Asked on Nov 18, 2014
How can I display a Christmas tree but keep it out of reach?
by
Grandnaof2
+14
My 15 month old grandson lives with me and is ALL hands. Do you have any suggestions on how I can put up a tree without him being able to get to it?
16 answers
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A small tabletop tree placed on something too tall for him to reach is about all I can think of but sorry, I have never believed in moving things out of reach of toddlers and small children. I never, ever moved any of my nicknacks off tables or bookcase shelves when my daughter was small. From a very early age (as soon as she began to get mobile/crawl),she was taught she could look at, but not touch, certain things. In my opinion, 15 months is definitely not too young to learn the meaning of "no." Granted, it's a lot of work for the parent/grandparent to repeatedly and consistently say, "no" and then redirect the child to something they can play with, but the sooner the child learns they are not allowed free-reign to touch everything they see, the better off they will be. Parents who make the effort to teach and enforce this lesson early end up with a child they can take anywhere.
Shari
on Nov 18, 2014
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Put the tree inside a playpen. Baby can see but not touch.
Grandma 7 Times
on Nov 18, 2014
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I too use to do the playpen trick, it worked so great. Like a little fence.
Your Organized Friend
on Nov 18, 2014
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If you don't have a playpen, you can get a play yard which comes in sections fairly inexpensively. Find one used on Craigslist.
Julies1949
on Nov 18, 2014
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Use a smaller tree and keep in on a table out of reach. Don't use fairy lights as kids can play with the electric cord. Better safe than sorry. The play pen idea is even better as with all the pretty baubles on a child will naturally be drawn to it and want to touch it. My parents stopped putting a Xmas tree up when we got dogs. That was a bit different though as our male dog (despite being desexed) would cock his leg up the tree and also knock it over. LOL!
Carole
on Nov 18, 2014
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Oh, nearly forgot. I saw a neat idea that was an upside down Xmas tree suspended from the ceiling. If the room it had good height and the tree was not too tall, it might have enough clearance for the child not to be able to reach it as well as being a novel idea.
Carole
on Nov 18, 2014
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My mum has a lovely wall mounted half tree that is very pretty and to high for the cat to attack so should work with a tot
Toni Tomlinson
on Nov 19, 2014
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@grandnaof2 when our grandchild lived with us we used gates on the entrances to our living room and he wasn't in there unless we were too.
Gail Salminen
on Nov 19, 2014
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Sometimes a small child must learn the word "NO" and "Don'T Touch" for his own good and safety. Telling him it is DANGER and HOT, may work and show him where the line is to not cross but he can look and look at and see The parent should decorate with the saftey issue in mind and have valuable items put aside for another year to two.
Lee
on Jun 27, 2015
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In very small apartments upside down trees are very trendy, but sometimes the branches want to close up so you will need to tie them up to the base of the tree. A 1/2 tree or even a corner tree could be placed up high enough to keep little hands off.
Rosanne Cannon-Schiedel
on Jun 28, 2015
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I would make a small white picket fence that wraps around it. Flat tops maybe for the kids. However the layout might be. In a corner or out in the open. Small decorative fence would look cool I think and still go with the Christmas theme. Could hang lights on it. Put small 45 degree angles on back facing the floor with small pieces of wood to help hold it up. I would do maybe two foot long sections attached by hinges or even a nice rope holding them together to make it adjustable so u could wrap it around the tree.
David Gnida
on Aug 08, 2015
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How about a tabletop tree this year. Maybe next year you can have a large tree but at least your grandbaby will be safe and everyone else can relax and enjoy the holiday without that added stress.
Lyn Therese
on Sep 25, 2015
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Set it up in a playpen. And decorate the outside of the playpen with christmas theme fabric.
Marlene
on Sep 26, 2015
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We had our grand daughters with for several Christmases starting at 18 mos. Ii wanted to have a stress-less time so the Waterford ornaments never came out of the boxes. I did buy some plastic, made some "mittens" from fabric or felted wool sweaters- We glued photos of the girls to everything we thought we could use on the tree- kept it colorful but unbreak-able- Just be safe and enjoy
Grandmaquilts
on Oct 28, 2015
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I put a special snowman ornament at the bottom & allowed my daughter to take it off & play with it. Not glass & no hazardous parts. I would put it back & eventually she would see it & get it off. No glass was used when the kids were small.
Kim Joyce
on Oct 28, 2015
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This is how I do it...
Travis D
on Nov 06, 2015
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