MemberMy son is almost 10 months and is starting to walk but if definitely very mobile and curious! We always get a real Christmas tree but this year we are questioning whether artificial would be better as our son gets into everything and we are pregnant again! What worked your family? What were the benefits of each?
MemberLadySmurph: My daughter is 10 and half months and is mobile and can walk several steps at a time. For this year we just used the trusty tree I had in college. It’s a fake tree that maybe about 2-3 feet tall and it sits on top of a dresser. If it was on the floor she would just pull it over and try to eat it. If it was on a lower dresser, she would just pull it off and try to eat it. I’m sure next year we’ll have to do the same thing but on a different even higher dresser or just explain to her that it’s not a toy.
MemberI have two kids who are beyond eating random things now- but we always have had a real tree.
MemberLadySmurph: I’ve always gotten real and invested in break proof ornaments.
MemberI have a 7mo old who crawls around and 2 very onery cats. I’m totally skipping a tree this year.
HostessWe always had a real tree growing up. I was 9 when my brother was born so remember his first Christmases pretty well – we just had the tree tied to the wall with eye hooks and fishing line so he couldn’t pull it over and just made sure that anything breakable was up out of his grab zone. All the lower ornaments were ‘baby safe’. The bottom of the tree was rather bare.
MemberAt that age, I did a real tree, but it was a 3 foot tall one that I put on a table out of reach. It was also decorated with unbreakable ornaments, just in case.
MemberI think a real tree could work if you baby-proofed it, but fake is much more convenient and economical.
The first Christmas together my DH and I bought a super expensive fake tree.. and used it ever since! (And thats quite a few years) so I always advocate a good quality fake.
MemberHon,
Fake all the way. First off, they dont know the difference nor do they care. Secondly, much less clean up and they actually last (unlike real).
MemberLadySmurph: That depends…
Would you like your baby’s poo to be pine scented, or no?
I jest, of course. I think that either way can be perfectly safe and fine, but you will likely want to block off the bottom of the tree with a baby gate or similar to prevent pulling off pine needles, ornaments, and accidental opening of gifts.
MemberLadySmurph: It doesn’t matter if the tree is real or artificial- the decor matters more when it comes to smaller kids.
We’ve always done a real tree, and when DS was younger, we did a couple things- no breakable ornaments where he could reach. I also found this nice looking balls that looked like glass but they were plastic- so we used those all over the tree for a couple years. It was cool because it was difficult to tell if they were plastic or glass until you touched them.
The cat has caused much more trouble when it comes to the Christmas tree than DS ever did!
