Christmas Trees and Toddlers

At Christmas last year my little girl was 15 months so we were a bit worried how the tree would work. We put kid friendly ornaments at the bottom that she could touch. We would get down on the floor with her by the tree and tell her "gentle touches" while touching the safe ornaments. She did good around the tree and never bothered it for the most part but we were prepared to put a "fence" around the tree if necessary.

Now that she's 2 who knows what sort of fun will have the tree this year!!

Like the other moms said, constant patience to let him know not to touch the tree and having kid friendly ornaments on the bottom. Cutting out paper snowflakes and making origami ornaments worked well for my son, they would rip off easily if he grabbed one and didn't bring the whole tree with it. I also had a friend who put a doggy fence around her tree during most of the day so that little one wouldn't try to climb it.

Hi C.,

When we were little ones (my two brothers and I) mom put the tree in the play pen. Even the presents were beyond our reach. I'm thinking of doing that myself this year. My daughter is two and I don't see her being able to control herself for the weeks we'll have the tree up.

Good luck and thanks for helping me think ahead.

T.

It was a nightmare with our toddler and a tree last year.

This year, we are going to get a small table top tree, maybe about 2-3 feet tall and decorate it well out of his reach.

Merry Christmas! I am most concerned about my 17 month old putting an unsafe ornament in her mouth...most are made in China so there is no way for us to know if there is lead in the paint, etc. So, I went to a teacher supply store and bought bulletin board cut outs. They have really cute ornament shapes, stocking shapes, stars etc. We plan to use them to decorate our tree this year.
Have fun!
T.

it's the same as if you don't want him to touch anything else. it takes lots of patience. he might try to touch it 30 times in a row, but you have to be consistent and just say something very simple like "no, just look" and then pull him away a few inches. you also should give him a toy at this point if you don't plan on spanking. i personally just swatted my kids' hand when they touched something they shouldn't, but i know a lot of parents don't want to spank at all, so handing him a toy will be a distraction, basically telling him you can sit here and play with this while you look at the tree

If you can find an "old-fashioned" playpen (the SQUARE ones with the hard bottom, not the "little bitty rectangles" they sell now), you can put your tree in that. Works great for cats and rambunctious puppies, too! The playpen is also great for keeping the presents out of reach! (I was also looking for an alternative solution, so I wouldn't have to say "no touch" every time I turned around. That gets to be "no fun" for ME!!)

I haven't got any advice about the tree, because I haven't had a "live" tree in something like 30 years....MAJOR allergy to cedar/pine!! We bought a great little tree (to fit our apt) last year that has fiber optic lights on it, and our little boy loved it!!

As for the decorations, you might want to consider putting the "kid safe" ornaments on the whole tree, and not just the bottom. This is because if she does just "bump" the tree just right, one of those glass ornaments can fall and shatter *everywhere*. This would be a great year to do a "Disney-theme" tree, if you're into "themes".

Hope y'all have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

We have always had the "don't touch" philosophy but the first couple of years, we made sure the tree was anchored to the wall with fishing line so it would not fall over. I went to the Dollar General and bought a container full of plastic ball ornaments and hung them all over the tree. They never bothered it but if one fell off, it was not damaged either. They love the tree of course and to this day (7 & 4), they do not mess with it at all.

I agree with the mom that said its the same as with anything else you don't want him to touch. Just repeat No touching over and over and over and over...again! It will take lots of time and patience! I would also put "safe" ornaments on the bottom, just in case he gets ahold of one. Make sure your lights don't get hot, one because it could burn him if he touches them and two because it could catch your tree on fire! Also, put the plug in a spot where he can't get to it. My girls weren't so bad at one, it was more like 2 and 3 when they wouldn't leave it alone!

Just make sure to watch him closely!

Merry Christmas!

Last year we had a two year old (just turned two) and a 10 month old. We put five or six ornaments at the bottom that they could touch and the others were off limits. When they would go for one that was not theirs, we would ask them "where is the snowman one?" and that redirected them. It was fun to share the experience with them and have some boundaries around it. We emphasized not pulling the tree...they could take the ornaments off that were theirs and hold them, but could not pull on them. We had no issues.