Whether you just had a baby this year or are expecting one before Christmas, there’s a great chance that you’re excited to start holiday traditions and creating lasting memories as a family! There are so many sweet and cute baby’s first Christmas ideas that you can begin this year and continue forever.
Congratulations on Reaching Baby’s First Christmas!
Congrats on your new baby! The holidays are such a wonderful and memorable time of childhood. When you think of your childhood Christmases you probably remember setting up décor as a family or maybe dancing around the kitchen to your favorite Christmas songs.
You can probably fondly recall gatherings of family, the reading of the Christmas story, making holiday crafts, and a few of your favorite foods.
All these fond memories swirling back into your mind make you want to replicate Christmas memories just as special for your new baby.
(Or maybe your life was the opposite. Maybe you had a rough childhood and the holiday memories were lacking, or even really negative. If that’s the case, you’re probably determined to make your baby’s holidays bursting with all the joy and traditions you longed for as a child.)
Either way, this post will give your holiday memories a great start with 22 sweet baby’s first Christmas ideas to do this year.
20 Baby’s First Christmas Ideas
While your baby won’t remember anything from their first Christmas, you will. And that’s just as important!
(I always say this about family holidays too. I don’t care if my four year old won’t remember a trip to Disney – I remember it!)
And these days we’re all snapping pictures of our kids constantly so that we can remember every moment of their lives… so even if they don’t remember, you can snuggle and look at photos in the future as you remind them of all the special Christmas traditions they’ve been doing since their very first year.
Make Salt Dough Handprint Christmas Ornaments
Salt dough has got to be one of the easiest and most fun Christmas crafts you can do with your kids throughout the years. When your baby is small you can make tiny salt dough handprint ornaments to bring out and hang on the tree year after year. (These make nice gifts for grandparents too.)
As your children get older you can keep up the tradition by filling pie tins with salt dough and making bigger handprints in there that you can paint, glaze, and hang on the wall to see your kiddos grow year after year.
Buy a Personalized Christmas Ornament
There are so many cute Christmas ornaments that you can customize and buy.
It can be a special first Christmas ornament that simply says “Baby’s First Christmas,” it could be a Christmas ornament that a photo fits into, or you can have a custom one with your baby’s name and everything made on Etsy.
Buy or Make a Custom Christmas Stocking
I’m sure you are excited to pick a special stocking to add to your mantel this year. There’s not much sweeter during the holidays than seeing a third stocking hanging up when there only were two before.
You can order one that is sweet and special to you or if you are even a mediocre seamstress you can try your hand at sewing your own. Or if you’re crafty you can even make a pretty nice one with felt or fabric and hot glue.
Buy a “My First Christmas Outfit”
There are an endless supply of adorable “my first Christmas” outfits for little ones. From onesies to stylish duds.
Pick one (or maybe more, it’s hard to resist the cute baby clothes) early in the season so that baby can wear it for the family photo shoot, pictures with Santa, or anytime you take them out.
Visit Santa for Photos
Take your baby to visit Santa Claus at the mall and get a photo to capture the moment. If you aren’t comfortable handing your baby over to “Santa” (which is ok and I totally get it) just stand next to Santa holding your baby for a sweet memory.
Do a Family Christmas Photoshoot
While you can take Christmas photos anywhere, the most popular place is always the Christmas tree farm. Everyone is always walking around there early in the season with a cute plaid blanket, a prop or two, and someone’ll be there with a real camera.
You can bring a tripod and an iPhone and do the entire thing yourself or hire a professional photographer. (It can be a little tough to get a baby smiling if they are really young at the same time as the rest of the family so sometimes hiring a professional can be a big help.)
You can always visit a studio too, especially if it’s really cold where you live. A Christmas photo is perfect to send out on your Christmas cards as well!
Enjoy Christmas Storytime
Begin your collection of Christmas stories to read year after year.
There are baby versions of the true story of Christmas, lots of other fun Christmas books for babies, and Christmas books for older kids. Your baby can still have fun patting the pages, looking at the pictures, and hearing your voice.
If you have story time with your little one every night, you can switch them to Christmas books for the whole month of December! I bet you can even find some Christmas story times at your local library to attend as well.
Get a Personalized Christmas Storybook
If you like the idea of adding a story time into your baby’s first Christmas ideas then you might want to consider taking it a step further and getting a personalized Christmas book. Personalized Christmas books feel so magical as a kid because you get to be a part of the Christmas story.
It’s so exciting for your child to hear a customized Christmas adventure every year featuring them as the main character. They won’t understand this year, but it will be a cherished memory for years to come.
Make Handprint/Footprint Crafts
In addition to making a handprint ornament, you can also make keepsakes using your baby’s handprint or footprint on a canvas or paper. There are a lot of different ideas of pictures you can make with your baby’s handprint and with your baby’s footprint.
These make great gifts for grandparents too!
Prepare a Special Christmas Morning Breakfast
Depending on the age of your baby, this might look very different, but can still be accomplished!
Here are 21 Christmas morning breakfast ideas that you can enjoy with the whole family. If some of these ideas seem like your baby is not ready for them yet, try creating something simple for them like these 15 baby pancakes recipes or even blending up some festive flavored baby food like apple cinnamon or sweet potato.
Go For a Christmas Lights Drive
If your baby can see out the car windows at all then take them for a drive (or lots of drives) to look at Christmas lights at night. Babies love the twinkling magic of Christmas lights as much as the rest of us.
Decorate the Nursery
We always remember to decorate the front porch, set up the Christmas tree, and add festive touches throughout the house… but have you considered adding some Christmas touches to your baby’s nursery?
Be sure everything is baby-safe but consider adding a small tree, twinkling lights, and a special Christmas bear.
Buy a Christmas Bear for Baby
Consider having a special Christmas bear for baby that comes out every holiday for them to snuggle and play with. You can even get one for every member of the family. It doesn’t have to be a bear either, but a talking or singing stuffed animal that reappears each year makes the holidays special.
My grandma had cute little Christmas clothes that she would bring out every year to dress her “regular” bears and make them festive. It was a hoot!
Visit a Christmas Market
There are so many fun Christmas markets throughout all of December. From farmer’s markets to bazaars you’re sure to be able to find a local Christmas market or fair to take your baby to and enjoy the sights, sounds, and smells.
Get Festive Pajamas
Dress your baby in festive pajamas on Christmas Eve for a cute holiday look. Or better yet get them early in the Christmas season and let them wear them often! You can even get matching Christmas PJ’s for the entire family!
Enjoy Their First Snow Experience
If there’s snow outside, bundle up your baby and let them experience their first snowflakes.
If there isn’t snow where you live, maybe you can take a bit of a drive to whatever level snow is at near you. If there isn’t natural snow anywhere near you, sometimes amusement parks or zoos will bring manmade snow to their parks in December.
Do a Christmas Advent Calendar
You can make an advent calendar, find custom-made ones at Christmas bazaars, or buy one online or in stores. If your little one is old enough to have some candy in your opinion you can even do one of those affordable chocolate ones that you can pick up at the grocery store.
Make a Charity Donation
Did you know that you can make a donation in your baby’s name to a children’s charity to help teach the spirit of giving? There are lots of great ways to teach your kids about giving and sharing being the real meaning of the Christmas spirit as they get older. But for now, consider picking out a toy your baby would like and donating it or donating money in your child’s name.
Have a Christmas Dance Party
Babies love having dance parties. It’s a great way to get some exercise at home with your baby in tow. Snuggle your baby close or baby wear and give your arms a break while you play Christmas songs and dance and sway together.
Have a Holiday Movie Marathon
When you’ve got a baby there is a lot of time spent on the couch breastfeeding and nap trapped. Instead of feeling stuck use these times to watch family-friendly Christmas movies together, creating a cozy holiday vibe. Enjoy some hot cocoa and Christmas desserts while snuggling together and watching movies.
Zoom with Family
If you have family members who live too far to see often, set up a video call so they can see your baby on Christmas. Your baby might not remember doing this their first Christmas, but you can start now and continue a tradition that I’m sure the other family members will cherish starting now. If baby is antsy it doesn’t have to be a long call, just say hi and chat for a little bit to make some special memories.
Start a Family Tradition
Start a new family Christmas tradition that includes your baby, like baking cookies or decorating the tree together. Perhaps you think that a baby can’t help bake, but it’s actually quite the opposite. The simplest way to do this is to baby wear.
Then help baby’s little hand scoop the ingredients and stir a bit too. Babies love helping in the kitchen!
With this huge list of baby’s first Christmas ideas to start this year, you’re sure to get their Christmas holidays off to a memorable start that you can continue year after year. Remember, no matter what you choose to do with lots of love, snuggles, and good food your little one will have the perfect Christmas.