I don’t remember such a fuss being made about a baby’s first Christmas when I was younger – I never saw baubles and stockings declaring ‘baby’s first christmas’ until my own kids were at least teenagers! 
And I’m not sure anyone benefits from this change – well, no one other than the retailers that is.
For starters, the baby can’t read and doesn’t really care – sorry to disappoint you but it’s true. If the baby is old enough to sit up and watch Christmas around them, they’ll be more interested in the wrapping paper, people and decorations than a stocking (especially as many are insipid pastel things for some silly gender bias).
I prefer the ideas from Santa’s Elf on items that are at least reusable – put the year of the first Christmas on the stocking they’ll use for the next decade or so or get a beautiful photo you can display. Much better use of money than a stocking that is too small to hold anything and looks silly if used for baby’s second or third Christmas.
But even better is to just enjoy Christmas with that baby – they don’t stay babies for long so treasure it by playing together rather than buying mementos you’ll just have to store and never look at again.
A special note for grandparents, aunts, uncles and so on – it’s cute to acknowledge someone’s first Christmas with a baby but think about if they really want a cheap stocking or a genuine keepsake. My daughter was inundated last year with cutesy stockings and baubles – she feels guilty throwing them out but hates the idea of storing such nonsense. The friend who took a lovely photo of each parent holding the baby and framed them put in a little more effort and his gift is proudly on the wall for all to see.
My daughter was also happy with her brother’s ‘first Christmas’ idea of starting a family album where a photo of my grandchildren (I assume more will come!) will be placed each Christmas as a record of the family growing.
So I just think people should put a little thought into first Christmases rather than those commercialised ideas retailers want us to follow. I don’t mean to offend, just to get people thinking…
Hi Bronwyn, and thanks for sharing your ideas. I love your approach to spend more time with the baby (and parents) and get personalised mementoes (like photos) instead of cutesy first Christmas stockings and the like. And storage of things we don’t want is just a silly thing we so often do to avoid offending anyone. I’ve never bought one of those first stockings (nor been given any) and I tend to agree with you so probably never will get one.
All of my children have 1st Christmas ornaments, along with a new ornament every year. This is a tradition that they look forward to. Their first Christmas stockings were regular size and had their baby photo on them and a few other cute baby things. Do they still use them? No. But they were able to be used for a couple of years until they got older. I think it is more of a tradition and keepsakes for the parents. I would never do that for a gift for someone else though. I always give a gift they can use along with the yearly new ornament for family and close friends.
A stocking with their photo would certainly make a nice keepsake for the parents – hang it up once the kids have left home to be a nice reminder of Christmases past 🙂
I think the Baby’s First Christmas stockings are silly too. I bought a Baby’s First Christmas porcelain ornament with the year my daughter was born on it. That ornament goes on the tree every year to this day. A special ornament or a memory photo album are better ways to remember your baby’s first Christmas than a stocking or tiny Santa outfit.
A nice ornament you reuse sounds really nice to me, too 🙂
I agree that it’s great as a keepsake. A little bit craziness and doing silly things adds up to a lot of fun. Oddly those are the things you remember later on as my mom did this for me or my mom did that for me when she didn’t have to. But make that a clean stocking…otherwise…ugh…:)
Hohohoho – thanks for the laugh Magic Pixel! Not using a not-clean stocking was a most unexpected response!
Yes, it is often the little things that add up to a special memory.
I think as new parents it’s just part of the excitement of finally being able to buy gifts for a little one. Even if the baby is just a few weeks old at Christmas, it doesn’t matter. The mama wants to go shopping and buy for baby. Of course she knows the baby has no concept of what is going on. It’s mostly for a parents satification.
Yes, I think there is definitely a lot of excitement in sharing someone’s first Christmas – even if they don’t know much of what is going on!
If I remember correctly, my mother kept all of our Christmas stockings. She’d buy a new one every few years and they would always have some kind of pattern or image pertaining to our personality or names. I appreciate the thought she would put into those little details whenever she thought we needed a new one. I lalso can’t help but remember how those stockings would get gradually bigger as the time went by. Before I went off to college for the first time, I could fit half my leg in one. It’s a nice memory.
That’s lovely, sorrowscal. I have always liked the idea of a traditional (ie the same one!) stocking – and still have my childhood stocking – but that idea of tailoring the stocking to match the owner is fantastic!
It is a lovely idea, and it’s one I’m hoping to carry on with my own children. I’d do that for the kids I babysit but their parents already have stockings for them ready-made. Though sometimes I will sneak extra candy-canes in those for them.