Most babies won’t have a clue what Christmas is at their age, but they do recognise that it is an exciting time of year!

They will be captivated by the beautiful sparkling lights, but try and make sure they don’t grab them, especially if they are on the tree or there could be a bit of chaos.

Of course, there will be so many other things to grab their attention, the colourful baubles are fun to play with (unbreakable ones), as is crinkling up some wrapping paper.

As you take baby out and about , point out all of the Christmas things so they get an understanding of them, really describe things and you may find you start looking at things a bit differently too.

Even if they are too young to understand, nothing is more magical all about Father Christmas and maybe even taking baby to see him!

This is also the time of year where they may be surrounded by all of the family members and baby will enjoy seeing all different faces, bear in mind that a 5/6 month old baby has started to recognise familiar faces so may cry if they are suddenly put in the arms of a stranger. Give them time to get used to the person by holding them near the person and letting baby watch and listen. Explain to people it’s nothing personal if baby doesn’t want to be cuddled.

Pay attention to the fact that all of this attention and fun though can make baby tired, so if you see baby starting to get sleepy make sure you put them down for a nap. They won’t really know that everyone is busy celebrating and will still need her meals and naps at the normal times, if they get too out of routine baby ends up getting overtired and grumpy.

It can be easy to get caught up with all of the lovely gifts out there for a baby, especially if it is your 1st child, but bear in mind that baby won’t need too much and is quite happy with that wrapping paper! Things like books, soft toys, clothes etc are normally suitable.

Don’t forget about you! Finding time for yourself could be almost impossible at this time of year, but if you can just take a little time to relax and have a little ‘me-time’, this will be a calming thing for you and if you are relaxed, baby will pick up on this and will be relaxed and enjoy themselves.

Advice