Baby's First Birthday - 1st Birthday

Bibs for a Baby’s First Birthday Party

rebecca — Wed, 16 May 2012 15:38:34 +0000

Bibs make a great baby’s first birthday party gift or favour for your little guests. They’re also very practical during the party too with all that messy finger food flying around.

You can either download a bib template from the Internet (check out Martha Stewart or Pottery Barn’s sites) or you can simply buy a batch of plain or white bibs to decorate yourself. If you have older children, they may love to be involved in this craft project.

If you have chosen to buy a batch of inexpensive bibs, then be sure to wash them first so that they’re shrunk and able to take colour and glue.

Decorate the bibs with a selection of fabric paints, fabric markers, iron-on stickers, decorations. Children love interesting textures and bright colours, so go all out with the design of your first birthday party bibs. A few words of warning though:
Be sure though that anything that you stitch on is large and will not be swallowed by inquisitive little mouths!
Also ensure that only an adult is in charge of ironing on any stickers or patterns. Make sure even a cooling iron is supervised at all times.

You can add messages such as ‘Archie’s First Birthday Party’, or you can personalise each bib with the name of the guest. If you prefer you can choose to add phrases such as ‘On the Sauce’ or ‘Party, 2AM, My Crib, Bring a Bottle’.

Baby’s First Birthday Locations

rebecca — Mon, 14 May 2012 11:47:03 +0000

If you’re going to be throwing a first birthday for your baby soon, then you might be wondering what kind of location the party should take place in.

List of locations for a first birthday party

At your house
Perhaps the most obvious choice is to throw a 1st birthday party at your own house. It’s familiar territory for both you and your child. You could have a room (such as the dining room) for eating and another room (perhaps the living room) for entertainment and playing. The downside to having a party at your own house is that you may end up with guests that outstay their welcome and of course you’ll have a lot of mess to clear up afterwards.

At the grandparents house
Unless you do a runner afterwards, you’ll still have mess to clear up, but you’ll probably also have some assistance in the form of your parents or inlaws. Holding a baby’s first birthday at the grandparents house is a great idea if they have a particularly sizeable house with lots of safe roomy areas that the children can play in. It’s important to consider the location of where they live though, if it is far from your own house or from where your guests live.

At a friends house
If you have lots of friends (perhaps from an antenatal class?) where lots of the babies are turning 1 within a small period of time, then you might consider having 1 big joint birthday party for all the 1 year olds, otherwise you’ll be attending a first birthday party every weekend. If this is the case, then it might be a good idea to throw a joint birthday party at one of your friends houses, particularly if they have a large house or one that is in a good, central location which is easy for all the guests to get to.

In the park
If your baby is turning 1 during the summer, then you might consider having a first birthday picnic in the park. Now, this is England, so one thing you’ll need to think about and is the weather. But if you’re lucky with the sunshine, then this can be a great idea. It’s free, you don’t need to worry too much about mess (although please take your litter home) and there is no end up space to use. Make sure you take lots of sun cream and floppy hats to keep the babies covered up though and be alert for any dangerous dogs that are not being correctly looked after by their owners.

At a restaurant function room
If you’re planning a more formal event, with lots of adult friends and family, then you might consider hiring a restaurant function room for you baby’s first birthday party. This won’t be a cheap option at all, but you could choose either a buffet or a sitdown meal and invite all your nearest and dearest to help you celebrate your baby turning 1.

At a village hall or similar function room
If you’re looking for a more sizeable location than your own house, but want a more affordable choice than a restaurant function room, then the hiring of a village or church hall may be for you. You can easily hire a children’s entertainer, hook up a sound system for nursery rhymes and party tunes and put up a table with your buffet spread.

10 tips for a successful Baby’s First Birthday Party

rebecca — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 10:28:46 +0000

There are a lot of things to consider when planning a 1st birthday party, but for a quick overview, here are our 10 tips for a successful baby’s first birthday party.

1. Send out your 1st birthday party invitations at least 1 month before

If you want to avoid a disappointing turn out to your baby’s first birthday party, then make sure that you give people lots of notice so they don’t schedule anything else into their calendars. Your social life may have been pretty dire for the past year, but you may remember how quickly you used to get booked up in advance, so let your nearest and dearest know. Even though they should know when your baby’s 1st birthday is, they may not be aware that you’re planning to throw a party to which they’re invited, so send out those invitations with a few weeks to spare.

2. Keep your guest list intimate

We would recommend that you try to keep your guest list to a maximum of 20 people including other children. This is a small number which will allow you to be able to chat to everyone whilst still being able to spend quality time with your baby on their big day. Every baby is different, but hopefully your baby won’t be too overwhelmed if you have a reasonably small party.

3. Enlist help in throwing your party

Birthday parties for 1 year olds can be quite daunting and chaotic to throw, so it’s a great idea to enlist some help. Your partner is probably the obvious choice to assist in some of the jobs you have on your list, but on the offchance that you aren’t blessed with a partner who doesn’t have a very strong skillset in the area of first birthday organisation, then you might want to look towards a grandparent, sibling or best friend to help you out with things such as the food preparation and entertainment.

4. Hire a children’s entertainer

Prices do vary, but it can be a great idea to hire a children’s entertainer even if it’s only for 30 minutes at the party. This will give you chance to clear away the food, chat to the adult guests or just breathe a sigh of relief amidst one rather hectic afternoon. It’s also lovely to watch your child being completely mesmerised by the entertainment on offer.

5. Make sure your camera and or camcorder are fully charged

This goes without saying and yet it’s so common for batteries to run out at that crucial moment – it would just be typical that you’re suddenly out of battery just when you’re ready to take that gorgeous photo of your little one in front of their first birthday cake. So make sure not only that your camera is fully charged, but also that you know exactly where your charger is located just in case you require it.

6. Schedule the 1st birthday party according to your baby’s nap schedule

If you want your baby to be in a good mood at his or her birthday party, then getting the timing of the party right is an absolute must. By now your baby will hopefully be in somewhat of a routine, so if you’re lucky you’ll be able to predict when your baby’s naptimes are. Try and schedule the party to start at about 30 minutes after your baby’s lunchtime nap so that he or she has had time to fully wake up and hopefully be in a fine mood to accept visitors to the home! Note: this of course takes more planning if you’re holding the party outside of your home.

7. Have a memento for your guests to sign for your baby

It’s a lovely idea to get the guests at the birthday party to leave a message for your baby so that when he or she is 18 (or another milestone age) they can read these beautiful thoughts. You can collect these in many different ways – perhaps a scrapbook with lots of photos of your little one and space for people to write in. Another idea is to purchase a ceramic message plate, which you can write in before cooking in the oven. Finally, you could create a message documentary and video everyone at the party.

8. Specify an end time to the 1st birthday party

If you don’t plan on having the party continue until the evening hours, then make sure that everyone knows this so you don’t have to suffer the embarrassment of turfing everyone out of your house when you’ve had enough. A great way to do this is to specify both the party’s start and end time on the invitations. So for instance your wording could be ‘Celebrate Jessica’s 1st Birthday with us from 2pm-4pm on Saturday, 21st March’.

9. Have a spare birthday party outfit

When planning a party for your 1 year old, you’ll have probably picked out a special outfit that you want your baby to wear on their 1st birthday. This might be a fancy dress outfit that matches the party’s theme, or it might just be a particular ensemble (!) that you’ve been looking forward to putting them in. But as you’ll know by now, accidents do happen, whether they be of the food, puking or nappy spillages variety, so it’s a great idea to have a backup outfit that they look equally adorable in, just in case.

10. Have a budget and stick to it

.
It can be easy to get carried away when planning a 1st birthday party. If you’re not in control of yourself, then you can end up spending a fortune on decorations, goody bags, invitations, children’s entertainment etc etc. You’ll have already ended up buying your 1 year-old gifts for their birthday too, so your finances may be a little stretched. The good news is that it is very possible to throw a baby’s first birthday party on a budget. But whatever your finances are, the best thing to do is work out the maximum amount that you’re willing to spend and then divide that money into the different categories that need taking care of. Then make sure you don’t spend more than you’re happy with!

1st Birthday Party for Twins

rebecca — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 16:01:23 +0000

Throwing a baby’s first birthday party for twins?

If your twins are about to turn 1, then a party to celebrate this extremely busy first year is a must!
Believe it or not, there are some positives to gain from having to throw a first birthday party for twins, as opposed to throwing two separate parties for children of different ages. First of all, as they share a birthday, you’ll only have to send out one set of invitations, hire one venue, make one lot of food, hire one children’s entertainer etc. It’s about the only time where having twins is actually a cost-saver!

Themes for a 1st birthday party for twins

If you have identical twins with identical personalities (but who does?!) then you might only be interested in having 1 theme which both your girls or boys will love. But if you have twins of the opposite sex, or even of the same sex but with very different likes and dislikes, then you may want to find a theme which encompasses both your twins.
Here are some examples:

Noah’s Ark (works well if you’re friends with any other twin sets through a twin support group, but if not then baby and parent can come as the same animal)
Superheroes (each twin could be a different character)
Ocean theme (choices could include octopus, fish, mermaids, pirates)
Zoo (endless options including lions, tigers, giraffes, rhinos, pandas, elephants)
Farm animals (cows, sheep, chickens
Colours (if each twin has a favourite colour such as red and blue, then make it a red and blue themed party)

Invitations for a twins first birthday party

Again, a big plus point to only having one party to throw for your twins, is that you only need to send out one set of first birthday party invitations! You can have real fun with the wording on the invites if you’re designing them yourself. Here are some of our favourite twin phrases and rhymes to incorporate:

Double Trouble
Twice as Nice
Twice as Fun
Womb Mates
Twinkle twinkle little star, oh how wonderful all twins are
Twice the bundles and twice the love, two little 1 year olds, sent from above
Two Peas in a Pod

Decorations and mementos for a 1st birthday party for twins

As with the theme selection for your twins, you should also try and encorporate a touch of individuality into the decorations for the party. We think printing poster size versions of your favourite photos of the twins and decorating walls and doors with them is a lovely idea that will have all your guests fawning over them. Another idea is to have a scrapbook for each twin go around the room and get your adult guests to write a message to each twin in their respective books.

First Birthday Cakes for Twins

Finally, you have a decision to make when it comes to the cake – what is the best first birthday cake for twins? Well, you have several options here; you can either choose:

One birthday cake that has both their names written on it and incorporates a theme that they both love
A birthday cake for each twin so they both have a candle to blow out
Birthday cupcakes – perhaps in two different flavours.

One Third of Mothers Get Into Debt on Maternity Leave

rebecca — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:46:53 +0000

A recent study of 1000 mothers conducted by Uswitch.com has uncovered the following facts:

28% of new mothers end up in debt whilst on maternity leave
Only 1 quarter of new mothers felt prepared for the financial burdens of parenthood
1 in 10 new mothers (actually 11%) have to cut their maternity leave short in order to return to work and start earning money again
9% of new mothers were forced to reconsider their original plans of not returning to work post-leave
1 in 10 borrowed money from relatives in order to cover the shortfall in their incomes
Around 14% used credit cards, loans and overdrafts to fund their basic living costs and maternity lifestyles

It is thought that some of the costs that new mothers and families find hard to pay for include larger items such as new carseats, highchairs, buggies, cots etc as well as the week-by-week budgeting for nappies, formula, baby food etc.

Justine Roberts who is the co-founder of Mumsnet website has this to say about the report: ‘Statutory maternity pay at just over £100 a week after the first six weeks of maternity leave represents a real pay cut for most women.
“This, coupled with inflated fuel and food prices and the VAT increase, means that new mums are reporting feeling an exaggerated version of the pressures currently faced by most families.
“This Government promised to be the most family friendly in Europe, as things stand it still has a long way to go’.

A Government spokesman has responded with reference to the new family-friendly flexible parental leave model which allows parents to split the leave between them so as to suit modern families and workplaces. This model particularly suits families where the mother earns more than the father.
In addition, the Government reminds us that they’ve raised the personal allowance in this year’s budget to £9205 (for 2013-14), as well as amending the child benefit system to aid 750,000 parents who were previously losing out.

But even with this minor assistance from the government, it still stands that a large quantity of new mums are accumulating these large debts of up to £2500 which is absolutely heartbreaking.

Who to invite to a baby’s first birthday party

rebecca — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:36:06 +0000

When you choose to host a baby’s first birthday party, one of the things you’ll need to decide is who you wish to invite. The length of the guest list will depend largely on the type of event you’re hosting. If you have a small home for instance, then you may choose to have an intimate gathering with immediate family only, whereas if you’re hired a function room or venue then you can of course allow for a much more generous guest list. Finances may be a big part of your decision as well. If you’re choosing to throw a 1st birthday party on a budget, then you’ll need to cut corners with who you invite. If money is no object then of course this is a different matter.

Baby’s First Birthday Party Invitations might go to:

Grandparents and other immediate family members such as your siblings
Most grandparents and your baby’s aunts and uncles will take great delight in being invited to be part of your baby’s milestone 1st birthday celebrations. However, if they do not live nearby, in a different part of the country or overseas, then make the decision as to whether or not to invite them with great care. If invited they may feel obliged to attend this birthday party, when really it’s not convenient for them and travelling could be expensive for them. Another problem area can be if there are any family members who do not get on. If they’re going to bring their family politics with them to your baby’s 1st birthday, then they may ruin your celebrations. If neither of these factors are a problem for you though, then family members are an excellent addition to the guest list. They will love showering your baby with love and attention and may even help out with the food preparation and clearing up.

Your best friends
Depending on the size of your guest list, you can possibly consider limiting this section of the guest list, particularly if your best friends do not have their own children. Whilst some non-parents would love to be surrounded by children all day long, others might not find it to be of particular interest to them and may even be struggling to conceive their own child so may find it a difficult event to attend. Only you know your particular circle of friends and whether or not they’d be interested in coming along.

Other children and their parents
An essential part of the guest list. By the time your baby’s first birthday comes along, you’ve probably met and added a dozen or more babies to your new circle of friends. Whether they’re children of your family members, children of your friends or even babies (and their parents) that you’ve met through antenatal classes or mums and babies groups, you’ll have probably acquired several new best friends for your own baby. When drawing up your guest list, think carefully about how many babies or children you want to accommodate at the party and think up some 1st birthday games that you can get them involved in.

With guest lists, just like all aspects of a 1st birthday party, planning is key.

How to throw an economical baby’s first birthday party

rebecca — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 10:55:51 +0000

Of course you want to celebrate your baby turning one by throwing an unforgettable first birthday party. But times are tough for many families at the moment and as you know babies are very expensive people to look after, so your wallet might be feeling a little lighter than it used to be.

Some tips on how to throw an economical baby’s first birthday party

Create an email birthday party invitation
Rather than wasting money on paper invitations and stamps to send them through the post to your guests, consider designing an email invitation (perhaps using a photo of your baby) that you can send for free to all your guests. People tend to prefer RSVP-ing over email rather than by letter now anyway, so your guests will probably be grateful that all they have to do is hit ‘Reply’ to confirm their attendance.

Birthday Party Entertainment
If you were considering hiring a children’s entertainer to look after the children at your party, then you might want to reconsider as this could really eat into your first birthday party budget. Instead, have a think about any outgoing family members or friends that might be willing to dress up as a clown and play games with the children.

Get baking your own first birthday cake
Purchased birthday cakes can be expensive so consider baking a cake for your baby at home. This way you’ll know exactly what has gone into it and you can even make it a healthy birthday cake if that is important to you. One way to cut down on the cake wastage is to opt for birthday cupcakes instead of a traditional first birthday cake.

Guest List
When drawing up a list of potential guests for your baby’s first birthday, the most affordable thing to do here would be to invite as few people as possible. Consider trimming your guest list down to an intimate size which includes only your immediate family and close friends with their own babies. Does Great Aunt Ethel really need an invitation?

Party Venue selection
Function rooms and party venues can sometimes be expensive to hire, particularly if a minimum spend is necessary. So where possible try and hold your baby’s first birthday party at your home if you feel it’s big enough. If it really isn’t a space that you can work with, then have a think about your parents and inlaws houses and see if they would consider letting you host it there. If none of these are feasible then you could go to a public space such as the park for a first birthday picnic, although this would only really work during the summer months, which can be a little unpredictable.

Make your own decorations
Decorations can be an expensive addition to a baby’s first birthday party, but there are some really beautiful ways to decorate a party that don’t cost the earth. You can make your own bunting, papier mache decs, scatter confetti and glitter stars across tables and have as many of your baby’s colourful toys in the room as possible. You can also print out large photos of your baby’s first year and pin them up throughout the venue.

We hope you have taken inspiration from some of these cost-saving ideas and are able to throw a memorable first birthday party for your baby.

Reasons not to throw a baby’s first birthday party

rebecca — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 12:06:49 +0000

Following on from our recent post on Reasons to throw a baby’s first birthday party, we’re taking a look at the other option, which is not throwing a party.

Reasons why not throwing a 1st birthday party might be the best option for you:

If your child is unwell
If your baby has recently been unwell and is still either getting over their illness or is still contagious then you probably won’t want to put your baby through the disruption of having all these extra people in your house. Parents of other babies will most likely be grateful that you aren’t risking them also coming down with something.

Your finances
Whilst you can throw a very economical birthday party, even a small outlay of cash is to be expected for things like decorations, food and drink and some entertainment. As we all know, the first year with a baby can be expensive so it may be that throwing a birthday party for your baby is one cost too many and you’d rather spend the money on a new buggy, carseat or high chair.

Family Politics
Not everyone is blessed with having a family that gets on well with one another. If both sets of grandparents/inlaws are very different and don’t get along then it might be a dreadful idea to have everyone in the same room at the same time. You should be able to enjoy your baby’s first birthday party and not become a referee between warring family members.

Overkill
How many celebrations and parties is it really acceptable to expect your family and friends to attend? You got married last year, your husband just had his 30th, you’ve already had a Christening, it’s just been Christmas and now you don’t want your families and friends to have to travel from all over the country with gifts for another of your occasions. Of course what you’re forgetting is that most of them would be very happy to do so, but if you’re going to end up feeling guilty about it, then perhaps it’s not the best of ideas.

Too much for baby
Some babies are hugely sociable and don’t bat an eyelid when they’re thrust in the same room as a dozen strangers. But if you have a baby that is quite sensitive to excess noise and people, then you might acknowledge that this wouldn’t be the most fun day for her and you’d rather choose an activity that you know she’ll get enjoyment out of.

Too much for you
If you’ve been thinking about this milestone occasion since the day your baby was born, then perhaps you want to spend as much of the day with your child as is possible, rather than having your baby passed around a sea of doting family members who all want as many cuddles as you do. Instead you could choose to have a day with just your partner and your other children if you have any.

If you have come to the decision that throwing a baby’s first birthday party is not for you, then don’t be disappointed, there are plenty of alternatives to a first birthday party that could be perfect for your family.

Alternatives to a baby’s first birthday party

rebecca — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:30:15 +0000

If you’ve been thinking about throwing a baby’s first birthday party for your littl’un but aren’t quite sure it’s the right thing for you to do, then don’t despair, there are many other ways to celebrate a year with your beautiful 1 year old.

Suggestions on how to have a wonderful and meaningful first birthday without it involving throwing an official party

Go for a family picnic
Depending on the time of year, it might be appropriate to go for a family picnic to celebrate your baby’s first birthday. Your child will most likely be eating a whole variety of finger foods at this age, so make sure you pack carrot sticks, bread sticks, goujons, steamed fruits and any other stick foods that your child is happy to eat.

Visit Santa
At the opposite time of year, if you’re celebrating a first birthday in November or December, then consider doing something wintery or Christmassy to mark the occasion. Visiting Santa’s grotto is a lovely idea. Your baby will love pulling on Santa’s beard and it makes for some excellent photo opportunities.

Go to the zoo
At the age of 1, your baby may not be walking yet, but he or she will have certainly been taking in the world around. Animals are a part of that world. If you’ve noticed your baby paying attention to birds flying overhead or dogs running around in the park, or indeed any family pets you may have, then it may be time for a trip to the zoo. A trip to a zoo makes a wonderful family day out. There are plenty of other babies and children there and often special kids centres are available. You also shouldn’t have any issue with baby changing facilities being available. Again, a trip to the zoo with your 1 year old can make for some beautiful photos to treasure for years to come!

Have family to visit
Just because you’re not throwing an official first birthday party, doesn’t mean that you don’t want to include other people. If you have grandparents, godparents, or aunties and uncles who are keen to celebrate this important milestone with you, then you may consider having a small group of family and friends to come and spend the day with you.

Combine the day with a christening or naming ceremony
If you are interested in getting your baby christened or having them named as part of a naming ceremony or day, then you might want to combine a first birthday with this event and host two events in one (or kill two birds with one stone, but we didn’t think this was the nicest way to put it!). This might not be particularly easy depending on the day of the week on which your child’s birthday falls, so you’ll need to check the schedule with your local church or British Humanist Association.

Go on holiday
By the time your baby is 1, you and your partner might be feeling brave enough to attempt a family holiday. What better way to celebrate a year of your baby being in the world, than with a rewarding break for Mum and Dad. So long as you’re aware that it won’t be the most relaxing break you’ve ever taken, then this is a lovely idea. Depending on where you go, there are sometimes good babysitting options and extremely family-friendly venues. Bon voyage!

How long should a baby’s first birthday party last for?

rebecca — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 11:11:24 +0000

When planning a baby’s first birthday party, there will be many questions that you have about the content and schedule for the day, but one of the most important queries you might have will be how long the party will last for.

Fitting naptimes around your baby’s 1st birthday party

By the time your baby is 1, he or she will probably be having 1-2 naps a day and might be quite predictable about when these naps take place, so if your baby is in a fairly rigid routine then it will hopefully be fairly easy to try and plan a party around these snoozes.

If your baby normally has a morning nap and a lunchtime nap, then the obvious time to schedule a first birthday party, would be after your baby has awoken from his or her second nap. You’ll probably want to leave a little time (20-30 mins should do it) for your baby to wake up before being overwhelmed by all the extra people and noise in the house.

As far as how long a baby’s first birthday party should last for, there are no set rules as to when it should end. Parents of fellow 1 year olds will probably want to be leaving after 2 or 3 hours as they’ll have their own routines (teatime, bath, bedtime) to fit into their day too, so you probably won’t have too many issues with them.

Dealing with guests who don’t want to leave your baby’s birthday party

Family and friends who don’t have a pressing need to get back home, may be harder to get rid of, particularly if they don’t usually get to see a lot of your baby and want to spend as much time with him or her as possible. If you’re comfortable with this, then great! So long as they don’t mind entertaining themselves whilst you’re doing bath and bedtime then arguably they could stay later into the evening if they wanted to.

But the problem of course comes when your baby has had enough of all the strangers and noise in the house – his day has been disrupted and he feels a little overwhelmed and is letting you know about it. So it might be that you need things to get back to normal as soon as possible and that may mean that you need the extra bodies out of the house as soon as possible. A polite way to suggest to people that they should start packing up, would be to start tidying the party things away and then mention that you’re about to start bathtime soon. If your guests are still not getting the hint, then you should be able to get away with saying that your baby has loved today but is now a bit overwhelmed, so things are going to have to end a little sooner than you’d hoped. Follow this by saying that you’d love to catch up over the next couple of weeks.

Of course another reason why you might not want the birthday party to carry on with adult guests too late is that you and your partner might want to spend time reflecting on the day, putting your baby to bed together and then having a lovely evening remembering that exactly one year ago today, you welcomed your beautiful baby boy or girl into the world.