Based on last year, I don’t think our family will have a problem with Christmas overload, but for some small children, that is a very real possibility. Will your toddler be able to handle opening all of her gifts in one sitting or will it become overwhelming for her. The thought of becoming overwhelmed from opening too many gifts may seem like a foreign concept to adults, but to a young toddler, the drastic change might be a little unsettling. They are not used to getting so many new things at once. They might not know what to play with first.
Base your decision on past experience with your child. If she has already had her first birthday, do you remember how she handled it then? My son did not seem to get stressed out by having a lot of presents to open. He seemed to love it and the new load of toys kept him occupied for weeks, if not longer. A friend of mine told me that her daughter became overwhelmed, however, so for her second Christmas they let her open a gift on Christmas Eve, then a few more on Christmas morning, and then a few more the next day.
If you travel for Christmas and visit a few different families, it might be a bad idea to spread out the gifts anyway. That way your child will have a few to open at each event and will not feel left out. When I was a kid, we would travel six hours to visit my grandparents for Christmas once every few years. I remember one year getting to open the big gifts that would not fit in the car before we left. Knowing the rest of my presents were right behind me the whole trip there made it really exciting. I was happy to get to open my presents will all my cousins. It’s more fun when you get to show off your new swag!
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