Be prepared to read the same story again and again! Young children love repetition and will often want the same book read for weeks at a time!

While many of our personalised gifts are tailored for baby's first Christmas, we also offer an array of unique presents for mummies, daddies, Godparents, and grandparents. No matter your choice, it’s sure to bring joy and create lasting memories. In fact, many studies have shown thatreading to children regularly is one of the best ways to expose them to language, which in turn gives them a social and educational head start. In fact, the more you read to your child, the greater their future reading and cognitive skills will be! When should I start reading to my baby? Then we get dressed and everyone heads downstairs to open presents, we split them up through the day and have some in the morning, some after lunch and some in the evening. #10 Evidence of Father Christmas Visiting Whether you go high tech and edit a photo of your kid’s room with them asleep in the bed and Santa there.Do you want to decorate as a family – take a picture of you, or if you’re a grandparent reading this of mom and the baby hanging ornaments together. Don’t forget to add the Christmas music and hang that baby’s first Christmas ornament together. Reading on a daily basis to your baby will help them to grow accustomed to the patterns of speech and language. Or get creative and leave sooty footprints leading from your chimney to your tree (my dad did this one year when I was a child it was really exciting and I still remember standing there looking at them with wonder).

In our home we go and choose a tree as a family and this then goes into the garden, on the 14th December the kids go to bed and we get busy decorating the Christmas Tree we are Santa’s Elves, on the morning of the 15th December one of us pops downstairs and starts the Christmas lights off and then we bring the kids down to see the house fully decorated by Santa’s Elves as if by Magic. As I discovered each family has different traditions before your child is born you probably don’t discuss much to do with Santa’s visits but now you have a little one it’s different. In our house Santa brings the presents from everyone on Christmas Eve plus a special little gift from him – an ornament for the tree, however, I know families where Santa brings everything and others where Santa brings the main present. Bedtime stories are a cherished time and give you both the opportunity to wind down at the end of the day and snuggle up in bed. There is no right or wrong it’s up to you as a family to decide how you want Santa to bring presents to your house. Feel free to veer away from the story and talk about the pictures and point to and name different characters and objects.Even the baby will love this especially with the twinkling lights and sparkle from the decorations. #8 Decide on your family Santa Tradition If Santa is visiting is he bringing all the presents, does he bring the main one or does he bring something small? Young babies may not know what the pictures in books mean however, they can focus on them, especially faces, bright colours and contrasting patterns. In addition, when you read or sing nursery rhymesyou’ll often find your baby is soothed. 4-6 months of age Making books part of your child’s every day experience will help them to discover that reading is fun! Spending time sitting together and sharing stories nurtures your relationship with your little one.

Start the Christmas countdown with our unique range of personalised advent calendars, suitable for babies, children, and even adults. Join in the excitement and begin the festive countdown with us! The way your little one interacts with stories and books will change and evolve as they get older. So, it’s important to choose age-appropriate books that are tailored to your child’s developmental stage to maximise their enjoyment. Here are a few tips on ensuring story time with your child is fun. Between the ages of 4- 6 months your baby may begin to show more interest in books than before. They may even grab and hold the books – and will probably chew and drop them too! During this time it’s worth choosing books that are pretty sturdy! 6-12 months of ageOur favourite is to leave out a treat for Santa (ours is a sherry, glass of milk, mince pie and a carrot) on a special plate and in the morning find evidence that it has been eaten. It’s never too early to start reading to your baby so you can start whenever you choose; although many parents will begin reading to their baby at around 4 months old and this is shown to have lots of benefits in helping your little one better understand language. Plus, it can help in establishing a good bedtime routine. Choose short books with plenty of engaging pictures. As your child grows you can introduce slightly more complex stories and narratives. It should seem simple, but, believe me, it’s more complicated than you think, do you open in turn, do you separate out presents so some are opened throughout the day. So many questions and so many possibilities. Reading aloud will also stimulate your child’s language skills, cognitive skills and enhances their memory.