Christmas Joy
Christmas JoyHow can I keep my toddler safe around our Christmas tree?
Author: mike | Filed under: Toddler & Preschooler
Kelli H asked:
I am the Mom of a 19 month old boy, and I’m sure as soon as we get our Christmas tree and decorate it he will be pulling down decorations faster than we can put them up. Any suggestions?
- Tags: Christmas, Christmas Tree, Mom
?tall_girl
October 20th, 2008 at 8:00 am
Keep him away!
cailieco
October 20th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
What we did when our children were small was put the christmas tree in a playpen and they couldn’t get to it.
Good Luck
lucyanddesi
October 22nd, 2008 at 11:16 pm
We have a fence around our gas fireplace to keep Jr. from burning himself. We plan on moving it out a little on one side and putting the tree behind it. Not so festive, but…..
mle32005
October 25th, 2008 at 7:48 am
We have been making paper ornaments for the past 7 years. I have a 7yr old, 4 yr. old, 18 month old. We will do it again this year. That way if the baby decides she needs to eat one it is only paper. And if she drops one… well oh well… pick it back up… no broken glass. Just a thought that works for us. Good luck
Also… it is a lot of fun to let the kids color the paper. It makes it festive. I love the scribble ones. It also makes it something to talk about with the in-laws.
Nickey b
October 27th, 2008 at 6:39 am
I just didn’t use lights or anything my baby could hurt herself on at the bottom (and so far up the tree) and let her go to town ripping everything off lol
3B4
October 27th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
I was wondering the exact same thing.I also have a 19 month old boy and he loves to get into everything.We have not yet put up our tree-but I am hoping he will not be pulling the lights and decorations off.I have heard you can put a baby fence around it-but that would take away from the beauty.I am just going to hope that he will get bored with it after a few days-but until then I may have to put up with the pulling off of ornaments.My son knows what no means and obeys about 70% of the time-hopefully he will with the tree!
Ashley G
October 29th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
I agree with the fence, but you could also make sure there arent any lights or ornaments within reaching level and ***** the base into the floor so it wont tip over(I know it sounds crazy but thats why the base has those holes)…tree may look silly but better safe than sorry.
devil_bunny_99
November 1st, 2008 at 3:26 am
Get one of those portable, child-safe modular fences. The kind with six or eight bendable panels.
Put it around the tree. Your son will then have free run of the rest of the room, but he will not be able to reach the tree to pull off the decorations.
Also consider using only plastic ornaments and no garlands or tinsel until your son is older and knows better.
I did that when my daughter was a toddler, and it worked like a charm!! We took the glass ornaments out of storage all too soon; they grow up so fast.
not.in2u
November 2nd, 2008 at 2:25 am
It may sound strange, but I put a christmas tree in a playpen. I imagine that you could also fence it off with the toddler yard gates (they form a circle.)
PfcsBaby
November 4th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Kids will be kids. Especially younger ones. Make sure your tree is tied somewhere on the wall to keep it from falling down if pulled on. I used 2 hooks on either side of the tree and attached a wire around the tree to the hooks. It really helps. Not just with kids, but with pets too. Make sure you have decorations that are not breakable near the bottom of the tree. Some people may suggest keeping all the decorations out of reach, but it can kinda look stupid having 1/2 the tree bare. So just make sure if you have any breakable decorations, that they go near the top. Also any decorations that your lil one cant choke on. Just keep an eye on your lil one. Thats what I did with my son. You cant keep things from him, but also, cant let him have everything. Believe me, he will understand the word “no” in no time. Hope this helps!
Beth
November 6th, 2008 at 1:43 am
Explain to him that if will hurt him or something like that and tell him he cant touch it
brat
November 8th, 2008 at 6:14 am
This might sound mean but it worked with my 2 kids. I told them not to touch as it was a (pretty) and when they started touching I took there hand and put the end of the branch in there palm and closed there hand on it and they got picked by the needles,not enough to hurt them but to know not to touch as it is picky. As far as the decotations on the tree,only put the breckable stuff on top,let them hang others on the bottom. Tell everyone that they helped as this will make them feel proud,hopefully enough that they won’t touch it.
Twiggy
November 11th, 2008 at 8:58 am
You just have to teach him not to touch…..I have a 2 year old and Ive taught her not to touch.(mind you she still tries but lay the law down).she has things she can and things she cant……for example Ive made her ,her own Xmas tree..its a twig tree and i have things on it she can touch..its a kids tree….i got big plastic bulbs with Dora/sponge bob and other cartoons on it so she does with it as she will. she cant hurt herself or anything else on it
She thinks its great….thats her tree