Baby’s First Christmas? What it was REALLY Like!

baby's first christmas what it was really like motherhood reality expectation perfection pressure reviews

The Reality of Baby’s First Christmas!

Ah baby’s first Christmas and all. Isn’t it lovely. I had such high expectations for our first Christmas with the little man. Smiles, giggles, cuddles under the tree. Instead, I ended up covered in vomit on Christmas Day, had to wear my mother-in-laws jeans and ended up in A&E later that night. My image of baby sleeping, Downton Abbey Christmas special and a glass of champagne was but a dream. And let me be clear, MILs jeans were not the reason I ended up in A&E! The little man had a high-temp and what with the projectile vomming…well I guess we had a case of new-parentitus.

Happy vomming Christmas

So anyways back to the point of the post, if you are a new parent this Christmas, don’t expect much and don’t put too much pressure on yourself! You won’t enjoy a Christmas meal in peace EVER again. And long gone are the post-Christmas dinner naps in front of the telly. Here’s my round up of things that were different for us once bubba came into our lives:

1. The run up to Christmas. As I was on maternity, I didn’t find it too stressful. I’m fairly organized and I managed to do a lot of shopping online. Plan ahead though as before you know it, it’s Christmas Eve.

Sure Visit Santa…

2. Visiting Father Christmas. Don’t expect anything mega. Ours was a complete let down for a few reasons. This was a moment I had in my head that should have been perfect. Instead the little man didn’t have a clue what was going on and looked completely aghast when I plonked him onto the big man’s lap. And we were ushered in to see Father Christmas with a load of other kids. I really wanted it to be just us. It was all rushed and I didn’t overly enjoy it. And every photo I got was shit. See.

crap father christmas and baby photo what to expect santa visit reviews

visiting father christmas santa claus with a baby toddler reviews best pros and cons too young ?

3. “Hand and foot print” everything! Christmas cards, salt dough – you name it, you can stamp it! Expect to dip bubbas hands and feet in paint all December haha!

4. Christmas Eve is now a quiet night in. There’s no point getting sh*t-faced anymore. You’ll be up super early and hangover+baby or toddler = trouble.

visiting father christmas santa claus with a baby toddler reviews best pros and cons too young ?
Family Christmas Eve selfie – photobombed by the cat!

5. You’ll have more stockings to hang than you’ll ever need. For some reason people like to give you stockings, and lots of them, in the run up to baby’s first Christmas. We have enough for about five kids now.

No More Binge Watching Christmas Telly!

6. Christmas lunch will never be the same again. Well at least this has been the case for me over the last four years. Year one, I was pregnant and couldn’t enjoy my glass or three of champers. Year two, b was six months and we were in the throes of early weaning drama. And he puked all over me just before lunch. Yay. Not. Year 3, he was 18 months and thought it funnier to launch his food all over the place. I spent most of the meal trying to either pick up bits of food or coerce him to eat food. And last year – well I honestly don’t really remember. I had a bad case of IBS and didn’t eat any Christmas dinner. Sob.

Here’s a pic of me when b was 6 months and decided to nap after Christmas dinner. When he woke, he then projectile vomited everywhere. Brilliant.

visiting father christmas santa claus with a baby toddler reviews best pros and cons too young ?

7. No more post-Christmas dinner TV bummin’ about. Nope, baby will need feeding, rocking, changing. There is always something to keep us parents busy and on our toes. And if your baby is a bit older, expect tears and tantrums over toys and presents.

Baby’s First Christmas Crap

8. You’ll get a lot of crap lovely presents. Without sounding completely ungrateful, there are only so many “Baby’s First Christmas” teddies, socks, decorations, bibs, hats, mittens, blankets, vests etc etc etc that parents need. Maybe it’s just me?!

9. Present-wars. If you have an older sibling or cousin, they will want to open the presents for the baby. When b was six months, I really didn’t mind, but when he was 18 months, I really wanted to watch him at least try to get into a few pressies. Instead his cousin was very eager to “help” and we had to keep reminding her to let him have a go!

visiting father christmas santa claus with a baby toddler reviews best pros and cons too young ?

10. Travelling. I’d love to say I could avoid travelling over the Christmas hols but unfortunately we can’t if we want to see my family. Things that have helped ease the trips – planning, stopping regularly and getting a DVD player for the car once b was 18 months. Oh and a truck load of snacks once b was 12 months plus! For some car tips, take a look here and then one on travelling with a potty training toddler.

So there you have it. Are you a new parent, looking forward to your first Christmas with your little one?! Or are you a few years in and know what I’m talking about?!

baby's first christmas what it was really like motherhood reality expectation perfection pressure reviews

 

98 comments

  1. Ahh at least it was a very memorable one! It\’s going to be my little boy\’s 3rd xmas and baby girl\’s first one – we\’re not doing anything major but will be visiting Santa so I hope we can get a decent photo but won\’t be holding our breath. 🙂

  2. Last year was our first Christmas with a 6 month old, and I can relate to almost all of your points! Hoping this year will be a bit easier now he\’s 18 months! Plus my sister is due any day now, so there will be a new baby to faff over at Christmas instead of mine! 😀 Hope this years is a better one for you! #KCACOLS

  3. Well this isn\’t filling me with Christmas spirit for this year 😉 Travelling is definitely the worst part for us. Both families expect to see us on xmas day so we spend half of it in the car, and that was before Piglet came along! Its only one day of the year though, so we\’ll suck it up and try to enjoy ourselves!! #kcacols

    • Ah I feel for you travelling on the day. Our families are Hertfordshire and Somerset so we always alternate the Xmas day and Boxing Day. This year it\’s my parents Xmas day turn lol. I\’m sure you\’ll have a lovely time! Don\’t listen too my doom and gloom 😂

  4. Lovely post! 🙂 It\’s amazing the expectations we put on ourselves isn\’t it? hehe
    Our xmases are quite quiet. It\’s only me, hubby and the kids and then we go down to MIL for xmas lunch/dinner. 🙂

    #KCACOLS

  5. haha I loved this post, it is the reality isn\’t it! Aspens first Christmas she was terrified of Santa so there was no pics at all! She ate wrapping paper which was more interesting than her big expensive gift! And Adam\’s first Christmas his older sister was sick! Still we made good memories and laughed! Great post! And love the photo bombing cat! #KCACOLS

    • Aww I\’m please see aren\’t the only ones who seem to have calamities all Christmas!! Hehe the cat cracked me up when I spotted him! Xx

  6. Yes this is so true. I\’d love a quiet Xmas tbh but we always have to travel about. It\’s always bonkers! So you have three this year?! Will be fun! And mad! Hehe x

  7. This is my daughters first Christmas and like you I\’m not a big fan of all the printed baby first Christmas so have told people not to Bother . I\’m hoping my family take over of Christmas Day and I can always go for a wee by myself. Now that would be nice ! #KCACOLS

  8. Our baby will be 10 months old on Christmas day so thanks for the warning!!! Already concerned about how the Christmas tree will survive! Hopefully we\’ll stay out of A&E though! #KCACOLS
    PS – the photobombing cat is just brilliant 😂

  9. Haha, all of this sounds so familiar! I do miss going out for a drink on Christmas eve, but no way could I cope with Christmas morning with 2 children and a hangover! I love Christmas though, and am looking forward to it, I just make sure I don\’t set unrealistic expectations for it! x #KCACOLS

  10. Pah! Yeah, it\’s amazing how your expectations change once you actually have kids. I remember having a similar conversation with a friend who was expecting and her saying \’how hard can it be!?\’ Needless to say, she apologised several months later!! LOL #kcacols

  11. I think Christmas with baby is a bit crap, you basically don\’t get to enjoy any of it lol. My two are much older now, so we have regained our afternoon telly nap lol. Hope your Christmas is a lovely one this year.
    #KCACOLS

  12. I\’m sure they will improve, as kids get older they spend more time pre-occupied with their gifts so you may get your afternoon nap (I always do) although the dramas never end! I spent last xmas in A&E because my 18 year old slipped down the stairs in the night and thought he broke his ankle! Luckily he didn\’t 🙂 #KCACOLS

  13. This is our first year as parents and I\’m equal parts loving and dreading it (for most of the reasons you\’ve listed!) Ours is the balance between my family, the inlaws and having some actual time to ourselves – we always end up running around everywhere and that\’s going to be hard with a baby! LOVE the family christmas eve selfie…. your cat cracked me up! #kcacols

  14. I am super excited about Ben\’s first Christmas, we had a busy few days but thanks to family drama; the one day we had to see everyone now gets spread out over several days.
    It will be amazing nevertheless!
    Hopefully yours will be A&E free this year!
    #KCAKOLS

  15. Sounds like they won\’t be making a Hallmark movie out of that one. The good news is that the next couple really are pretty cool. I think 3 was my favorite age for mine\’s Christmas. All the magic and excitement can\’t be beat #KCACOLS

  16. Aww bless we put so much pressure on ourselves don\’t we. Here\’s to a better year his year! That age for your children too will hopefully mean u have a fab time 🙂 they will be super excited!

  17. We had a puker one year. I think our oldest was two and we were driving around looking at Christmas lights. VOMIT ALL OVER THE CAR. Her and my hubs had the flu on Christmas day…and I was pregnant with our second. Ahhhh memories.

    #KCACOLS

  18. Oh, man, I know what you mean about the magical ideal vs the reality… 2015 I was already overdue and so miserable, then 2016 everyone came to ours and Marianna just cried and whinged all day. Hopefully this year will be better! x #KCACOLS

  19. No personal experience of it, although I see some of it with my nieces. My sis bought one of the \’official\’ photos with santa, and the child looks petrified… she \’kindly\’ got a copy for me, and I just feel so sorry for the little dot whenever I look at it!

    #KCACOLS

  20. Oh no! We really do put so much pressure on ourselves at Christmas, let\’s face it with a new baby it\’s wee, poop and puke, and sleep. Chuck out all the idealised Christmases (event the perfect neighbour down the road are having a miserable time!). Create your own rituals and have lots and lots of fun! #KCACOLS

  21. For our daughter\’s first (age 2 months) and second (age 14 months) Christmas we just didn\’t really bother to be honest. We didn\’t put a tree up last year as we knew she\’d just try to climb into it now she was starting to walk. This year, I\’m hoping it\’ll be different. She\’s just gone 2 and I\’m looking forward to introducing her to Santa and putting a tree up. My by then 8 month old won\’t have a clue though, but he\’s still young enough to fit in with everything else thankfully. Next year we\’ll likely be back to no tree when he\’s on the move. Ahhh, don\’t you love Christmas with toddlers. #KCACOLS

  22. Yep. It\’s when you have to travel to someone elses for Christmas Day…With baby, all of the baby stuff, travel cot, feeding chair. steriliser, pram, nappies…Then pack the presents in for all of the family….Oh, the joy of getting beyond the pram and travel cot years! Whoop! Thanks for sharing #KCACOLS

  23. I guess it will get better with each year that goes by. And after that, you will laugh when you will remember all the things that happened.
    Note to self: When I will have a baby, always bring a second outfit with me 🙂
    #KCACOLS

  24. Thanks for the warning, we have our first Christmas with a 9 month old coming up… im very excited but a little dubious about how it will pan out with a crawling baby in a non-child-proofed house full of presents, wrapping paper and Christmas trees 😕 eek! #kcacols

  25. I\’m a new parent, and this will be Little M\’s first Christmas. However, the only thing that\’s alarmed me about this post is The though that there\’ll be no Downton Abbey Christmas special this year! Noooo! Oh well, I probably wouldn\’t get to watch it all anyway! #KCACOLS

  26. Oh GOSH, I feel your pain! Christmas last year sucked because I had high expectations that my kids would behave beautifully because they were newly 3. Instead, they became unnerved by the company and commotion and were worse than ever. My best advice for new moms is to have no expectations at ALL….ever! #KCACOLS

  27. Aw It can be tough with a baby at christmas and it never seems as \’perfect\’ as you imagine it will be but the following ones do become much better! For me christmas is all about the kids & once they can unwrap presents themselves it all changes 🙂 x #KCACOLS

  28. Haha, oh yes I can relate to a lot of this. My son is a December baby so I was still just in the early days madness for his first Christmas. I remember the hand/ foot print thing though – I did loads of that, haha! #KCACOLS

  29. Those first couple of Christmases are a hit crap because your have such high expectations but quite frankly the baby hasn\’t got a clue what is going on and often finds it all a bit overwhelming. Once they are old enough to understand and get excited though it is amazing (although you\’re right about the dinner never going smoothly and naps being a thing of the past). I\’m just dreading the day my son stops believing, he\’s 7 now and has been questioning things for the last couple of years. My youngest is 2 though so we have her to keep the magic alive for a few more years yet.
    #KCACOLS

  30. Funny pic with the cat photo bombing it, made me chuckle. Christmas is stressful enough and with the little ones its always full of those peaking moments and a trip to a&e is normally on our things that happen too!;)

    Mainy

    #KCACOLS

  31. Definitely some reminders there from our both sons first Christmases. I have to say though last year with a 3 and a 1 year old our Christmas day was amazing, quiet and well organised as we were housesitting in the middle if nowhere. I can only hope that this Christmas is going to be as good. Love your cat photo bombing picture 😀 #KCACOLS

  32. Haha, I was vomited on by Little B on her first Christmas too! It\’s like they know! She was only 4 weeks old and it turned out she had reflux – she brought up an entire bottle so was in her cute Christmas outfit for all of about 30 minutes. More money well spent! And you\’re so right about the \’First Christmas\’ presents. We got so much \’First Christmas\’ stuff, I still don\’t know what to do with it, 2 years later! #kcacols

  33. I hear you on this! It was my youngest son\’s first Christmas last year and I was so sleep deprived I honestly couldn\’t wait for it all to be over. Fingers crossed this year is better and for you too!! #KCACOLS

  34. This sounds familiar! Love the photobombing by the cat! And I agree, you do get a lot of crap \’baby\’s first christmas\’ outfits and presents which will be totally useless after christmas day! Lol #KCACOLS x

  35. Great reality check for new parents! I would add that no-one gets you much of a present anymore, as you all \’agree\’ to just buy for the kids instead! Oh, and you think that now you\’ll be in charge and tell the rest of the family to visit you instead of you chasing around visiting everyone else, but no such luck! #KCACOLS

  36. Ha ha that\’s so true! It\’s only know both my kids are a bit older I get to enjoy Christmas a bit more, but still not managed to eat my Christmas lunch undisturbed yet! #KCACOLS

  37. Haha! Mine are just getting bog enough (4 and nearly 2) that they are aware of what is going on a bit more and it is a lot of fun. You are right that Christmas isn\’t quite what you expect in those early years! #KCACOLS

  38. Haha! Mine are just getting bog enough (4 and nearly 2) that they are aware of what is going on a bit more and it is a lot of fun. You are right that Christmas isn\’t quite what you expect in those early years! #KCACOLS

  39. Ahhh these are some lovely memories, except the projectile vomiting! Since my little boy was born his dad and I share Christmases which is a pull, this year I get him back on the 28th so the Christmases I don\’t have him are kind of just like normal days, with a few glasses of bubbly, then I travel with him up to Wales to see my family and have a belated Christmas day :). This year he is 5 and the present list of what he asks for from Santa has got a bit exotic! Hope you all have a lovely Christmas this year #KCACOLS xx

    • that must be hard having to share Christmas – but I guess you get the bonus Christmas day too 🙂 I can only imagine what is on his list this year hehe !

  40. oh that\’s a nice age – just starting to understand what\’s going on. I cant imagine how hard it is having to split the Christmases though. x

  41. We had our boy\’s first Christmas last year and it was just the 3 of us and it was really lovely. But sometimes I guess you can have expectations and they are not fulfilled. Thanks for sharing this. #KCACOLS

    Nadia – Scandimummy x

  42. I am so with you on this – it\’s completely different once you have kids! Our first with E he was only 7 months old so he slept through Xmas dinner but he was terrified when we took him to see Father Christmas (but loved the lights!) He was also way more interested in eating the wrapping paper than the presents too!

    It\’s so much easier now they are older but the downside is they are bought soooo many toys! #KCACOLS

  43. Arthur was due on 23rd December 2014 so I thought that this would be his first Xmas – he was 15 days late and so I was miserable and fat and unable to eat my Xmas dinner which at the time I thought was awful but nothing compared to what Xmas with a complete newborn and some hoo-haa stitches would have been like in hindsight lol! His actual forst Xmas a year later was lovely – we went to holland to his grandparents and he really enjoyed it 🙂 #kcacols

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