Idea for 16 month old daughter and Christmas tree???

I am really worried about my daughter, who will be 16 months around christmas time, messing with a christmas tree. When we go outside, she always picks the grass and flowers, picks up acorns and tries to eat them. I worry that she will ingest the pine needles, or pull an artificial tree over. I came up with an idea:


Get a large amount of green felt and cut a tree shape out(4-5 foot). Tack it to the wall. Take pom poms and other child friendly decorations and as a family decorate our 'tree'. This would cure the worries of her pulling the tree down, and/or eating the needles that fall off real trees.


My question is:


Would this ruin the spirit of Christmas? I grew up having a real tree every year with lights and all. I loved it, but our house had a space my mom could block off for the tree so we didn't mess with it when we were really little. In our home, we don't. It is rather small so the only area I have to put a tree is the dining room-which is open to the living and kitchen areas

Idea for 16 month old daughter and Christmas tree???
I use to put it up high on a dresser and put a gate around it!
Reply:Having your daughter choke on an ornament would ruin the spirit of Christmas. That's a fine idea you have.
Reply:Put up an artificial tree! Your daughter has to learn that there's consenquences to her actions. If she tugs on the tree, things will come off. Just leave a good 3" section on the bottom free from ornaments. Or, check out www.onestepahead.com for room sized safety gates to put around it. Good Luck and Merry Christmas!
Reply:Your little girl needs a tree! You need to be an attentive mom and sit with her and show her and tell her why she mustn't mess up the tree. Tell her it's prettty, that she must be gentle, not touch....maybe give her her own small fake table top tree that she can take some durable ornaments off and on? But I would not forego the tree. You need to teach her and you can't just go without everything, she'll never learn.
Reply:I would still put up a tree %26amp; tether it to the wall with fishing line. My family does this every year to keep the dog from knocking it down. On the lower branches, put child friendly ornaments that if she took them off or they got broken you wouldn't be heartbroken. You may also want to put the tree in a corner %26amp; the mark it off with baby gates so she can't get to it when you are in the room.





At 16 months, she should understand the word "no" and has to learn how to act around the tree eventually because she is bound to go places where other people have atree up in their homes/businesses.
Reply:I remember when my cousin was small my aunt would put her tree in a play pen so that my cousin couldn't get into the tree and the ornaments and get hurt
Reply:get a small electric fence and put it around the tree! so just kidding! the only thing you really can do id not put any ornaments or lights on the bottom of it and keep an eye on her so she doesnt pull it over
Reply:My son's 22 months and also very very curious! But I'm definitely putting a tree up this year. Last year I bought an artificial tree and bought break-free Christmas ornaments. You can find them at walmart, they're actually really nice they look like they're made of glass but they're really like some kind of plastic or something. I even had some ornaments from when I was a kid that were like little teddy bears. You just have to find a way to make your tree baby friendly. So many possibilities. Still looks really nice and if she does happen to get a hold of one she won't hurt herself! And always make sure you don't put tinsel on your tree, it's really dangerous for choking. Other then that I think that maybe the baby gate would be a pretty good idea. Last year I moved my living room around so that I could block the tree in a corner with our couch and chair until Christmas morning. Whatever you decide I hope it works for you!
Reply:We have always had a real tree %26amp; my mom would put wooden or plastic ornaments on the bottom, and the expensive glass ones on the top so we didn't break them



world history