Hellobee Boards

Since it's a family party, I wouldn't even think twice about it. I think it makes a difference when the kids start wanting to invite their friends.

@snowjewelz: We did a joint party when my girls were turning 1 and 3 and it was great! They both have summer birthdays, and our friends travel a lot in the summer (some people go down the shore every weekend), so I knew attendance would be lower. And having 1 joint party gave me the excuse to spend a little more on the venue. Plus it was super, super cute.

I have an old thread about our joint party with a ton of pics.

But I definitely see us doing a joint party again in the future. Even though they are 2 years apart, our girls still have a joint circle of friends because our babysitter takes our kids and hangs out with a circle of nannies and their charges, and they've all known each other 2 years now. All the kids range in age from 2-4 (My girls are now 2 and 4), so it's perfect.

My boys are June 12 (4 years old) and June 14 (1 year old). Their birthdays are 2 days apart! They will be having joint parties as long as I can pull it off. We did 1 party, 2 themes, 2 cakes this year. It worked pretty good for us and the 4 year old had no problem with it at all. I'm pregnant and due June 6th next year- so all 3 will end up with a joint party more than likely.

I plan to stop joint parties when they are old enough to want friend parties instead of family parties. That is unless the boys want to continue joint parties with both sets of friends all together (a mom can hope right!).

@Dr. Pepper: My LO2 who is still cooking is due 2 days after my first's birthday to glad to hear that is working out for you!
(Also nice bdays for your boys, my mom's bday is June 12 and mine the 14th ! )

My kids birthdays are 6 days apart with Thanksgiving usually right in between their days. My son is only turning two this year but I did separate parties last year and will again this year, with a lot of overlap in attendance to the parties. My brother and I were born 2 days apart and my mom never had joint parties for us and it was something I always appreciated. My daughter is turning 5 and has been having friend parties since she was 2. She expects to get to have the party she wants (venue, theme, etc) as I think she should since it's her party... and I feel badly just tacking my son on to what big sister wants to do, especially when it's likely not even age or interest appropriate for him (last year she had a party at a trampoline park which is obviously not what I would pick for a 1 year old's party, and this year Princess Elena is coming to our house to do Princess Lessons which my rough and tumble boy probably won't enjoy).

@snowjewelz: Ours is actually going to be ON my oldest daughter's birthday! It's on a Saturday, so we are having a party in the afternoon and hopefully we can get someone to watch our youngest so we can take the big girl to see the My Little Pony movie!

My sister does 1 family party for my nephews ages 9 and 13 both with August birthdays 5 days apart. She has been having both parties together this whole time, each boy gets their own cake and happy birthday is sung individually to each. My sister usually picks a weekend that works, unconcerned with whose birthday its closest to. Usually both boys have some friends at the party but it hasn't been a focus.

We did a 2nd and 5th joint bday last January, they are 11 days apart. (And I planned one the year before that got canceled for illness.) It was great! They both liked paw patrol so that made for an easy theme with yellow and pink colors. The 2yo thinks most of his friends are the 5yos anyway, and we had siblings in the friend group already. We did a Rec center playplace that worked for all ages. I did make separate small cakes that were for their actual birthdays and used cupcakes at the party. I say go joint until one is old enough to want a party that would no longer work for the younger kids.

I have a friend with a son and daughter born on the same day two years apart. They do joint parties every year since she was born. They’re 5 & 7 now. She’ll do separate themed tables, cakes & decor for each kid and they both get to invite a certain number of friends. The kids don’t seem to mind!

Go for it! I don't think one year old will know any better and the 3 year old will just be excited about all the gifts 🤣

My MIL always did joint parties for her 3 kids all born in the same month. My DH is the youngest and has always felt his birthday didn't really matter/wasn't special, partially because of the joint parties. I would vote for no joint party from hearing his perspective.

@snowjewelz: My brother and I have birthdays 2 days apart. We did a joint family party or dinner, and then my parents always did a celebration at school. That meant we got something on our own when we were small, which was nice. Once we reached 13, my parents only did big separate parties for milestone birthdays - 13, 16, 18, 21. I feel like it worked out nicely.

My 2 boys will have birthdays 2 weeks apart. I will do the 1st birthday separate just because it's fun, but will then follow the model I grew up with and see how it goes.

A friend told me her parents did something similar to @mrsmacslp: 's family....She and her sister had close birthdays, so every other year they alternated who got a party, and the sister who didn't get a party got a present every day the week of their birthday.

I say while they're little, it's fine to share a party - especially just for family. Also, when they are small, it's likely that any friends you invite are "family friends" - you know the parents and all children in the family, and are all friends/hang out as families. I think where it can get a little weird combining parties is once the girls are old enough to have their "own" friends. For example, I wouldn't have wanted to combine parties for my three and five year old this year. While most of my five year old's friends from school/activities and their moms knew my three year old, my three year old had lots of friends from activities we did while big sis was in school, and none of them knew the rest of my family. Having a joint party would have left me with a lot of extra hostess duties to try to bridge the gap between crowds, and I would have felt awkward if people who only knew one child thought they needed to bring a gift for the other child.