Need Uplifting Advice for December Due Date

Hi C.,

Our daughter's birthday is 12/27. She actually loves having it close to Christmas! I think this is because she is honored to have anything to do with God. :) Anyway, there are lots of things we do, sometimes we have a small party the next week after New Years, and when she is older we will leave it up to her when to celebrate. The cool thing is there a lot of places like 123 Bounce and Jump Planet that are indoors and great for birthday parties! There are also castles and jumpolenes you can purchase as well. :) Congratulations on the new baby! We are trying for # 2 and hope, like you to have 4. :)

Many Blessings,

K.S.

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C.,
I have two friends that have "Christmas/Holiday" boys. One friends' boys were both born on Christmas day; two years apart and the other two are in mid and late November. The first mom celebrates their birthday's in July with friends, but they also celebrate at Christmas by celebrating with family and getting them a special gift just for that. The other friend has been torn and 8yrs later is still torn. She celebrates them in early November before Thanksgiving and has a family celebration on their birthdays'.
Holiday's are difficult but both of these families have managed to celebrate and keep the birthday/holiday separate by doing something on a different day.
I think it's cruel for people to say the things they have said to you. That is not supportave at all. I remember when I was little, the hospital used to send home Christmas babies in a Christmas stocking. How cool is that?
I wish you the best and hope that your friends and family offer more support. I am totally excited for you!!!
I think for a child to be born on Christmas is a miracle and blessing in itself. Just look at who they will be sharing it with.
Many blessings.

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Hey - I had my second on Dec 11, but she was scheduled to come on Dec 18th. i have a few lovely 'special ideas' that were passed along to me from other moms: 1) if baby's birthday is before christmas, don't get the tree until after the birthday celebration. If birthday is after, break down the tree as soon as possible and decorate the house for birthday celebration asap. 2) do the party in early december to differentiate between birthday and xmas 3) do the birthday in a non-christmas location (other than your house if it's already decorated) and do a special breakfast the morning of the actual day, 4) always make sure that there is a gift that is not a holiday gift; no xmas wrap, etc (if you give gifts to your children, that is...). And tell people to stop telling you it's a bad time to have a child; IT'S NEVER A BAD TIME TO HAVE A CHILD! We just love our little December baby; her sister is born on the 4th of July, so we have our hands full!!!

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My best friend's birthday is the day after Christmas. When she was a kid, her parents made her birthday special by taking the Christmas ornaments off the tree Christmas night and put on "birthday" ornaments to make a birthday tree for my friend. Her birthday presents are put under the birthday tree for her to open the morning of her birthday. Maybe you could do something like this...my friend loved it!

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My sister and my husband were both Christmas babies - and they were both the youngest . . . which made it much harder. (When you have other children, I think the natural focus is on Christmas and it's hard to get them excited about a sibling's birthday.)

My sister and hubby's biggest complaints were the birthday presents wrapped in Christmas paper and the one "birthday/Christmas" present they would receive - instead of the two gifts everyone else would get.

If I had a Christmas-time baby, I think that I would designate a different birthday for the child. Maybe the halfway mark, for a little celebration and some modest gifts? But then you'd also celebrate on the actual birthday, too, because children want to be acknowledged on THAT day and won't really remember the June party you had. (I've done some divorces in which the child or one of the parents were born between the 24th and 26th of December, and for custody/visitation purposes we designate a "birthday" for that person at a different point in the year. It seems to work out as well as can be expected.)

I think having two birthdays for a Christmas baby is a nice way to make them feel special and maybe make them feel fortunate to HAVE that Christmas-time birthday.

(And another plus: When I was in college I worked in a hospital. Trust me. You get MUCH better care and treatment when you go into labor in the winter versus the summer because there are fewer patients. And it's ALWAYS better when the nurse to patient ratio is nice and low!)

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We had this situation last year, our baby was due 12/28. We ended up having her on 12/21. We were trying for november or january too! I've heard from others that the worst thing is having birthday presents wrapped in christmas paper and only getting one present for both days! So we'll be sure to not do that, and we're stocking up on gifts all year long so we don't have to rush and get what's left in december. That way she gets separate presents on each day. It's really up to your family to make it special and separate, you'll do just fine!

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Oh C. my dear, you have enough other stuff to stress about, please lay this one down.

My husband has a brother on Jan. 7 and a sister right on Dec. 25th!

For the sister, Christmas stopped strictly at noon and then it was birthday time, so all the kids got to enjoy a double holiday. (The family emphasized Christmas Eve a little more to help compensate, but the cake and balloons were fun too.)

For the brother, he always benefited from the post-holiday toy sales and that was great for both him and his parents!

In my household, we don't have any b-days around that time, but we *do* have a day after Christmas when we have an un-decorating party. We get the banners and the tree down, and in the evening have a few friends/relatives over for a post-holiday meal, when people are more relaxed and ready to get together. If your little one comes a few days after Christmas, consider making the 26th or 27th such a day, creating some space between the big holiday and the birthday, so that you can really clearly and obviously celebrate the birthday. Best wishes!

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I am a mom of 4 kids. Two of which have December birthdays. My son's is the 22 and my oldest daughter's is the 24th. We try extremely hard to make their birthdays special. They have their parties a few weeks before their actual birthdays, and then on their birthdays, they wake up to their rooms being decorated with streamers and balloons. Then they to help make their cake, which they pick out the flavor and the type of icing. They love being able to crack the eggs. They always get their presents from us with birthday themed paper, so there is no mistaking that it is for their birthday. IT is hard, and you do have people who will combine the gifts, or wrap them in Christmas paper, but as long as you make it special, they will feel special!!!!! By the way my kids were planned, but they were both born a month early. My Christmas eve baby was brought to me in a stocking. It made for some great photos.

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Hi, C.! My husband's sister's first child was born on Christmas day. I don't know how helpful I am but, I will forward your request to her. As an outsider looking in, I can share that she typically holds his birthday party the weekend before Christmas. And, she does it up just like any other kids birthday party. There have been lots of his friends at all the parties we've gone too. So while the timing may be hectic for adults, the kids sure don't seem to mind. I know that some of the parents drop their kids off for the party and take those few hours to get Christmas shopping or other things done.

C.,

Fear Not! I have a 15 year old son with a Christmas Eve birthday. We seriously considered the 6 month birthday but never did it. We do go out of our way to be sure he has his birthday. Now he says he has the best birthdays. My advice is to be firm about the birthday every year as it is very important to a child. No Christmas wrapping paper, no christmas decorations at the party and a birthday cake. We have a large family and my son is one of 15 grandchildren. Now the kids all look forward to going out for lunch/bowling/Chuck-e-cheeses/whatever on Christmas Eve around lunch time for Jeffs birthday.

Don't worry it will work itself out.

JBeck

Hi C.,

This is deja vu for me. My kids are about the same spacing as yours. I have child # 4--- she was due Jan 1, 1994. Her birthday is December 23rd, 1993. It has only been a blessing. For 14 years now, we have fondly remembered bringing her home is a big Christmas stocking on Dec 24th. It's all good. I have learned to have the "friend party" the first or second week of Dec

Birthdays are always going to be a challenge to arrange for parties-all 4 of my children have BD's near a "holiday" (there are so many)---you just work it out.
congratulations on your expected baby-the best Christmas gift ever.

D.

Dear C.,

I am in the same boat as you. I am due early January and everyone has said the same thing, especially as my first baby was early, so they are thinking this one will be too (I have big babies.) One of my dearest friends' birthday is on Christmas Eve. She is one of the only people I know that has had a great birthday every year. Her family makes sure that they separate her birthday from Christmas, they always have a party, it is usually just family as her friends could rarely come over and have a party with her when she was young. They always have a big family gathering with all the same birthday festivities, cake, presents and such. Then they still have Christmas the next day and she got the same amount of presents as her siblings. As long as you make a big fuss for you baby on it's birthday and make sure there is a separation of both Christmas and birthday presents, it will be fine. It is all about how you handle that day. It may be a little financially straining at that time, but if you are making it special, it is totally worth it. Good luck!

K.

My daughter was born Jan. 2. It's not so bad. We have a bunch of other family bdays in Jan., so we combine them and have one party (which actually includes mine). Don't worry, it'll work out. Congratulations!

My due date was Dec. 25, and my now 17 year old was born Dec. 28th. It is more difficult, but he doesn't think so, that was just preconceived notions in my own mind. We always stress how special that time of year is because we get his birthday too. We talked about celebrating in summer (my other son was born June 11) but he is fine with his Dec. birthday. Sounds like other folks are stressing you out with it. Just enjoy each day of the holidays, and have fun!
Best of luck to you all!

My daughter was due on Dec. 24 but ended up "missing Christmas", and was born on Dec. 27. She's still only had one birthday, but I just had a brainstorm the other day---bc family is already around for xmas, I think we'll have 2 birthday parties---one for friends, probably early dec. and the other for family on her "real birthday". That way she gets both friends and also gets to have a lot of out-of-town family and friends who otherwise wouldn't actually come to her birthday. Also, it doesn't matter if her real birthday has some xmasey theme bc she will already have had a birthday-theme party. I think it's a great time of year to be born! Lots of fun!

Our daughter, now 11, was born on December 30th. You'd think it'd be an expensive time of year to have a party, but it's actually worked out great. There are Christmas sales galor and we always end up getting her items that santa missed on his list. And birthday parties are fantastic! Most families are itching for activities for their kids to do during the 2 week winter break. For her parties we've done ice skating, sledding, tubing, and even rented a hotel room and did the ultimate pj party and enjoyed the warm indoor pool. Winter babies are a blessing...more time to snuggle with them without being sticky & hot. Enjoy!

My son's birthday is January 5th, which is still pretty close to CHristmas. He knows he has his own special day though. One thing I would strongly advise is buy for his birthday when you CHristmas shop. I've procrastinated one year and all of the stores were sold out of what we wanted to get nim. I've also heard of other people doing a summer party to set get away from the holidays. One thing I do with his parties is try to plan something fun--last year I made 3D cookies and the kids decorated them and got to take their cookie home. Another year we did a party at a game/pizza place. My sister always talks about getting him a "combo" birthday/Christmas gift and I have to keep reminding her that they are separate days-not to try to combine them.
Congrats to you!!! It may not be the best time to have a child, but everything will be ok:)

My granddaughter was born on Christmas Eve. To her it's the best time for a birthday! Her party is on the 24th before dinner. Afterwards we do our Christmas with them - exchanging gifts and having a great time. Christmas Day they celebrate with his side of the family and friends.
She has never felt like she was missing out and her younger brother doesn't have any problems with it.
When she was little (she is nine) she thought the Christmas lights were being put up to let everyone know her birthday was coming. We never knew where she got that idea, but it thrilled her to see them.
Don't let the birth date get you down, a baby will add to the celebration!
J.

I'm a 29th kid and my bff growing up was a 24th kid. There were times that it was hard but I don't think back on anything really that bad (just kids stuff). My parents always wrapped my presents in birthday paper not x-mas paper, when I got older I had new-years parties. Sometimes my parents and her parents would just take the two of us for a speacial dinner and movie... it doesnt' take 12 kids to make a great birthday - 1-2 friends and a trip to a kids mesueam during x-mas break would be a blast. If you are traveling... offer to have a 1/2 birthday and throw a huge end of the school year summer fun day with all their classmates (my mom did this a couple of times in exchange for a big party on my birthday).
It is not the end of the world... lots of kid are born around this time and there is bound to be a few friends to share in the sorrow with :)

I have a two nephews who both have b-days close to Christmas. One is January 6th and the other is December 28th. They have always done a joint party for the boys (at least with family) that is in mid January. They celebrate the December 28th b-day on January 28th to keep it seperate from Christmas. He is 11 now and doesn't seem bothered by it at all. If you do that, just remember to let you child know before they start school when their birthday really is so that they don't get confused when the teacher says its one day and they think it is something else :)

My cousin was born on Christmas Day. We always did Christmas on Christmas Eve and then his birthday in the evening on Christmas Day. Always tried to make it special for him and separate it away from Christmas. Was also know to have his birthday the weekend before too, depending on how Christmas fell that year. Hopefully this is helpful.

Hi C. B. My second child, my daughter, was due a day before my birthday in January, but "Surprise" came 3 1/2 weeks early on Christmas Day. Not a few days before or after. She is now 11 and I think that we've been able to help keep her birthday from being lost in holiday by making the day even more special for her. She has her own holiday/birthday tree. It's not a Christmas tree but it's a miniature tree with mini ornaments and lights that are not the traditional things. If family is together or not at that time we make sure that we purchase gifts which are strictly birthday. I never ask what she wants for Christmas when finding out what she wants for her birthday. So that the two are made different and special. It's important to make sure the wrapping is different, so that the child knows the gift wasn't an after thought and doesn't think that they are getting something less for Christmas. I start getting the birthday gifts a few months before this has helped as soon as I've figured out the "theme" for each. The other hard thing is that you won't be able to pick up that last minute cake at the store as they will all have a christmas theme to them so if you are getting store bought plan ahead. Also what I've found is that throwing a party can also get lost in December, so it's good to make sure you follow up with the parents of the invited guests because of the season I find that they forget to R.S.V.P. and to make it easier on us I've had it away from the house, ie bowling center, pizza place... The thing to remember is to treat it just like you would a birthday that falls any other time of year and maybe to play it up a bit. As my daughter's birthday is Christmas Day we make sure that the celebration of each is unique so the celebration of Christmas doesn't get mixed up with the celebration of her birthday, they are keep distinctly different to the best we can. For example if family is together I remind them that we will be celebrating Rebecca's birthday in the evening. Congratulations, and don't stress about it, you will find ways to make it even more special. H. H.

My sisters were born 5 days before and 5 days after Christmas (yes, right before New Years). The things that they appreciated were

1. Having a cake of their own, even if it's small.
2. Recieving gifts that are not Christmas/Birthday...But really are only birthday gifts. When they were older they could understand that difference, but as a child they would have been happy to open $1 store items if it meant more paper.
3. Having a special non-christmas meal for their birthday.
4. Going out. A park or a playland, a movie or anything that took them away from the holiday hubub and make the day special for them.

Often we took vacations over the winter break. When visiting grandparents or other countries we made sure to take a couple of hours to focus on the birthday celebration and talk about how we were at a park for the birthday, or visiting somewhere by consulting the birhtday girl about her preferences for that trip (even just, do you want to go to the temple or the beach?) and discussing what a wonderful birthday treat it was to see the sun set over the water, forest, etc.

Good Luck!!

Our son was born 3 weeks early - 3 days before Christmas. I knew I wouldn't make it to my due date so we were already planning a "Christmas baby". Were were thrilled. He is only 19 months old, but we made sure his first birthday was just his. I put on his invites "No Christmas wrapping paper!" and people were very understanding. I plan on just making sure that his birthday stays separate. Had he been born on Christmas - Christmas morning would have belonged to the wonderful celebration of Christmas and the evening would have belonged to him for his birthday. Please don't let people make the birth of your child any less than it is, a wonderful, blessed miracle - no matter what day!

My 2nd son was due after Christmas but came early and is 5 days before Christmas. He also have 2 other boy cousins that are 2 days and a week after my son's birthday. I was also concerned about having Paden's birthday lost in the Christmas holidays. I heard stories of my brother in law growing up with a birthday very near Christmas and things/present that he go for christmas. I now make it a point that my son has a cake and that we celebrate it. (His birthday date is also my anniversary date.) We forgo the anniversary to make sure that he has a birthday. When I am making my list for christmas, I make sure that there is a list next to what I have gotten Paden for christmas that is what he's getting for his birthday. Paden is now 6 and I haven't had any complains from him, nor his cousins. We also celebrate the 3 boys' birthdays together and make that a big deal also. It can be done, you just have to be more aware of the child's birthday so that it isn't lost in the holidays, but it also helps to not get carried away with the Christmas holidays. I hope that this helps.

I have a 28 yr. old son born Dec. 23. Yes, there are years when he totally got gyped. (Christmas/birthday gift all in one but never from us) I always made sure we had a party in a part of the house where there were NO Christmas decorations and plenty of birthday decorations. Of course this means there has to be a room with no Christmas decorations ..... often when we were in a smaller house that meant the dinning room/kitchen area. I have always told him how special he is because he was concieved on Easter and my due date was Christmas day. (I have to admit I prayed that it wouldn't be actually on Christmas day.) When he was school age we would have parties before Christmas break so that his friends could attend without it going in to their family celebrations. I wish you the best and please know how blest you are to be having a baby at the same time that Christ was born. (and yes I know it was not the actual day Christ was born)

My baby boy was born last year on Dec. 21. I was dreading a christmas baby, but it made the holidays even more special. We plan on making sure he has a birthday party just for him each year. Depending on the year we may do it early or wait until after the new year just so he has his special day. Congratulations and I know that you will enjoy your baby just as much as any other time of the year. And just think the baby will have more family around because that is when people usually get together anyway!! Just remember not to wrap the birthday gift in christmas paper!!

If you do have a christmas baby, remember that in a lot of other cultures, christmas lasts from the beginning of december through the 6th of january. On December 6th is when Santa Claus comes to most of Europe and then on January 6th the Three Kings bring gifts. Just think about fun traditions you could start, should you child end up being born on the 24th or 25th. However, if it's your first, the chances are very likely that you'll be a little late.
Good luck!

Hi! I am a New Years baby and it was hard for me growing up to have a b-day this close to Christmas...people are burned out after giving gifts a week before, and sometimes it got combined, a "Christmas and b-day gift" which I think kind of stunk. I would just say to make a big deal out of it no matter when you have your baby. If it is the day before Christmas, then make it a point to make that day their day, and focus on the birthday part, not the Christmas eve part...but make sure it will something that you can make special for years to come...dont just do it for a few years and then stop.

My nephew has the same problem and was born right on December 25th. The first few years it didn't really matter but when he got old enough and it started being an issue, they let him pick his own celebration day. He chose March 9 because it was in the middle of the school year and he knew he could have a party and invite school friends. Anything that he doesn't get for Christmas, he puts on his birthday list and for him, he loves it because it is almost a sure thing! He thought it was pretty awesome getting to choose his day, what other kids get to do that???

Hi C.:

I am not a Christmas baby but both of my parents are. My mom's birthday is December 25th and my dad's is December 27th. Their parents treated Christmas and their birthday as separate events. For instance my mother always received Christmas presents from under the tree but my grandparents always gave her birthday presents wrapped in birthday paper plus planned a birthday party for her right before Christmas or right after. My father's parents would celebrate Christmas as usual and then on his birthday give him his birthday gifts and have a party. Hope this helps.

My nephew was born on Christmas Day - every year he has an Halloween Birthday party. Only the immediate family celebrates on Christmas Day with a birthday cake.

I turn 30 this year and my birthday is Dec 26. Growing up my mom let me have my b-day party when ever I wanted since all my little friends were with family during school x-mas break. When we went to all the grandma's houses for x-mas they all made sure not to use christmas wrapping paper for b-day presents. But what usually happend (and as I got older this was the best part..) I got a present for x-mas and money for b-day. And as most women know that Dec 26 is one of the best shopping days of the year ; )
My birthday is my birthday and there is nothing I can do about it so when most people say "oh I'm sorry that must suck" I say I'm lucky to get double the presents at x-mas time.
Honestly I can think of worse times of the year (9-11,the anniv of a death, big sibling b-day) but Christmas is a happy time of year and so it makes others happy.. why not throw in a Birtday!!
Have a great Birthday!! when ever it happens it will be amazing!!

It may sound really simple, but I know a family that has a special plate that family members get to eat off of when it's their birthday, got a promotion, got an A, whatever.

Just having the plate on the actual day can at least delineate the day for your child.

Not exactly the solution to your problem, but it's all about baby steps right!

I have a December birthday. I never liked it as a child. So when I found out that not one but two of my kids had dec. b-days like me I went crazy trying all kinds of things to make it special. My 4 year old son is on the 6th of Dec. and he is still young enough that he's happy with everything we do for him. He is close to thanksgiving as well. So we get real creative with the timing but don't combine holidays with his birthday. My 11 year old was due the 30th(of Dec) but came early on the 20th. Over the years we have done only birthday decoratons until after his day, let him pick the place the tree goes, got a regular tree and put birthday decoratons on it instead, replaced his christmas stocking with a homeade happy birthday one, did a sunny hawiian party to take the focus off of winter, took his friends to a swim party indoors, but above all if we spend $100.00 on the other kids then we do it for him too even though it's a tight month. I make sure we never combine his birthday with Christmas and tell all family members to do the same. Extended family now know that it is our expectation. My son actually likes his birthday at Christmas time and I think it must have to do with the fact I have always made it so fun. He feels special that he is the only one that came home in a tiny stocking from the hospital. I am keeping it for him to have someday when he's grown and maybe is expecting a December baby too. With three people in our family born that month it can be crazy and stressful but if you make it fun and don't let them know it bothers you then they won't be bothered with having a birthday around Christmas. Best wishes....Sorry so long!

I am a December baby, and I always had a great birthday! My party would be a couple of weeks before Christmas so they would not be right together, and I always felt my day was still special. You just have to make sure the child get a day that is all about them. I would not due the 6 month party, then one might feel there is something wrong with being a winter baby.

Hey- that was my due date with my first! We ended up having him on the 31st. I thought it was perfect because it was a few days after Christmas, and we made the tax exemption for that year. It really isn't a big deal to my son. He doesn't care that it's close to Christmas as long as he gets a party and presents. We thought maybe we would do a half-birthday celebration, but it hasn't been necessary yet. Good Luck!
By the way, my sister's birthday is on the 29th and I was always jealous because my parents made such an effort to make her birthday special so close to Christmas that it was always better than for the rest of us!

It's actually kind of ironic about people saying "oh no" about a Christmas baby... isn't Christmas actually all about a certain baby? Anyway, everyone already gave you a ton of good advice, so I just thought I'd chime in with that thought, and also to say that I was a Dec 19th baby, and never minded having my birthday near Christmas. In grade school, my birthday often fell on the last day before Christmas break and I remember that was often a very fun day, complete with cupcakes or other treats to celebrate the last day of school.

My daughters birthday is December 22. She is only 3, but so far we have just tried to make sure that she know her birthday is seperate from christmas. Even if the other kids didn't get a big b-day party, we have tried to give her one, to keep it seperate for her. The older two have a little harder time with it because they didn't get the party, but i just remind them, that we don't want her to feel like her birthday is christmas, it needs to be seperate just like theirs.
Congratualations!!!

Our first is an early Dec birthday and our second should be around Thanksgiving. While it isn't as close to Christmas as yours I understand your concerns. We don't have it worked out yet since our oldest will turn 2 this December. We will hold a separate party and gifts. Try not to over do the gifts at either Birthday or Christmas. Mainly it takes planning in what you will give them since you don't have the option of giving 1 year toys on birthday and 18mo toys at Christmas. It can be done.
Do you have any Birthday traditions at your house? Like a family meal or birthday person choosing what you eat...definitely continue that with your other.

My husband's whole family are December babies -- They have had a great time with it. When they were young they celbrated 1/2 birthdays. I think that was more fincial :)
We are very careful to celebrate everyone's birthday on the actual day - don't slide it to the weekend for convenince. We also make sure we have presents for both.... no joint presents even if it is a big ticket item. (We are out of money by December 31). The toughest part is having all the birthday wrapping paper out at the same time as Christmas.

My birthday is Dec.29th and my mom made sure Christmas was Christmas, and my birthday was my birthday. So if you keep that in mind when celebrating these 2 very special times you can't go wrong. Some parents try to consolidate to save but I wouldn't recommend that besides it's not there little fault that they were born during the most wonderful time of the year. And I can also relate to this because I have a Dec. 5th baby of my own. Hope this helps.

Hello my son was due on Christmas but didn't come untill the 30th. Just remember to not include the birthday with Christmas day even if the child comes on that day. Untill later if the child wants it that way. Sometimes you may have to postpone a childs party till January due to a lot of their friends are out of town due to the holidays. Don't worry the child will always have fun as long as they can have Christmas on one day and a birthday on another. You have to save some presents for the birthday tho. My son is now 31 years old.
Good luck

Hi-
I have a Jan bday -- it is still too close to Christmas in some ways. The important thing is to make sure their bday is celebrated separately from Christmas. Wrap packages in both types of paper and decorate for their birthday specifically are the simple things you can do to make it a separate celebration. Is it tempting for family to want to lump the celebrating and presents into one? Yes, but not if you tell them not to. The positives are that they will always be out of school, there are lots of things that are going on that you can make a tradition for their bday and not Christmas, presents can be bought at after Christmas sales. And as you get older, getting bigger combo presents isn't so bad. or you do what my mother-in-law does (hers is the 26th) and celebrate it at their half bday in June.

I'm a December baby myself, two days after Christmas. There are perks to a birthday right in the holidays, like being at big family reunions on the big day (aunts and uncles would give me gifts, but wouldn't have otherwise due to the distance; loads of people would sing "Happy Birthday" and tell me I was great). :) When I was quite young, my parents made a point of celebrating our Christmas gift exchange near the beginning of December, so my birthday gift opening felt new and exciting. I had my birthday parties with friends at the beginning of January, once school started up again. (And don't forget to bring cupcakes to school that day!) This worked better for me than a 6 month party, which felt silly. I think to just have a random gift to open here and there throughout the year would help a child feel like it hasn't been 360 days since she actually unwrapped a gift, even if it's just a little something you saw in the store that reminded you of how sweet your child is.

Hi C.,
Don't worry if the baby is born near Christmas or on Christmas! What a special gift if it is born on Christmas!!
My birthday is December 21st and my brother's in January 4th. Growing up we always had a birthday party with family on our actual birthday. Not one time did I feel that it was combined with Christmas because my parents made sure it wasn't. My brothers was the same. We'd all get together on my birthday, 3 days later for Christmas eve and then Christmas and a week later for my brothers.
Now that I am married, my sister-n-law's birthday is on Christmas Day. We always have a party for her earlier in the month and then also have a special cake just for her on Christmas.
It's all what you make of it but you definitly should not stress about it. Just make sure they have their own day because they won't know any different. :)

Our 4th child had a due date of January 7th, and since all my babies were 3-4 weeks early we knew we were looking at a mid December birthday.
Yup, she was born on December 15th, not only 10 days before Christmas, but the day before our wedding anniversary too. (by the way, I ALWAYS tell people to avoid at all costs having a December (before Christmas anyway) wedding!
We had her 1st birthday party on her birthday since it was a Saturday, and will probably always hold her birthday party before December 14th because that seems to be "ok" to most people. Just move it up a couple of weeks if it gets too close to Christmas and I think you'll be fine. Also, make sure to define Christmas and birthday as two separate occasions. Have your child make 2 lists (when they get that age), one for each occasion, this is normal with every other child.
If you treat it differently so should everyone else.

It is hard to have a baby around that time but it is all how you deal with it. My son is a New Years Eve baby. So it works out great because all the other kids are home on vacation. We let family know that they must buy two gifts, one birthday and one christmas, and we have the birthday party early in the day so if people are going out later they can still make an early birthday party. It can work and what is really important? Once they are born it doesnt matter. I dont even call it New Years anymore it is now my son's birthday! Its a happy substitution!

C.,

It may not be as bad as you think it will. It really is all about how you handle it. My daughter's birthday is the beginning of December and at her parties I have always encouraged parents to see it as a "Christmas Shopping Daycare." They drop their kiddos off and have a few hours to do their shopping. My birthday is less than a week after Christmas (New Year's Eve) and my birthdays were always special as well. My mom gave up her New Year's nights out and threw me slumber parties from the time I was old enough. I never had a lack of other kids there as the cost of a birthday present gave parents a night out when it is typically difficult to find a babysitter. Other things were done to make my day special: NO combo birthday/christmas presents and the tree NEVER goes up before my daughter's birthday and ALWAYS came down before my birthday. If you happen to have a true Christmas baby you can always do the party either the weekend before or the weekend after Christmas and do your holiday stuff (presents, etc.) on Christmas Eve instead of on Christmas Day.

Just some thoughts. Congratulations on your new baby and good luck!

N.

I know how you feel in that my birthday is on December 24th. My mom always felt bad that it was in the middle of the Christmas hubbub and she always tried to make it special. When I was younger, I would have a birthday party at the 6 month mark. I actually chose to celebrate on my late great grandfather's birthday (so it was a little extra special). I would have slumber parties and my mom would take us to do something special. Even though it wasn't my "real" birthday, I always had a blast and looked forward to it every year. It still felt like my special day. When I got to high school age, my parents would do things for me, such as throwing me a surprise birthday party a week or two before my birthday. That made it feel really special, too. Now that I'm older and have a family of my own, it's not that big of a deal to have my birthday on Christmas Eve. My parents have still tried to always set aside a time for the family to get together for my birthday. And my mom always makes sure that she doesn't wrap my birthday presents in Christmas wrapping paper!!! That's probably the only thing that really annoys me. If you celebrate your child's birthday so close to Christmas, try to remind your family and friends to wrap the birthday presents in birthday wrapping paper, not Christmas paper. It may sound silly, but that little thing alone helps to make the birthday feel separate from Christmas. And just remember, kids love birthdays no matter when they are. And your child will appreciate your efforts to make their birthday feel like a special occasion, even during Christmas time.

C.,

My daughter was born 12/28 as well as my sister-in-law and cousin. We have x-mas, then the day after everything comes down, tree and all. We set up early, the first weekend in December. When 12/28 comes it is not associated with x-mas at all. She does have 1 grandmother that insists on wrapping birthday presents in x-mas wrap. They don't really mind as long as it is a PRESENT! As long as you don't make it feel like a big deal it really does not matter. My daughter is now 13 and loves it. She has figured out that her relatives do after x-mas shopping and she gets more because it is on sale:)

Good luck.
C.

My birthday is actually three days after Christmas and my parents did a great job of making it special for me. They just made it my own day with only birthday wrapping paper, once we had a party before Christmas and we were able to make some Christmas decorations with friends, by my request. I really liked having a "Christmas Birthday". It was treated like any other, I got to choose a party or to go out to dinner and a movie just me and my mom and dad, a family tradition, there were five of us kids so often we chose to go out with our parents. As long as everyone is clear that a Christmas/Birthday present is not acceptable (it actually did happen) then your child will feel that it is their special day no matter when it is. Once family friends secretly did a "twelve days of M.'s birthday" and dropped off small presents just for me for the twelve days leading up to my birthday. I was probably turning seven and I felt really special.
-M.

It's not so bad. My 16 year old daughter's is New Year's Eve, and my 6 year old son's is December 28th. You can only imagine and feel my pain when I say that it's a very expensive time of the year for us. We've always done our best to keep the birthdays separate from Christmas so that they don't feel cheated out of their birthdays. One year I contemplated doing a 1/2 birthday in the summer, but that didn't pan out since my youngest son's birthday is during the summer. Don't fret, you'll figure out a way to keep the baby's birthday special.

What could be better than celebrating your birthday with Christ??? I think it would be a great thing.:-)
D.

Without reading evry response, I suspect I am duplicating. I apologize in advance.

My son, born December 22, has always been back and forth on this. The down side: absence of travelling friends...the UPSIDE: When he makes that Christmas list, you have great ideas.

VERY HELPFUL: If you throw a party befoe school lets out, you can make sure that the 'Christmas decor' does not come out until after. That way you will always have his time without the shadow looming.

Parties: Throw the party on the last weekend before school lets out or the weekend after the return. (re-gifts occur here and make it easy).

Presents: Make sure his Christmas presents do not pale in comparison to the other children's. Don't let ANYONE do the 'combo' present. It is never meaningful on 2 different days.

Make a list of things that he has been excited about through the year...get him a couple of those things and have it be about remembering the year that has passed.

Listen to all advice and keep that which makes you feel supported!

Best wishes on a pregnancy that I would give nearly anything to have, regardless of the date.

Ang

Hi C.,
It's always a wonderful time to have a baby. No matter what the date is. Yes Christmas is a most special time too...it's actually my favorite time of the year. I have one grandson...who was born December 27. He will be three on his next birthday. We have Christmas on Christmas then on the 27th we have his birthday. Children get excited for their birthdays no matter what date its on. The adults can be the ones to ruin it if they allow it. Not putting adults down, I just believe we can say and respond to things in degative ways to where a child doesn't understand. And as the child gets older we need to just give them that (special birthdate). Same if baby is born on Christmas day. Many times its on a weekday, so you could do a weekend birthday party! I have two sister in-laws that both have their birthdays in December...one the 24th the other the 27th. They have never disliked having their birthdays then. My mother-in-law always made their birthdays just as special as her other 3 kids whom (2 of were born in April and one in October). My grandson will always have a great birthday on December 27th...my daughter will see to that. One of my daughters was born on Thanskgiving...her birthday doesn't ever land on that day. But it's always within a couple days..her birthdays on the 21st. We have birthday...then on Thanskgiving we have Thanksgiving!! Enjoy your childs special day, NO matter what the date is...I hope this encourages you!

My son is born Dec 18, exactly one week before Christmas. We do have big birthdays parties and we focus on his birthday. We don't put up Christmas tree before that. When I was giving a birth there was a nurse in the hospital who was born at the same date. She made me promisse her to have a real birthday's parties and real presents. She sad that all her life everybody would give her a small birthday present and keep the big presents for Christmas and she was never happy with it. Well, I kept my promisse. We do get him a big birthday present and have a smaller thing for Christmas, when everybody else will get him something big. The nurse was right about that. And I never thought about it, I was just looking at him as the best Christmas present ever. Good luck!

I have a good friend whose birthday is Dec. 27th and he says he has always loved having his birthday around Christmas because his family and friends are still in town for the holidays to celebrate his birthday with him. My father in law was born on Christmas and has a big party every year with the first half of the party being Christmas dinner, and the second half being a birthday party with cake and ice cream and presents (wrapped in Birthday paper of course, not Christmas paper!) Just think of this baby as one of your best Christmas presents ever!

My friend does a "half birthday" in June and recommended it highly.

My due date was December 27 last year, so i was looking into ideas for this same thing. i was really hoping he wouldnt be born at Christmas, but things got serious with health issues and i realized that what is always important is to have a healthy and full term baby.

As it turned out, my son was born early and now his first birthday is on Thanksgiving! :O

I think it is what you make of it. Of course everyone thinks "oh no". But take it from someone who's birthday is DEC 24, it can be as special as any other day of the year. Even there were times I didn't like it as a kid. Of course I always wanted that outdoor summer birthday party. My mom always made my birthday special. Of course it was hard to ignore the Christmas tree and decorations, but my mom always decorated the house for my birthday, wrapped my presents in birthday paper(not Christmas paper which many people will do) and to this day, bless my mom, if we are at her house for Christmas time, she always makes my birthday celebration first and foremost.
I remember having one kid birthday party when I was little(many years ago) and my mom planned it at the first part of december so that others could come. I still remember that party to this day, it was the best party ever. I know people tell you to celebrate at a different time of year and that is ok if you want to, but your birthday is your special day. Close to the actual day is fine. Make it special for your new child. If others complain about it, remind them that it is your child's day and it doesn't matter what day of the year it is.

Hi C.,

I only have this little tidbit of advice. As a labor doula I can tell you that estimated due dates are just that and less that 10% of women give birth on the estimated due dates. So you have a greater chance of giving birth a week and a day after your EDD if you leave baby to let you know when THEY are ready to come out, not when your care provider deems it a good time.

Also, keep in mind that if you start asking right off the bat for people to celebrate the birth of your child independently from Christmas with birthday wrapping paper etc. then those close to you will be aware of your concerns and wishes right from the start. Also, this could provide a great time to get birthday gifts for others as they can shop the after Christmas sales, if your baby arrives after Christmas. I have a birthday that is pretty close to Christmas and I was due Christmas Eve, so take heart, it may be further than you think! IF not, maybe you can elaborate on the positive things about sharing a birthday with Christmas:-)

Best of luck!
T. Nelson

i don't know if I have any kind of great advice but my son who is 8 has a Dec. 27th birthday. I thought it was special to maybe be having a Christmas birthday. I'm not big on birthday parties and inviting school mates etc. we normally have family parties. He likes having his birthday after Christmas it kinda extends the gift receiving for him. This year tho I have promised him a birthday party with his school mates at Chuckie Cheeses!
It will be just fine! Although you will be totally broke at Christmas with the double whammy.

D.

My husband is a Christmas baby. One week before xmas to be exact. Growing up his mom always made sure to celebrate his b-day seperate from Chrismas celebration. If I had a child that close I would do the same so that they knew that their b-day was seperate and just as special. I wouldn't worry about what people are saying about how close it is. If it were me I would probably say something like, "oh we aren't worried about that, they are our Christmas gift from God." Or "it's not terrible timing, we are so happy about getting a baby at the most giving time of the year."

Good luck & Congrads!

Hi C.,
I have a December 15th birthday. When I was younger I felt that I hit the jackpot in December because I would get presents 2 weeks before Christmas. My mom always did something special to make it my day. Even if your child is born on Christmas I would still pick a day before Christmas and celebrate it. That way it would still be special. I have a friend who has a son that was born the first week of January and it always seems like it isn't as big of a deal because he just had Christmas and everyone is tired and broke. :) That's why I suggest celebrating before Christmas so then it wouldn't feel like such a let down. If you pick a day and do something special I am sure your child will love it. I don't have any bad memories of my birthday getting pushed aside. We usually would get a Christmas tree and put it up on my birthday and I loved that. Hope this helps some. Good luck to you!
J. :0)

Whoever is giving you all that "oh no" ... please remember it is about them NOT you and your family.
Who would not want to share a birthday with the one who gave everything so that we would be saved? Whatever day your child is born will be a day to celebrate.
You and your dear family will cherish your child and make the birthday special ~ no worries.
Do not stress over this it is nothing at all but a bunch of nonsense.
I have a friend who lives on the lake and she does 1/2 birthdays in the summer so her kids can maximize the lake, boat, wakeboard, wake surf, swim, dock, bbq etc.
Use your imagination ~ all is possible.
Blessings to you and yours.
L.

My 6 yr old daughter’s birthday is December 26th (due 12/21) for the first few yrs we celebrated her birthday on December 8th which is her father’s birthday. It worked really well and that also coincided with the Christmas parade in our town. Not too many little girls get a parade on their birthday. Needless to say she felt very special. Now, we usually have her birthday party either two or three weeks before or after her special day. On her actual birthday she gets to pick one friend and we take them to a birthday dinner and a movie. Luckily one of my best friends birthdays is also on this day and she has provided several don'ts to help me make this day as special as possible.
Don't wrap her birthday presents with Christmas wrap (I keep extra wrapping paper handy just in case a gift comes this way from others - so far I haven't needed it)
Don't give Christmas/Birthday presents. You wouldn't do this to your other children with July birthdays.
Don't forget the special day in busyness of the season. Even if you just make a favorite dinner and stay home to watch movies (her choice).
So far my daughter loves her birthday and doesn't mind having her party on a different day.

Good luck - December birthdays are wonderful!

My son's birthday is Dec 29th. Every year we take down the Christmas decorations on the 28th. What I find really funny is that it was on the 28th, while we were taking down the decorations when my water broke! Anyways, he loves knowing that the day before his birthday the "old stuff" comes down.

My brother was born on Christmas. What my mom ended up doing was Christmas day was Christmas until dinner time. Then it was his birthday. His choice of dinner and a cake and everything. We made sure that we didn't combine Christmas/birthday gifts and we wrapped birthday gifts in birthday paper. Then he got a 2nd birthday in June. He got to have a party and presents all over again. He didn't seem to mind that he shared his birthday with Christmas. Never once did I hear him complain. Not even 2nd hand. In fact, I think he enjoyed it. Good luck and enjoy your new little one!
S.

Here's one for you:

My grandmother (mum's mum) was born on 12-25-1914
My mum was born on 12-25-1951
My mum's brother(one of several)was born on 12-25-1953

more to follow

I have 2 Dec children one on the 23rd and one on the 11th. When preg with my now 15 yr old, I was due on Christams day- I thought how cool to be a Christmas baby, but she got here a couple of days early. We have always done a small b-day party on her b day and then the normal Christmas Day. She always thought it great that she gets presents before Christmas then couple days later she gets more. We have also had a whole classroom b-day party right before school lets out for Christmas/ Winter break. If you start out with the b-days as you want them, then your child will know that that is the way b days are. Like us until she was about 8, we had a cake etc.. on her b-day nothing big.

Hello C.!
My son will be one on Dec 20th! You could not get much closer to Christmas. And to top it all, my husband and I work in retail! What we have decided to do is to have a special close family party on the 20th (just Grandparents, aunts and two cousins.) It would be all about him with nothing to do with Christmas. In mid January we will have a big B-day party for friends and other family. That way he will have two birthday parties! I think that this will become exciting to him over the years and makes it a little more special.

I have a January 15th baby (well, he's 9 now). WE do some things to make sure his birthday is acknowledged, but always give him a substantial 1/2 birthday present. It's not perfect, but he understands. No dreading necessary - It is certainly not the end of the world.

I have a friend with a child born the day after christmas. Yes they do the half birthday party but they also let the child choose the activities of the day on her actual birthday. They have four kids so it gets to be a lot of fun.

Smile, be strong and think positive for the miracle that you are bringing into this world. NOTHING about a new baby should be dreaded.

Now that I sound like some weirdo let me share with you what I have done and what we plan to do. I have two children with X-mas Bdays type B-days.

It took a few years to figure out what worked for my family with my daughter. She will be 17 this December so I dont have to worry about her B-day anymore as far as parties. BUT in elementary school I quickly learned I either had to make her party for a Friday night and make it a sleepover not ending til like noon the next day (This allowed the children who attended's parents to go to a Xmas party, shop late or just have a night to themselves (This option seemed to work best for anytime after Thanksgiving as they got older I would rent a hotel room this was great because the kids could swim and I didnt have to clean for a week afterwards).

Now I have a son that will be 3 five days before X-mas. Last year ONE O-N-E child came to his b-day party that was on his B-day party. I knew better than to have it on that day but due to family pressure I had it on his b-day for the first/last time.

From here on out My son will have his B-day party scheduled some time after Halloween but before Thanksgiving. I will be sitting down with my daughter and she and I will pull up a the calendars for the next dozen or so years and pick a weekend. This will be the weekend for my sons "Friend B-day". This will be his party weekend and we will have the normal sleep-overs, skating parties and such.

Now what to do with you lil ones actual B-day. That is a very very special day. My dear lil guy will pick everything for the day from his breakfast, lunch and dinner. Everyone in the family will go to the movies or skating or whatever my lil guy wants to do. By the time my daughter was 10 or 11 we would get a new outfit, go out to eat and her best friend would stay the night and give me a makeover (no there are no pictures of these makeovers lol).

Hopefully you will not have a hard headed well meaning but over opinionate family member to argue whatever you decide to do but remember birthdays are what you make them. If you are already dreading an X-mas b-day then you are more than likely a party mom that wants her child to have wonderful memorable b-days.

My daughter at my sons second B-day called her friends who came and played with my little guy and made the night a success for him. He ate cake and played and went to sleep with frosting in his hair. Afterwards she came to me and very quietly told me that she remembers before she got her "friend b-day" she thought no one liked her because so few people came to her party. She then thanked me for making her friend and family b-day parties for some of the most wonderful memories she has growing up. It wasn't the presents or the actual party is was being surrounded by her classmates and laughing and having fun and she wouldnt trade those memories for anything.

That made all of the stressing and worrying and dealing with my mother and her lectures about you cant change someones B-day worth. My little girl who is a junior this year and no longer feels the need for a friend b-day. She just wants to have her family b-day with those who mean the most to her.

Hope this is helpful. Hug your little one and if I can help at all please feel free to contact me. Oh by the way my oldest sons b-day was on St Pats day so we moved it by a week as well lol.

Take care and dont worry about the small stuff. Take care of yourself, try to relax and work toward a happy healthy new addition to your family.

Hi C.. I understand, I had a due date of December 20th (my Dad's birthday)I thought well that's cool... when I told him (a little teary eyed) all he said was "poor kid". Well! It was a similar situation for us, we miscarried our first child (D & C) in December 2001 (very un-merry Christmas!), then doc said wait 2-3 months before trying again. I waited three, and was pregnant I didn't think for a second what the due date would be! My wonderful daughter was born on December 26th at 9:46 am (after 32 hours of labor). She is special and wonderful and thoughtful! I think the important thing is that you do something special for thier birthday. When she turned 4, (on her birthday Dec 26th) we went to the Nutcracker Ballet, and had a kid party later on. We usually seperate the holiday and birthday a little. I think the most important thing is to make their day special, just as you do for all your other children! As for the comments, just say "isn't it wonderful?"
B. : )

My niece was born on Christmas day so my brother and his wife celebrate her birthday on a completely separate day from Christmas. Also, we all give her "birthday presents" AND Christmas presents that are separate. This has worked pretty well so we can all celebrate her own special day.

Hope that helps,
M.

Hi C.,

My beautiful daughter was born Christmas Eve and I worried about the same thing! We started a tradition of eating birthday cake for breakfast on the date of all of our real birthdays. After cake we give her a special birthday present. We also have a party day in June to celebrate her half birthday. One year, when Christmas Eve wasn't too crazy we took the family roller skating in the morning and had a great time. It was nice because the place was empty! I think Avery's favorite thing about her birthday is saying she was born the day before Jesus! Take heart - you will know what will work for your child.

Hope these things work for you. Avery is going to be six and she loves planning her party in June.

Blessings,
E. B

Hey there. This sounds like a question for me! My 1st son was due on New Year's Day and ended up coming a week early (Christmas day of '05). So far, we have done a party during the middle of the day on New Year's Eve (1st Birthday) and did a joint b-day with a cousin just before Christmas when a good amount of family was able to get together. However, this is the age when he really doesn't care too much about birthdays. What we plan to do when he gets a bit older is a 1/2 birthday in June for him, probably starting next summer. (which should be fun because his dad's b-day is in June and mine is in July....)I was thinking ahead to school age when he's going to want to have a bunch of friends over and how impossible it would be to get many over during Christmas break. So, I figured sometime early in the summer is a great time because most people don't leave for vacations until a little later in the summer and then he can have a sleepover pretty much any day of the week. =) I loved being able to always have sleepovers for my birthdays when I was young and most of my friends only got to have Sat. afternoon parties. I think what will happen is that he will probably still have something special on his actual birthday (cards, and most likely a couple presents from grandparents, and maybe even a small cake....), but when he's old enough to understand, we will explain that we want to celebrate his birthday at a time that's not going to get lost in the shuffle and we can just concentrate on him! At least, that's the plan for now. Who knows, it may keep evolving as he gets older, I just don't want him to feel left out or unimportant when it comes to birthdays. Have fun coming up with your own traditions! =) Good luck, and congrats on #4!

B. A.

C.,

All my niece and nephews on my side of the family are born in December or the first couple of days in January. Most of my niece and nephews have birthday parties with the family on or around their birthday. I've always suggested to my siblings that they also throw a birthday bash in July for their children so that they can have that special day.

I hope this idea might help but remember birthdays are special because you share them with people you care about. No matter when you child is born it will always be a special day.

Well, you never know what God has planned so worrying about something so far in the future seems fruitless. Also, my son's bday is on Dec. 10 and mine is one Jan 13 so we pretty much party as much as we can from one to the other. It is a very busy time but we make it work. Love to you, T.

HI C.,
How wonderful for you to be expecting! My darling son is was born on the 17th of December. Initially, his due date was January 2, 2003. My husband thought it would be neat to have his birthday as 01-02-03. Anyway, we were pleasantly surprised that he came early although I worried that it was so close to Christmas, he might get 'lost' in all the commercialism. It was alway important for me to have him feel 'special' with his own brthday so we imeediately decided to celebrate his birthday during the 2nd week in January. This has worked out well for our family because generally, no one is available for a party right before Christmas and most people, including my son, welcome a party in January. It helps to combat the post-Christmas Season blues, everything is on sale and the 2 special days are seperate.

For awhile, my son thought that Christmas was all about him and he liked all the decorations. We have worked hard to ensure that he understands what Christmas really means and that the birth of our Lord is marked with His birthday on the 25th. We celebrate that event with a birthday cake for Jesus.

Even though we don't have a birthday party for my son until January, we always celebrate it on the 17th with just our family no matter what day of the week it is. My son actually thinks it's neat to have his birthday so close to Jesus' and having them so close together has never been a problem.

Good luck to you and your family, we'll keep you in our prayers as you wait for your special and momentous occasion.

My sons birthday is Dec. 13th. Its not right at Christmas but I still find it hard cause its right after Thanksgiving and in the rush of last minute christmas shopping time. I heard the same things you are hearing "what a terrible time to have a birthday". I got so fed up i just started pointing out to people that I didnt want to focus on the day of his birth being a negative thing and i dont want that to be said around him although he will probably figure it out on his own that its not a very fair time. I always tell people that I love the holiday season and now we have even more reason to celebrate. They get the point. Have a birthday party a couple weeks after Christmas. We had his party at a pizza place in a room that had no Christmas decorations up and decorated a room in the house with only birthday stuff. It'll be fine. Congrats!

I have an easy dead-of-summer birthday but my Mom's is Dec. 14th. Her family was really poor growing up (my Gramma had 9 and it was only her after G-pa died). So, her birthday's-if she got a specific B-day present-were always "Christmas" themed". She said all she wanted was her own party and a present NOT wrapped in Christmas paper. I know that Christmas time is really busy but if you make it a priority then it will be special. Be sure to use BIRTHDAY decorations and BIRTHDAY wrapping paper. Really that's all my mom said she really wanted.

Congratulations on the new baby! He or she gets to share a birthday with the most important man ever born! Jesus. (ok I know that it's only when we celebrate it but it would make them feel even more special looking at it like that!)

My second child was born on the 15th of december, her due date was supposed to be the 23, but she decided to come early... But we for now until she gets older and can understand wait to put up the tree, so her bday isn't combined with christmas and she has her seperate day... sometimes we will do her bday party like the week before cus she wants to help put up the tree... it may change when she is older, since she is only 4 now. but my husband and i want to make sure she never feels like we put her presents to gether with christmas. so we have done like bowling parties which she and her brother loved, and other things that are very far from christmas themed... I love it cus it gives us a good excuse to relax and have some fun before christmas with our kids...

I have one daughter with a December birthday. She has always chosen to spend most of her birthday $$ from Grandma buying Christmas presents for her brother and sisters. I have never suggested that she do this, in fact I have to push her to buy something for herself, too. It has always made her feel good to be able to buy things with her own money, it gives the two of us a birthday tradition that sets her apart from the rest of the family (we have 8 children) and I think it has fostered generosity in her, as well.

So, there are some bonuses to December birthdays that people don't always think of. It really is a special time of year - I'll bet you'll come up with all kinds of ideas that work great for making your baby's birthday special!

I am a Christmas baby and agree that the birthday needs to be special and NOT related to Christmas in anyway...birthday decorations, cards, wrapping paper, cake, and a separate party. NO combined gifts! And don't let anyone else do this either. I hate the idea of celebrating a 1/2 birthday. In my opinion this takes away the specialness of this child's BIRTH DAY. I always loved having my birthday at Christmas, and did not mind that my birthday party with friends was celebrated a few days before my actual birthday (usually the weekend before Christmas). I owe my positive birthday feelings to how my parents celebrated ME on my special day, and at my special time of year.

My daughter was due January 21, but was born on December 23. I was worried about it too, but her 1st birthday was wonderful! We had a family-only party, and decorated with all pink and made sure no one wrapped her birthday gifts in Christmas paper. We had a friend party later in January. I think when she's older, we'll do the half-birthday party with her friends, but this worked really well for us this year. I'm sure we'll do the same kind of thing when she turns 2. Good luck, it's really not as bad as you think!

My son was also due around Christmas and was born on December 29th. He is only 3, so the whole concern about a Holiday Birthday hasn't hit him. I think changing your mind set to being more positive and responding with a positive comment to people who say negative things may help. Any baby is a blessing any time (we tried for 10 months before conceiving our son). It is always fun to have a party for him around the Holidays because everyone is already in a festive/celebratory mood. I think it makes the Holiday time even more special. My one rule is no combo Christmas/Birthday presents. The hard part is that this past year he got so many toys (too many that he doesn't play with) and now he is wondering when his Birthday will be here so he can get a few things that he wants. I definitely need to do something differnt with gifts this year. I also plan to have a half Birthday party when he is a little older if he is interested in it.

I know this probably doesn't help much. But I too wasn't thrilled with a December baby, but it really isn't as bad as people make it out to be. I think if you put a positive spin on it, it will be fine.

One of my closest friends has a little sister whose birthday is in late December. What her family did was every year around midsummer they had a "half birthday". She was very happy with this, and felt even more special because she got two special days instead of one, and didn't seem to notice as much when her actual birthday was a bit overshadowed.

I have a couple of friends with kids with "Christmas" birthdays. They each do a smaller more intimate family celebration around Christmas. Maybe you could do some sort of candle ceremony. Birthday rings are nice, because then you do the blow out the candle thing, but can save the cake for a time when you aren't inundated with all the holiday treats. And then still do birthday presents from the family.
I have been to a berry picking half birthday party and also know a family that has an elaborate Halloween costume party for the half birthday celebration. As you child gets older they can pick how they want to pass their "half" birthdays. I think just making the effort to make the child feel special is all it takes.

My brother was born dec 27th-he NEVER had to share his birthday with Christmas. We always celebrated his birthday separate and he usually got the added bonus of having the relatives from out of town staying through his birthday AND it was during winter vacation so he could play the whole day.

My oldest was due on dec 29th but she wasn't born until Jan 12th-which is a few weeks away from christmas at least and usually if there are too many gifts, we hide some away until summer and it's like a "1/2 birthday"

My first daughter was born on Dec.21st. She was the best Christmas present I ever received. We have always just made sure her presents weren't wrapped or combined with Christmas. She is 28 now and doesn't seem to have suffered.
L.

Hi C. -
I have a new year's baby (10:21 pm 12/31!) I heard the same things from people and frankly, it's not as if youplanned it that way and it's none of their business.
My daughter is 13 now so she understands how the holidays work. What I have done since her first birthday was simply to decorate the house with BIRTHDAY stuff on her birthday and set aside time for a family birthday celebration. Unfortunately, it is hard to do birthday parties at this time as many people are out of town or have family over, etc. So we have her party with firends about a month later.
Specify to family and friends who are invited to join in her birthday celebration that it is a birthday and that gifts should be wrapped in BIRTHDAY paper (I had a tacky member use christmas wrapping - not cool). And make that day all about her and try as much as possible to ignore the holiday. Because my daughter's birthday in on New year's eve we celebrate during the day and with a family dinner. After she opens her gift we sort of transition into new year's eve.
Hope that helps a little. No time is a bad time for the birth of a loved and wanted baby. It's just one more celebration to add to the holidays!
K.

Hi C.,
I have a sister-in-law those B-day is Christmas day. Her family made it special by celebrating her birthday on Christmas Eve. It made it more fun and exciting preparing for Christmas to know each child got to pick a gift and open it, as well as watching their sibling open b-day gifts. Imagine ballons and christmas ordinments centered around the cristmas tree. I think having a baby born during the christmas holiday is already special. I had my two children in February and being PG at christmas gave me a deeper tug on my heart strings. Birthdays are always special no matter when they are, don't let the outside responses take that away.

Happy happy birthday to you and your new little person.

Sincerely,
J.

Hi!
We actually have two boys that are relatively close to Christmas--one is a week before and the other is just over a week after, LOL. We have heard all the same things (and still do) from people about what a terrible time that is to have a birthday. We just make sure that their birthday and Christmas gifts are not lumped together so as to say "here, this is your Christmas and your birthday present" and we also make sure that their gifts are not wrapped in Chistmas wrap. We have also asked family to do the same. Around the 6-month mark in the summertime we also get them a special gift, i.e. a swing set, bouncy castle, usually something that we couldn't really get them for their birthday because they wouldn't be able to use it til the weather warmed up. I hope this helps! And shame on those who frown upon Christmas babies! Their birthdays are as special as you make them :-)

Hi There! My oldest son was born fiva days before christmas (12-20-2003) and well I don't see why people think it's a bad time.. Well we celebrate his birthday on the actual date or at least on a saturday or sunday before christmas. We have family and friends come over to help celebrate it and well we do it at chuck e cheeses.. Kids love it there.. He never gets tired of it.. Well maybe one day he will be, but he enjoys every second of it, especially the gifts.. Then there's christmas and well more gifts..Well try something where the little one will have fun at, especially that time is where it's cold outside.. Well what ever you do they'll love it, cause they'll know that their mommy and daddy did it for them... Well good luck and congrats!!

I'm a Christmas grown up! I was born on December 22nd and a year later, my brother was born on the same day. We always felt as though our birthdays were extra special... the whole world decorated, made special cookies, got together with family ~ all on our birthday week.

As the mother of three, my birthday sometimes gets lost in the shuffle. We try to usually reserve a couple of hotel rooms downtown and enjoy an evening of Christmas shopping and a dinner in a nice restaurant.

Everything is what you make it. I love having a Christmas birthday!

Hi C..

My daughter was born on Dec. 30th. I got the same comments. (Aren't people annnoying?)

I take down all of the Christmas decorations on the 26th or 27th and then decorate the house for her birthday.

If your baby is born before Christmas, then you could also leave one room of your house as a Christmas-free Zone and have her decorations up there for the week of her birthday.

We also plan on giving the option of having a party at another time.

Good luck with the baby!

It's not bad at all, but it does get spendy at Christmas time. My birthday is Dec. 22, my sons is Dec. 6 and my husbands is Jan 1. From my experience it's been fun to have a birthday so close to Christmas. I used to get my own small tree in my room which my birthday presents went under. The one thing I would stress is to make the two occasions separate (and encourage others to also). Getting presents for the events separately (not a combined one)and no Christmas wrapping paper for the birthday. One thing to keep in mind, as with any birthday that happens when school is not in session, that sometimes friends are out of town. I used to invite a few extra friends to make sure there were people who were able to come to my party. From my husband's experience, I think it was harder having a birthday after Christmas, because all the fun and excitement of the holiday is over and some people are tired of the gift-giving/parties, etc. I will all be fine.

People are so rude! My daughter's birthday is December 20th - her due date was January 24 - I couldn't believe how many people were like so sorry a January birthday - never mind a December. Make your kid's day special. She is so special - it took us 3 years to conceive her - and she was quite healthy at 35 weeks. Birthday's aren't always a choice.

Her dad's birthday is 12-12 and her aunt's is 12-18.

I'll be the first to admit she gets spoiled on both days to make both day's special. We are planning on having her first birthday party - 3 years this year. My only worry is conflicting holiday schedules but I imagine it's the same as summer vacations - we've missed 3 summer birthday parties already this year.

Please don't let people ruin your joy or your child's special day.

Hey I know we always want the best for our kids, to feel that they will never suffer. My kids are born in jan and march and yes sometimes I have wished that we could do a summer extravaganza (me and my husband also have winter birthdays).
But honestly all I really care about is that each birthday is full of smiles, love and family. Which it is especially at christmas time.
You have 3 amazing children, and another on the way. How lucky you are! So you didn't get to choose the birthday of your final delivery. What do some people just wish for over and over? A child. And when do we think our wishes may come true? At christmas. Here comes your last gift. This is what you have to work with. So if you don't want to only celebrate his birthday at xmas time, get creative! I am part Greek and Greeks celebrate name days. My Greek name is Eleni and the name day for Eleni is on May 21st. I celebrate my birthday in december and again in may, and it in may I feel it is full of my custom and extra special. Find your roots. Your child has other links to this earth aside from the day he arrived. And be truly thankful. cos you are blessed.

Hi there, My first born son was due in early January but I ended up needing to be induced the day after Christmas. I got all of the same comments as you and I too was pretty worried at first. I am not one who wanted to do a half birthday either, I too wanted to celebrate ON his birthday. Well my son is now 7 1/2 years old and we personally have had no issues with it at all. I actually love having his birthday that time of year, it was always my favorite time of year anyways, so how great that my boys' birthday's are then too. My other son was born in late January so I've got two around that time. They think it's great! There is usually lots of family around too so that makes it even more fun for them. Here's a few things that we've done. We make sure we don't use Christmas paper for their birthday presents. I put up special birthday decorations of some theme that he likes and we really make a big deal about it being HIS special day. I've always said, "how cool B, first we celebrate Jesus birthday and then we get to celebrate yours". And as far as friend parties, if we end up doing one, it's always in January after the kids are back in school and it gives him something to really look forward to still. If you asked my son, I don't think he'd trade his birthday for anything, he loves it and we just find our own ways to make it special. Because you care alot about it, I know you will too.

my due date was dec 25th, but Josh was born on the 22nd...
it is sooooo hard to have parties because it is a fincial burden for your family as well as other families who your child would invite, not to mention that is the time when people are attending or hosting parties, we also have a child in January fun huh? (but when you want a family you don't nit pick over a day or two)
what we did was have a family party in december, but a big b'day party in the summer (3 of my kids are born in July as well as myself)yea yea, I know planning was out the window (we were fertility treatment couple) but the summer blowout was always soooo much fun.

Wow, reading this was as if you were writing my thoughts. We are due with #3 on the 21st of December.
I have looked everywhere and talked to friends whose birthdays were in the Christmas time frame. Some of the best advice I got was to have a cake and mini celebration with no mention of Christmas. Have it like you would a typical birthday dinner. A special themed cake, presents (NO Christmas wrapping paper allowed), and explain to the guests that this is a special birthday and you would prefer no mention of Christmas. Also, never ever double up on gifts, i.e. gifts for Christmas and gifts for Birthday. Be sure that if your other child were going to get $100 of birthday gifts then the Christmas baby gets the same for his birthday. Even if it is Christmas time.

Another friend (born the 24th) has two birthdays. His real one which is usually ignored due to his request, and then his "other" birthday which is a day he chose at 5yo and they do his party.

Other than that, we both can wish on stars, and hope that our babies are January babies instead. :-D