8 Ideas for a Baby Safe Christmas Tree
Christmas, the happiest time of the year. Especially for our littles. Where magic and joy fill their imagination and warms their little heart. The lights, the presents, the tree what’s not to love? As a parent, I can relate to treasuring this time of year and admittedly cringe at the thought of standing guard at the Christmas tree, protecting all the sentimental and breakable ornaments from the curious little hands, wanting the picturesque Christmas feeling, without the added stress. After a lot of trial and errors we’ve rounded up some of the best ways to create a Baby ready Christmas tree:
1. Huggable Ornaments
2. Invest in a Sturdy Christmas Tree Stand
Continuing with ‘littles helpers’, this leads to the 2nd suggestion. Use a sturdy tree stand, especially if your baby is in the early stages of walking, it’s worth it. And if you want to take it a step further you can secure your tree with wires or straps and attach them to the ceiling or window to avoid tipping and pushing over.
3. Distract them with a Kids tree
Give them their own small tree and plush ornaments that they can “work” on at any time. There are many on the market for this purpose; artificial, plush, or even felt. A great suggestion by Greenactivefamily.com
4. Think about Christmas Light Safety
Lighting is a source of stress for a lot of parents. LED is a great choice for young families, they’re energy efficient, they don’t run hot and they typically last longer than traditional string lighting. The only caveat is being intentional with the cord placement, make sure it’s tucked away or covered with the tree skirt and out of reach for your baby. An alternative option is to trade out the string lights for ribbon.
5. Swap out for an Artificial Tree
The benefits of an artificial tree is that baby is safe from needles dropping, they’re less of a fire hazard and requires no maintenance or watering’s! Some parents may struggle with environmental impact, if that’s the case you can try buying an artificial tree second hand and when you’re finished gift it to the next new parent in your life.
6. Add a Barrier
If compromising the tree is out of the question, a great way to stop your little one is to add a baby gate around the base of the tree. Keep in mind the position the tree and try to set the tree up in the corner of the room so that the gate has something stable to attach to, unless you have a gate that’s big enough to wrap around. Babygatesadvise.com is a great resource for baby gates when shopping.
7. Avoid the Temptation
As pretty as it looks, keep the temptation of wrapped presents under the tree out of the picture until Christmas eve.
8. Go tree-less… Almost
Hear me out, when my kids were babies, we opted to modify the tree experience in order to enjoy Christmas as much as them. We got a small artificial table tree, set it on top of a sturdy console (where little hands can’t reach) and that was it. The presents showed up on Xmas eve, on the ground, under the tree and the kids knew nothing different. We refer to it as our Charlie Brown years, and they were perfect for us in that season of life.
The ”Charlie Brown Tree” alongside battery operated candles
If you’re interested in this option some more alternatives on the market are oversized wall Advent trees, tape Christmas tree on a wall, or even a hangable felt tree. What’s great about these options are that they’re interactive with your baby, easy set/clean up and takes up hardly any space, as suggested by empiricalmama.com
Advent tree Image Source diydarlin.co
Tape tree image source Pinterest
Whatever you choose to do for your Christmas tree, it will be perfect! The true magic comes from the love and people we surround ourselves with.