How to Prepare for Your Kid’s First Halloween
Your baby’s first Halloween is a BIG deal — for pictures and Pinterest. But for a baby, it’s just another day of being carted around in a cute outfit, wondering what the heck all the fuss is about.
Baby’s first Halloween is more an exercise in preparedness and managing expectations than it is candy-sorting and trick-or-treating routes. Your main priority is to capture a picture of your baby in her costume before she poops on it and has a meltdown.
That’s it.
But if you have other kids or plan to actually do some trick or treating and just steal your baby’s candy (hey, we’re not judging), then there are some things you’ll need to do to prepare.
Have a Backup Plan for Bad Weather
Especially if you have a kid who’s old enough to know what they’re missing, always plan for bad weather. Halloween can inevitably be a chilly holiday, with the occasional fluke rain-shower or snowstorm, depending on your location.
Bring jackets, a rain cover for the stroller, and have an indoor option in the back of your mind in case the wind and rain is just too much.
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Set the Bar Nice and Low
Babies don’t care about trick or treating. They don’t care about costumes. They don’t even care about candy if they’re not old enough to eat more than a nibble.
So you need to let go of how much you care too.
Drop any Pinterest-perfect expectations you have for Halloween, and focus instead on getting one or two great photos, watching your baby’s face as she looks at all of the decorations, and forget the rest.
Everything else is just a pleasant surprise.
Bring a Stroller for Trick or Treating
Even if you have a baby carrier and a walking toddler, one thing you can ALWAYS count on for Halloween is that somebody is going to get sick of walking (or carrying the baby).
Bring a stroller along for trick or treating, and if you just wind up using it as a candy pack-mule, no sweat.
Put Something Bright or Reflective On Them
If you’re pushing a baby in a stroller, make sure that your stroller is equipped with some sort of flashing light or reflective material.
If you have littles running around, clip a reflector or blinking light to them, and try to make it something that stands out in a sea of kids wearing reflectors and flashing lights.
Nothing Will Ever Go As Planned
Look, any parent will tell you, that Halloween can be a bit of a cluster. It’s a blur of processed sugar, flashing lights, and $50 baby costumes that get pooped on after 10 minutes.
And that’s totally normal.
As with all things parenting, lean into the chaos and let go of expectation, and you’ll be just fine.
What did you dress your baby up as for their first Halloween? Tell us in the comments below!