Planning For Baby's First Birthday

Baby birthdays are a special occasion.  During the first year of the baby's life, he or she will likely give you many firsts and many outstanding memories.  Yet, there is something magical about that first birthday.  In fact, for too many parents, it is the starting point of a transition from being a baby and being a toddler. Planning that special day for your child will be more for you than the baby since they likely won't remember it.  Yet, making it memorable is not hard to do, especially when you have family and friends wanting to celebrate this day with you.

To Party or Not

The first question to ask about baby birthdays is whether or not to have a full-scale party for your child. In some families, it is a tradition to have a larger family get together on that first birthday as a way of welcoming the child into the family and reaching such an important milestone.  In other families, the day is a private affair with just the immediate family and perhaps grandparents in attendance.  The bottom line is that you should do what is right for you.

Remember that baby won't remember this day.  Pictures and videos will be there to help them to see what their first birthday was like though. Planning a fun event can be a good way to show your child love and to celebrate with your loved ones.  Because they likely won't participate too much, be sure to include only a small number of things to do at the event. Otherwise, family and friends will be overwhelmed.

Planning Tips

Planning for baby birthdays should be fun itself. While there is no need to go over the top, there is no doubt that you will be tempted to do so.  Set a budget for the event and stay within it.  Besides feeding the family that attends and a few colorful decorations, the budget can stay fairly low.  Here are some additional tips to help you plan this first birthday.

Activities:  When baby birthdays come along down the road, you will want to include lots of fun activities and games to play.  While this is a good thing to do for children who are older, at one year old, the child probably won't participate and will not care one way or another.  If you do plan activities for the event, be sure they focus on the age of the other children who will attend the event to keep everyone involved.

 Entertainment:  Along with activity planning comes entertainment.  Many parents want to have a face painter or clown attend.  Again, do this for the older kids.  One-year-olds are much more likely to receive a fright by these people since they do not know them.

 Decorating:  One thing is for sure, one-year-olds love color.  Their eyes are developing the ability to distinguish between colors more readily and they will be attracted to bright colors.  Choose a color palette that gives them vibrant colors, often done with classic colors.  Keep everyone safe. Balloons are a choking hazard to children this young.  Decorate with a 1-year-old theme if you like.  Your child may also have a favorite television character or another theme they relate to.  Use this first birthday party as a time to celebrate who your child is by allowing the decorations to come through.

Cakes: The first baby birthday cake is going to be special, no matter what you do with it.  Since babies shouldn't have a lot of sweets just yet, you may wish to choose healthier versions of cake to give him or her. Whatever you do, be sure he gets a piece of his own to smash and eat. 

One of the most important elements of any first birthday party will be many fun photos of you with your child.  Don't over plan the event.  This day is not just for your little one.  It is a day for you, too as the parents.  Your baby is growing and with remarkable speed.  Make it a special day for you to share with your child.  Ten or twenty years from now, they will want to see what you did and how you interacted with them more so than the number of toys they received.

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