Is it for your child?
For you?
Or for other parents?

There’s nothing wrong with any of these answers – first birthday parties are often more for the parents then for the children, who are too young to know what’s going on anyway. The important thing is to be clear in your own mind. There’s no quicker route to all-round misery than kidding yourself, thinking you’re giving a party for your baby, when actually what matters most to you is impressing other parents with incredible styling and trendy food.

Invite only as many children as you have space and mental energy for: a large garden can accommodate a lot more chaos than a small flat. And, if possible, keep the range of ages small. If there’s an older sibling it’s only fair that they should have a same-age-mate or two to play with, but otherwise mixing toddlers, older children and sugar is asking for trouble. Five and six-year-olds on a rampage are just not capable of noticing when they’re about to trip over a toddler, no matter how many times they get shouted at.

Approximately two hours on a weekend afternoon is plenty of time for a group of toddlers and their parents to socialise, eat, exhaust themselves and head for home before the tears start.

If you have an even smaller garden, you have no worries: just turn the kids loose and relax. If you don’t, or if there is a chance of rain, you need to consider your options more carefully. An indoor party at home is just about possible with a hand full of one-year-olds who aren’t very mobile yet; but even the largest house will seem amazingly small with the same amount of three-year-olds.

The food is where things get serious: there is nothing to match the single-minded focus of toddlers munching their way through an array of normally forbidden goodies. Do yourself and all the other parents a favor, though, and keep the refined sugar rations low.

One mother I know had the inspired idea of keeping all the sweeties in reserve until after she’d served snacks and cheese cubes, pickles, sausage chunks, baby tomatoes and dried fruit, all threaded excitingly onto kebab sticks (this stick works well with fresh fruit chunks, too). The children loved them – eating anything off a stick is exciting – and they already had half full tummies by the time the cake came out.

Other popular savouries include baby sausages, mini pizzas, nuts or tartrazine-free chips; I’ve even seen toddlers tuck happily into cucumber and carrot sticks if there’s something yummy (and messy!) like hummus to dip them into. The secret is not to serve savouries next to sweets.

It’s what’s on the outside that counts

Most toddlers are far more interested in picking icing, smarties, liquorice allsorts and jelly sweets off the outside of the cake than in the cake itself. They don’t care how elegant it looks, as long as it’s colourful and well encrusted with goodies. So, don’t spend hours in the kitchen baking unless you really, really love it; buy a cake from a baker and spend your precious time and energy on the decorations instead.

Moms and dads love to eat as much as their children do, so don’t forget to set food aside for them (preferably on a high table where little ones can’t reach). It may be worth having a separate cake for the adults, this time with the emphasis on the taste rather than the decoration.

Make sure the parents are well watered, too. Hot drinks like tea and coffee can be difficult to keep track of amidst the chaos, so make sure there is also plenty of juice or cold drinks. If alcohol is appropriate, you can’t go wrong with a cold beer.

Party packs are a good way to avoid jealousy over one child getting all the presents. But you don’t have to fill them with sugary snacks. See our sweety packs for details.\ Savour every minute and take lots of photographs, it can also be a good idea to hire a photographer, to make sure all the moments are captured even if you don’t have your camera at hand.

Chat to one of our professional children’s party planners. They will be able to assist you with any party needs and leave you with loads of time to spend with your child on their special day.