How old was your child before they could understand that Christmas is a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ? My LO will be 13 months this year so I know she won't get it at all. But wondering if next year she'll be able to get some sense of it. I know when my cousin was around 3 he INSISTED that they needed a birthday cake for Jesus at Christmas Dinner 
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No experience with it yet. But I think I remember my cousin's kids and nephews around 2 or 3. I think too it depends on how much you go to church, so they get the message all December.
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No experience. I think my niece knew by the time she was 3 but my nephew is almost 3 and he doesn't "get it". He is very anti christmas though, lol!
I will add that my sister did bake baby Jesus a birthday cake in her easy bake oven when she was young!
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Well....we're going to start trying church again when she turns 2. They have a sunday school I'd like her to participate in so she can learn about it. Hopefully next Christmas, when she's 2.5, she will get it a little bit?
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As lapsed Catholics, we're still struggling if, when, and how we will incorporate religion. However, Jesus' birth was a part of my Christmases as far back as I can recall. We always had a nativity set (that my sister and I loved playing with), sang religious Christmas carols, and attended Midnight Mass. Some children I knew made a birthday cake for Jesus, but I always thought that was a little cheesy.
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My LO is 14 months and I think she might start to get it next year, but for sure hte following year. I have a niece who is one year older than her, and she says "it's Jesus's birthday" but I don't htink she really knows what it means.
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DS started figuring it out by his 3rd Christmas. He was about 28 months.
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LO is 2 years,4 months old and she understands what a birthday is and is excited that we get to celebrate his birthday. She is kinda starting to understand that we give gifts to make others happy and Christmas is a time for that because Jesus wants us to love our friends.
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My son is about to turn 3 just before Christmas and we've been talking a lot about this. I told him Christmas was Jesus' birthday and he was like "We have to get him a present!!!" Love this child. Anyway, I told him we didn't need to buy him a present but that he would be happy if we just loved him a lot. Every time we see a nativity scene I point out the baby Jesus.
Last year I brought it up but honestly he didn't seem to get it.
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We have this book that I've started reading to E (18 months) that is the bare bones of the Christmas story. I think it's a really great introduction for a young child to know that Christmas is about Jesus' birth. He obviously doesn't really get it, but I'm hoping by next year he'll pick up on it a bit.
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@kiddosc: Love this! Thanks!
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I volunteer in the church preschool 3 year old room and they get it
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We're obviously not there yet, but my nieces were around 3, like PPs have said, when they started getting it a little bit.
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I think by 3 he started to understand but now at 4, he wants to bake a birthday cake for Jesus on Christmas Eve (a tradition our friends do)
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@kiddosc: we have this book as well and really like it! I don't think my DD got the concept until close to age 4.
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@kiddosc: We have the same book!
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This is a good question...I am a lapsed catholic and my son attends daycare on the campus of a catholic school. I don't talk about Santa or Jesus, but he knows Santa wears a red suit. He has no idea that Santa brings presents. He also understands that everyone has a birthday, but I don't think he could verbalized what it means. So, if I had to say one way or the other, he wouldn't have an idea.
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@MamaMoose: my sister delivered her second LO on Christmas Day last year (3 weeks before her due date). Her daughter was 2 1/2 years old at the time. They had been teaching her the story of Christmas the weeks leading up to it but she wasn't sure if her daughter was getting it. Well, when her son was born and her daughter came to visit in the hospital she took one look at the baby and yelled out "Baby Jesus!"
My sister was so happy she understood the story,.. and her daughter continued calling the baby Jesus for a few weeks!
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@beachbee: that's hilarious!
One time my dad was in a minor car accident when my older sister was little. He yelled out, "JESUS CHRIST!" And my sister yelled, "WHERE?!?"
LO is not even a year yet so he obviously gets none of it. But we read him a kids bible, point out Jesus in the nativity, tell him we are going to go talk to Jesus before mass, pray before dinner. I want to find him a toy nativity for next year. Maybe if the Melissa and Doug one is on sale?
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@MamaMoose: not there yet with lo either but from what I see at church, the 3's all understand it.
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