When to have birthday party for a kid born on Christmas?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP what you will realize as your kid gets older and he attends more bday parties is that it is completely common for parents to end up scheduling the "friend/class" party a couple weeks off from the actual birth date even if that date is not right around a major holiday. This is due to a whole host of reasons - the venue was already booked, kid had his own conflict with sports or other activities, a friend/classmate already had a party that date, a relative (like grandparents) had conflicts, and on and on...

So if you have a class bday party for your Christmas baby in, say, mid January, you'll basically be no different than everyone else whose kids' birthdays are any random day of the year.

I'll add that January is actually a great month for scheduling kid bday parties because most folks are not particularly busy and have few conflicts -- even a lot of sports stuff is lighter. Only downside is it needs to be an indoor party, but whatever.

So have your family celebration with the separate cake on you child's actual birthday, and then have a class/friend party (when child is older) a couple weeks later in January. (And you can do no gifts if that's your thing, but you don't need to just because your child was born around Christmas.)

DH’s birthday was January 4 and I remember him complaining that he got slighted on presents growing up because of his birthday being so close to Christmas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a New Year's Eve baby. I never found a good time to have a birthday party. If you try before the holidays, then you lose people because they're busy. After the holidays, the weather is always a factor in this area. We decided for us that birthday celebrations would be just our family and that we'd do special things - like a day at an indoor water park, learning archery, things like that. And always a restaurant dinner at the birthday kid's choice restaurant.

My friends have a New Years Eve baby and her birthday parties were very popular and well attended. She always had a sleepover and a big New Years Eve theme. Parents loved dropping their girls off for the whole night and they would often go to their own parties or dinner as a couple instead. It was basically babysitting on the hardest night of the year to get a babysitter.

OP I think you should do a mid January birthday party. I know what you mean about being burnt out though. My dh is a January 2nd baby and I am SO burnt out by the time his birthday rolls around. I can't imagine if it were my kid. We did IVF and we actively stopped treatments to avoid the months of December and January.

My son was not a sleepover kind of kid. But I can see how it would be well attended if that were your child's thing. We did have New Year's parties every year and a few kids in our group had New Year's eve and New Year's Day birthdays (four to be exact), so there was always cake. But it definitely wasn't a birthday party for any of the kids.

[Anonymous]

For a toddler, I wouldn’t do anything extra. I have a new years kid, and she usually has a small party in late January.

[Anonymous]

My kid's birthday is Dec. 20. We would almost always do a party on one of the first two weekends in December, and it would be a drop off (once they got old enough for one). Big hit for everyone scrambling to get holiday shopping/decorating done!

Once or twice we would do it the second weekend in January (so between New Year's and MLK). Also well attended - folks wanted to get their kids out of the house!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a New Year's Eve baby. I never found a good time to have a birthday party. If you try before the holidays, then you lose people because they're busy. After the holidays, the weather is always a factor in this area. We decided for us that birthday celebrations would be just our family and that we'd do special things - like a day at an indoor water park, learning archery, things like that. And always a restaurant dinner at the birthday kid's choice restaurant.

My friends have a New Years Eve baby and her birthday parties were very popular and well attended. She always had a sleepover and a big New Years Eve theme. Parents loved dropping their girls off for the whole night and they would often go to their own parties or dinner as a couple instead. It was basically babysitting on the hardest night of the year to get a babysitter.

OP I think you should do a mid January birthday party. I know what you mean about being burnt out though. My dh is a January 2nd baby and I am SO burnt out by the time his birthday rolls around. I can't imagine if it were my kid. We did IVF and we actively stopped treatments to avoid the months of December and January.

My son was not a sleepover kind of kid. But I can see how it would be well attended if that were your child's thing. We did have New Year's parties every year and a few kids in our group had New Year's eve and New Year's Day birthdays (four to be exact), so there was always cake. But it definitely wasn't a birthday party for any of the kids.

My 1st grade DD went to a birthday party (drop off, not sleepover) on January 3rd this year. Honestly it was like an unexpected godsend - she was so sick of lazing around the house at that point that it seemed extra fun to her and perked her up. I think they got a few more "no's" due to travel than they would have had the party been a few weeks later, but it was still a lovely sized group and seemed like a blast.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
I don't know why there's a poster who is so against scheduling the party at another time, but it's very frequent. My two kids, 5 years apart, have their birthdays less than two weeks apart, and for many years, we pushed back the parties because it was too much. I know summer birthday kids who schedule their parties purposefully during the school year so their friends can make it. My cousin's birthday is on Dec 24th, and she always had a party at a different time.

IT'S ALL FINE.

You have no idea what other people are thinking.

OP, if you have a Christmas baby, teach him/ her to embrace it. A party in June does the opposite of that.

As they grow up, they will most likely always have family around to celebrate. How lucky is that?

Spoken like someone who has zero birthdays/celebrations around the holidays. It's HORRIBLE, and I don't care about gifts so it's not about that. I would strongly encourage a half birthday celebration.

Signed,
Birthday close to Christmas

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We always celebrate our toddler's birthday when we have family over for Christmas. And we send cupcakes to daycare/school. But attendance gets spotty around the holidays, and there are some other friends who don't go to the same school.

Would you have a separate birthday party? If so, when?

If we have one we'd request no gifts as there have already been plenty.

Tbh I'm somewhat burnt out from the holidays. But this may be our only child, so my conscience (or anxiety?) is saying we should be making an effort on these connections.

I would try and have the party before Thanksgiving. The party doesn’t have to be one bus birthday or even within a week of his birthday. A month before or after (or whenever) is totally fine. I sometimes ask parents when the “real” birthday is and they will say two months ago. This is totally fine!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We always celebrate our toddler's birthday when we have family over for Christmas. And we send cupcakes to daycare/school. But attendance gets spotty around the holidays, and there are some other friends who don't go to the same school.

Would you have a separate birthday party? If so, when?

If we have one we'd request no gifts as there have already been plenty.

Tbh I'm somewhat burnt out from the holidays. But this may be our only child, so my conscience (or anxiety?) is saying we should be making an effort on these connections.

My uncle was born on Christmas, always celebrated January 25th because he didn't want to compete with Christ

[Anonymous]

Celebrate birthday either before Thanksgiving or after mid-January.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you should just do what you’re doing and celebrate with family and cake on Christmas.

Then plan a half birthday party in June. It will be a lot more fun for your kid than trying to squeeze in a winter party.

Don't try to do this. This is ridiculous.

+1. Have the party closer to your kid’s real birthday whether than be in mid December or early January.

And having a party in June has its own issues. June is close to the end of the school year and there’s a lot of competition on party dates with kids with summer birthdays (July/August) trying to cram in a party before the school year ends. Plus graduation parties and weddings and other social events. I find it much easier to schedule a party for my winter birthday kid than my June kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you should just do what you’re doing and celebrate with family and cake on Christmas.

Then plan a half birthday party in June. It will be a lot more fun for your kid than trying to squeeze in a winter party.

Don't try to do this. This is ridiculous.

No, it's brilliant. The party is in June, and the birthday is acknowledged in a low-key way the day of. No one wants yet another party in December and everyone is partied out in January.

This will start to matter once your child is in grade school, OP, because they'll see other kids' parties and they want one of their own. For right now, you can just continue to have the low-key acknowledgement.

I have a mid December kid and since he started school, we do a June half birthday with his school friends. Everyone loves it. We do a small, family only celebration at home on the actual and sometimes a small, no gifts play date with his closest friends that weekends. Everyone is so busy at the end of the year, plus the weather isn't great. In June, it's a double end of the school/half bday. Everyone likes it.

[Anonymous]

My kids would be disappointed if they had to wait 6 months for a party with their classmates and friends. I guess they don't have the concept of delayed gratification down like others.

December is busy and hectic, but I love when my kids get invited to birthday parties in January. Something fun for them in a blah time of year.

[Anonymous]

My mom had a Christmas week birthday and growing up she had her party on her half birthday in June.

[Anonymous]

We have a toddler birthday party this weekend and the child bday is like the 22nd or close to that. I think things have settled down enough.

[Anonymous]

My good friend has a birthday right before Christmas and she said she was shortchanged her whole childhood. She would not have a party or they would sing happy birthday on Christmas with family. She would get a combined birthday and Xmas gift.

My kids get invited to early Dec and early Jan birthdays for kids who have birthdays around the holidays. First weekend of Dec is always a multi party weekend for us between my 3 kids.