Managing Christmas with a Newborn

Your little darlin' is here and so too the holidays! What to do when all YOU want for Christmas is a nap.

What’s a new mom to do when all she wants for Christmas is a nap? Plan ahead. Simplify. Reprioritize. And get help. Let’s take it one step at a time, but let’s also remember what matters most: Children are tiny newborns once in a lifetime, but Christmas comes around every year. Get your priorities straight so you can focus on your baby and allow some of the holiday hoopla to fall to the wayside.

For instance, don’t waste countless hours writing, stuffing, stamping and mailing holiday cards. Instead, combine your Christmas cards and birth announcements into a single photo card with a pre-printed message like, “Look what Santa brought us!” on the front. Everyone who receives one, even if it doesn’t arrive until Valentine’s Day, will be delighted. Online photo companies like Shutterfly and Ofoto offer the option of creating a custom picture card, uploading your address list and mailing all of them out for you!

Although its tempting to run out and get the standard “Baby’s First Christmas” ornaments, a monogrammed stocking and a pile of over-hyped toys that will “stimulate your newborn’s brain and enhance his reflexes,” realize that even if it is Baby’s first Christmas he has no clue what the holiday means and is just happy to snuggle quietly with you, so don’t overdo it for his sake. Your relatives will inundate you with baby ornaments and there is nothing your parents or in-laws would love more than to have a stocking made for their new grandbaby, so let them. (If you don’t like it, you can have a new one made next year.)

The Best Gift’s Already Yours If you miss out on the caroling, church service or a family feast this year, remember that the holiday celebrates the birth of a baby to poor parents in a stable without an ounce of fanfare, so take heart that your holiday has something in common with the very first Christmas … besides, you’re holding the greatest gift of all.