best when I splurged on colored, moving lights. Mesmorizing.

I also took jute rope and tied it securely a little more then halfway up and tied it to a wall anchor behind the tree in the corner it was in for assurance!

Talk to him carefully about what is acceptable and what is not and realize it's not likely going ot go problem free.

Good luck!

Hi S.! My daughter was also 18 mos for her first Christmas last year. I basically put all the ornaments and decos up higher so she couldn't reach. I also just kept tell her "no pull, no pull" and sort of trained her off it. I also put lots of little things she COULD/ was allowed to play with at the bottom around the tree - ie a plastic Nativity set, some safe Christmas toys. She also "helped" us set up the (fake) tree so I think maybe her taking part in the process helped her realize it was special, and not an ordinary toy. Good luk and Merry Christmas!

You can always try and make an edible tree.My mom always did that when we were little.

We always put practically indestructible ornaments on the lower branches of the tree. We had the boys help decide where everything went so they felt some ownership. They felt free to move 'their' ornaments around each day. Several of Those ornaments are still on our tree and are well loved
. Twenty plus years later they have become woven into the history of our family Christmas. We also had the boys make ornaments each year to add to their ownership of the tree. At 16 mo. perhaps foamboard shapes you cut out with your son coloring them. They could be handled often without much damage. Most of all, remember it's about the family and have a Merry Christmas.

S., we love the little ones at the holidays, how big their eyes are with all the ornaments. I have a 7 yo daughter. When she was littler we did not decorate "the bottom" of the tree, within her reach. The prickly tree lost its charm fast but she could still gaze up at all the beauty. Now as you can imagine the majority of the balls are at the bottom, within the (still little) hands reach.
They are our hearts. Merry Christmas
L.

We bought christmas trees small enough to be placed on top of a table and then we planted them in our yard. Each of my boys have a tree from the christmas's they were around that age. Tip these trees grow fast and tall.

Try putting a baby gate around the tree. We have a circular one that goes all the way around ours. I've been doing this since my kids were babies, and continue to do it because of the dogs. We can still see the tree, and stepping over it to water isn't that big a deal. All in all, it's much easier than trying to keep everyone out of the lights, decorations, and most of all, presents!

hey S. if you get ANy information on how to keep a toddler away from the xmas tree can u please let me know.....my son is also 18 mnths old and into everything and then some....im kinda dreading the whole holiday thing.....thanks....