When Do Your Kids Open Their Birthday Presents?

We always gave one present in the morning and the rest at supper when daddy was home also. breakfast they got a present, a candle in their pancake/egg or whatever they were having. they got to pick out whatever they wanted to wear. and then that was it til after supper. But also we kept the presents put away. not out tempting them. They had no idea if they were getting one or 100. and at that age she won't know its her birthday or what that even means unless you really make it a big deal.

After dinner.

Have a balloon on her chair for breakfast time.
Get her to preschool, down for a nap and tell her after dinner, she gets cake & to open presents.

They open them when it is best.

Some they might open in front of the family member or friend who traveled and gave it to them.

Is the present sitting on the table where she can see it? If it is intended for later, 'out of sight out of mind' works in our house.

Typically after they eat cake is when the presents are opened.

I would not do it before school because she'll never calm down all day wanting to go home to play with her new stuff. I would not do it at lunch because she's going to be a bear without her nap and she won't take one after that. I would not do it after nap unless no one else in the household is coming home later.

If you are a single parent and no other siblings are there then do it after she wakes up and has a snack. then she can play happily while you start dinner.

Otherwise I'd do it after dinner when everyone is home and you can have cake and ice cream for dessert and the official opening of the gifts.

At our house family presents are opened at the meal that is celebrating the birthday girl. Sometimes that's lunch, mostly it's dinnertime, so we don't feel rushed. We want quality time together to make memories.

At the age of 3, birthday's are still a new concept, so if you don't mention presents and keep them hidden, you can open them whenever you decide is the best time. It sounds like dinner might be the best time for your family...if you don't talk it up, then there probably won't be a meltdown because of the anticipation.

I would have birthday cake after dinner and then have her open the gifts. That is our tradition. Before school she will just want to play with them and not leave! Before nap she won't want to nap! Before dinner then she might not want to eat. Have an early dinner as a family and then serve cake and let her open the gifts.

Opening her presents and then having to leave them behind to go to school and not get to play with them is cruel.
Let her open them when she gets home and screw the nap for one day.

We do it with the birthday cake.

We do the friend presents at the birthday party - then do the family gifts on the actual birth day.

If family has come over, then we tie it with a meal usually. So sometimes it's after dinner and cake, or sometimes after lunch and cake, and sometimes if it's a summer birthday for example, we just have family over and do cake and presents outside on deck ... followed by a barbecue.

Whenever makes sense really - when as you say, you're not rushed.

I've never done before school (I would think hard to get them to leave presents) and that would be rushed.

Mine are pretty good at just waiting till birthday time - even when they were really little.

They will want to play with them ... so if you have to go out or nap right after, I'd wait till after.

Three is a great age for birthdays :) Have fun!

We usually give our gift(s) to the kid on the day we have their birthday party, which is often not on the actual calendar birthdate.

If we were giving the gift on a weekday, then it would likely be before or after dinnertime. Our kids get to pick where to have dinner out on their exact birthday, and my husband works days so he wouldn't be home in the morning or lunchtime.

With a 3-year-old, definitely don't have the presents in her sight or even mention they exist until you're ready for her to open them. It sounds like it would work out best if you keep quiet about it until after her nap.

After dinner and cake. :)

We did it after dinner, with the cake of course!

My kids open theirs in the evening, like after dinner, unless they opened it at a party already. I often had something small for them to open on their birthday in that case and they could open in the morning if time allowed and dad was home to see it.

i keep the presents hidden till after the b-day cake eating which is after eating dinner. they get half their presents on their b-day the rest at their b-day party

We always do it at dinner ... or at least when the whole family is there.

When my kids were in preschool they brought treats to school for their birthday. Also, the preschool has birthday traditions. So there was plenty for them to be excited about that had nothing to do with opening presents. I think you're safe just not mentioning presents until it is time for her to open them.

We always have a special dinner and dessert on birthdays an open gifts after dessert. I've taught my kids to be patient from the start, so waiting to open gifts actually builds anticipation and makes it more exciting rather than just opening them and getting it over with. It's always nicer to spend the day with something great to look forward to.

After nap.
She'll be in a much better mood.
If you don't tell her about any presents, she won't think about them
Just surprise her after nap time.
She'll have time to play with stuff before bedtime.

After dinner and cake. Just put them out of sight until then so they are not driving her crazy all day.

After dinner and cake.

My kids open their family presents first thing in the morning on their bdays. I would do it before school so she doesn't have to wait until after her nap if I were you.

Everyone is up early on birthday mornings. The birthday person requests what they would like for breakfast and then opens presents and cards. They also get the "you are special today" plate. It was what we always did growing up and what I always did with my kids.

when will she have her family cake?
right after that.
khairete
S.

Isn't there a quiet hour after dinner, birthday cake, then gifts. Maybe dinner a little early so she gets extra time to play with her presents. I guess when my kids were 3 they didn't even realize they were waiting for anything on their birthday....