Making Baby’s First Christmas a Special One

The twinkling lights, the freshly fallen snow, the jingle of sleigh bells and sounds of carols all around…Christmas really is a special time of year! We love this festive season and look forward to it each and every year. December truly is a magical month, and it’s tough to imagine what could make the holiday season anymore special – that is, until you get to experience it through the eyes of a little one for the very first time. 

There’s nothing quite like baby’s first Christmas. Everything around is just a little more exciting, and seeing your little one light up as she gets her first look at a Christmas tree is one of those experiences that makes this whole parenting thing so worthwhile. That said, as special as these moments are, the holidays can still be a stressful time, and having a brand-new baby is already more stress than enough – so, how do you balance that annual holiday chaos around baby’s first Christmas to make the Yuletide more merry than scary? We’re glad you asked.

Start New Traditions

You’ve got a brand-new little member of the family this year, which means it’s the perfect time to start some new Christmas traditions. Some of these will be purely for baby’s benefit – for example, you’ll want to go pick out a fun new stocking for your little one and get her plenty of “Baby’s First Christmas” onesies to wear all holiday long. Another fun idea is to buy an ornament for the tree for baby and continue doing the same as the years go by so that one day, they’ll have a collection of Christmas decorations to hang on their own tree, decades down the road. 

The other reason to start new traditions is to accommodate that brand-new little one. Where you used to travel cross-country to come home for the holidays, maybe now yourhome is the one people travel to in order to spend the season with you and that special miniature family member. Take this opportunity to set up these new holiday customs and before you know it, they’ll be just as cherished as the holiday traditions that your parents established for you back when you were only knee-high! 

Keep Things Low-key

As we mentioned earlier, the holiday season brings plenty of stress and chaos all on its own even before adding a brand-new baby to the mix. With that in mind, consider keeping the holidays a bit more low-key than normal this year. If you normally have two or three Christmas trees throughout the house, consider just setting up one. Keep holiday events and get-togethers to a minimum – you’ll need your rest with a new baby in the house, and chances are, you’d rather spend those nights at home with your little one than out at bars or restaurants anyway. Lastly, consider putting a spending limit on gifts this year, or cutting down on the holiday shopping altogether – that way, you’ll be spending less time at the mall, and more time doing what’s important and being with the people who really matter.

As any new parent will tell you, having a brand-new baby at home is more than a full-time job. By pulling back on holiday preparations and instead just spending that time being a new mom or dad and reveling in the season, you’ll find yourself feeling much less stressed out and enjoying December a whole lot more, which brings us to our last point…

Be Sure to Enjoy Yourself

Christmas is a wonderful time of year, but as charming and magical as it has the potential be, it can also create stress and worry around all the details and minutiae associated with the season. To be ready for the holidays, there’s baking to be done, trees to decorate, stockings to hang, floors to vacuum, gifts to buy, ledges to dust, lights to string…we’re getting stressed out just thinking about it! All that said, we’d recommend that as a new parent, you take a step back and remember that you only get one Very First Christmas with your baby ever – and the last thing you’ll want to do is look back years later and wish you’d spent more time at home with your little one and less time driving around the city looking for gifts. 

Whatever you end up doing this holiday season, be sure that you find time to enjoy yourself. Disconnect from work, say “no” to running around for things that don’t matter, and spend this Christmas soaking up that magical festive glow with your family and brand-new little one. We promise, it’ll be one of the best decisions you’ll make all year. 

Christmas is a special time, which is why here at Pumpkin’s, we make sure to dedicate ourselves to that which matters most: family. As such, some of our services will be going on hiatus from December 17-31, including our diaper-stripping program – but if you’ve got questions about cloth diapering, be sure to drop us a line at Pumpkin’s Diaper Delivery, and we’ll be happy to respond to you (as our holiday plans and celebrations allow) with all the information you’ll need to know about how easy and convenient it is to get into cloth!