Excitement is expected when it comes to your babyโs first Halloween, but be sure not to spook them into a bad mood. Mind your parenting skills and make the occasion as fun as possible.
Think fun not frightful regarding the first Halloweens. Treat yourself to the following first-Halloween parenting tips to make the season a hoot, not a howl.
Hidden Expectation
Behind every mask is a truth. While baby is likely to get interested in special effects and the excitement of others, letโs be honest โ youโre going to enjoy this more than the child is going to remember it. Therefore, keep expectations to a minimum, understanding if the baby falls asleep before trick-or-treating, doesnโt feel like wearing the costume, or isnโt as excited about all the hooting and howling about Halloween.
Bare Costume
Commercial offers and โbaby costumesโ arrive aplenty around Halloween season, but donโt waste hard-earned money on extreme costumes. There will come a time when child will want to be involved in choosing costume; but when it comes to the first years, think creative rather than fine-tailored.
Use old clothing, visit second-hand shops, or ask friends and family members for old costumes before heading out to the store and toward the bottom of your pocket. If you have your heart set on baby costumes, see the selections at Spirit Halloween.
Alternative Trick-or-Treating
Trick-or-treating, the parading of costumes door-to-door in hopes of acquiring a barrage of candy, is a pastime reserved for older children despite the want to emulate oneโs big brother or sister.
Rather than take young children door-to-door, reserve the tradition of Halloween night for visiting family members or destinations hosting large-scale parties for baby Halloween-ers. (Local community centers, libraries, or children museums host special Halloween events โ check local listings.)
Home Transformation
Rather leave the home on Halloween, transform the interior, replete with โwebs,โ spooky statues, as well as โhidden treasuresโ of candy. Use cardboard boxes to emulate spooky castles and find haunted seasonal music online to enhance the ambiance.
While leaving home during Halloween is exhaustive at best and horrifying at worst for a young one, staying home remains the safest choice of season.
Mainstream Media
Despite a mom and dadโs attempt of keeping children safe from graphic, adult-rated materials, especially frightening and violent movies and pictures during Halloween season, itโs typical for children to be exposed via television, friends, and schools.
While school curriculum observe age-appropriate Halloween media, a childโs first Halloweens should be associated to fun, not fright. Aside from preschool-aged media, ask friends and pediatricians about the proper amount of exposure to โfrighteningโ Halloween media.
Conversely, depending on age of child, a parent could use the occasion of โbeing frightenedโ to encourage a sense of โcourageโ as well as the identification of fact (a spider in the sink) versus fiction (a five-foot spider displayed in a Halloween store).
Think fun not fright regarding a little oneโs first Halloweens. However, donโt be frightened to find an aging childโs compulsion toward the โmacabreโ and healthy ways to embrace Halloween festivities and associated elements.
GUEST BLOGGER: Seth Peterson is a huge fan of Halloween and a father of two. He writes all about the joys of fatherhood, including enjoying this fall holiday with his kids.