iVillage logo
Search iVillage
Pregnancy
Parenting
Health
Diet & Fitness
Beauty & Fashion
Relationships
Home & Garden
Food & Drink
Work & Money
Entertainment
Horoscopes
Travel
Parenting 
  |  Special occasions  |  Birthdays  |  Baby's first birthday party
Advertisement
Topics
Toddler & Pre-school
Teens (13 - 19)
Practical advice
Your Family
Schoolage (5 - 12)
iVillage shopping

Hot stuff
Calling 18-28 year olds
The urban girl's guide
Home study with ICS
Family days out
Development tracker
Activities for toddlers
Get your 3-a-day
Toys for outdoors
Newsletters
sign up for FREE!




 
Promotions
Cleaning tips
Keep your family safe from germs and bacteria
Disney comes to town
Meet Mickey Mouse and friends live
Home study
There's a wealth of qualifications open to you
Transform coffee breaks
A sprinkling of Latte Creations makes an everyday coffee break extra special
Finger lickin' good
Some surprising facts from the Colonel

Baby's first birthday party

by Lisa Schulman
The first birthday party is undoubtedly more special to you than to your baby. In fact, your 12-month-old will probably view the celebration as an unnecessary interruption of playtime. So the key to creating a wonderful event is to make it memorable - for you!

Everything - from food to decorations - should be kept as simple as possible. Your job is to take footage and marvel at how your baby's becoming a toddler - not to be running around the kitchen washing dishes or adding oregano to homemade soup.

While keeping things simple for this first birthday, don't forget to limit the number of guests. Most babies this age are experiencing a double whammy of stranger and separation anxiety. A guest list of 10 may be overwhelming to your guest of honour. Your best bet is to invite only close friends and family.

To theme or not to theme?
Themes are often a great way to structure a birthday party. However, although themes can help you plan decorations, invitations and food, any activities or games should be kept to a minimum. A one-year-old simply doesn't have the attention span or skills needed to participate in the fun. Don't forget you will have your hands full entertaining guests while trying to monitor your cruising birthday babe!

Your baby is turning one. This is the most momentous birthday ever, short of 100. But beware: parents often make the mistake of taking a great theme like Winnie the Pooh, and turning it into Pooh Bear birthday overload. Keep the celebration short - many babies simply can't handle the sensory overload. Limit your party to two hours or risk birthday-baby meltdown.

Go ahead and plaster Baby Roo on the walls, serve treats on Eeyore plates, and Pigletize your birthday cake. Then sit back and let the party take its course. This is the one event that is more for you than for your child. If you run around organising events, you'll miss the party.

Invitations
Make your invitations a creative hit. Decorate them with quotes, graphics or stickers, relating to your chosen theme.

  • Use clip art: Find images of (for example) Winnie the Pooh, Teletubbies or Thomas the Tank Engine within a clip art program and print them out on your invitations.
  • Think visually: After printing out invitations, cut them into a fun shape - like Pooh, Dipsy or Thomas - around the border.
  • Make it easy: Many shops stock pre-printed themed birthday invitations.
  • Review the books: Spice up your invitations by using several quotes from children's books.
iVillage TV - Pregnancy experts

View video in larger player


 1 |  2 | next print printer friendly send to a friend
  
Delicious     Digg     reddit     Facebook     StumbleUpon