Tips on Planning Your Child’s First Birthday Party

First birthday parties are so much fun for parents, friends, and relatives of the birthday boy or girl. Unfortunately, they can sometimes be less than enjoyable for the guest of honor! Too much excitement, too many people, and too much activity can over stimulate your birthday baby and cause irritability, overtiredness, and eventually a complete meltdown. Here are some tips for keeping your child’s first birthday party simple and fun for each guest involved, including the number one guy or gal.

Keep it short.

The first key to a successful first birthday party is to keep it short. Don’t plan a six hour long event. Keep the party to about two hours or so.

Don’t over invite.

Even though you are so proud of your little birthday boy and you want to tell the world, you still don’t need to invite everyone you’ve ever met. Keep the invitation list to your close family and friends.

Agreed that planning a kids birthday party is no easy task as he will have his own whims and demands on how it is to be celebrated but keeping it a family affair will help in curbing unnecessary expenses and the chaos that is bound to take place due to inviting so many people can be avoided. The children will anyway be unable to control their excitement and as a result, may resort to pandemonium at some time or the other. Therefore, for safety sakes, lesser the people invited, the better it will be.

Skip the kids.

Families coming to attend the party together are fine, but don’t go out of your way to invite your one year old’s “friends.” Other babies and toddlers from church or daycare don’t need to be invited. Save those invitations for next year, when you daughter really will want her friends to be at her birthday party.

Keep the cake small.

The big tradition seems to be to allow your birthday girl to dig into a special birthday cake, smearing icing and cake all over the world. It’s fine to engage in this tradition, but keep the cake small. Your little one will only end up with an upset belly if you let her eat all the cake she can cram in her little stomach. You also might want to consider making a lower sugar version for the birthday girl and save the full fledged sugary stuff for the other guests.

Don’t force the presents.

Of course everyone wants to see the birthday boy open his birthday presents. That’s fine, but if your little guy really wants to play with the first present he opens, let him. Allow plenty of time for opening presents and just know that you may be opening several of them yourself, while the birthday boy “watches.”

Skip the favors.

Adults don’t need party favors and if any kids attend they likely won’t be old enough to know they are missing out on anything. Save some money and hassle and skip the party favors. The snacks or meal, cake, and ice cream are plenty to offer the party guests.

Plan the party time wisely.

You know your child’s schedule so plan your party accordingly. If she takes a nap at 1:00 don’t have the party start at 12:30. Plan around your child’s schedule to make sure she is in the best mood possible for her special day.

First birthday parties are tons of fun, but new parents tend to overdo on this long awaited celebration. Keep it simple and follow these tips for a fun and memorable first birthday party for your child.