{"id":5265,"date":"2021-11-23T12:29:07","date_gmt":"2021-11-23T01:59:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepuregift.com\/?p=5265"},"modified":"2021-11-23T12:29:50","modified_gmt":"2021-11-23T01:59:50","slug":"when-to-start-planning-your-childs-christening","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepuregift.com\/when-to-start-planning-your-childs-christening\/","title":{"rendered":"When To Start Planning Your Child’s Christening"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Christening your child is a very special event and takes a bit of organising to make it all happen. This is often a time in a new mothers life when she is most busy and tired, taking care of a young baby. Just take it step by step when the time is right for you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On average babies are christened between the ages of 2 months to 6 months old. It is best to start planning your child’s christening at least 1 month before in order to secure a suitable time with the church and to book a date with your child’s godparents. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organising your baby’s christening one month beforehand should give you enough time to book in the 2 most important things: the church and the child’s godparents. If booking a reception venue for after the service then you may need to book this further in advance depending on how busy the venue is. Similarly if the church requires you to attend classes before the christening this may also take extra time. There are other things that you will need to organise and we’ll talk about them in more detail below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the Best Age to Baptise a Baby?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

All of my 3 children were baptised between 2.5 to 3.5 months old<\/a>. I found this age to be ideal as they were still young enough to sleep during most of the service but old enough to not need feeding so often, and I had caught up on sleep a little by that time as they were sleeping longer through the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, everyone will have a different age that is best for them. My sister’s first baby was baptised at 1 year old. I’ve seen young children being baptised, sometimes together with their younger sibling. And when I was a baby it was common to baptize babies at around 6 weeks old. So really it depends on your circumstances as to when is best for you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An important thing to consider is that when you bring your baby to be baptised you are committing to bringing them up to learn about Jesus; who he was, what he did and what he taught. This question will be asked when you stand in front of the church. I believe that sharing faith in Jesus with your kids is most effectively done through everyday conversations at home. Read bible stories to them, play christian music (see my recommendations here). Also read the bible yourself (this audio guide<\/a> is brilliant, funny and really interesting) to help you know the deep love God has for you and your child and to help answer questions they have about God. Reach out to God, talk to him honestly and openly, nothing will shock him. He’s there ready to listen and help. I know I need his help everyday in treating my kids with a glimpse of the love and kindness that Jesus has shown to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Schedule a Christening<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first thing to do is to contact a pastor at a local church where you would like your child to be baptised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you don’t have a local church that you attend, you might like to attend a couple nearby to see if it would be somewhere that you feel comfortable bringing your children. Look up some online and get a feel to see if they are family focused. I’ve seen some that even have a special room for nursing mums where they can see and hear the service but not worry about their baby crying and disrupting everyone. I think this is a fantastic idea. I was often worried about my children making too much noise in church. So have a look around and find one that you are happy with. Then enquire with the pastor about getting your child baptised there. See the difference between a christening and a baptism here<\/a> (hint: they’re basically the same thing).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Depending on the church you may need to do a class before getting your child baptised. We just had the pastor visit us at home to ask us a few questions. See this post for more detail if you’re looking to get your child baptised but not a member of a church<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When we baptised our kids our pastor gave us a few dates that were suitable and also some suggestions on choosing godparents. Then we checked with godparents if there were available on those dates and then we settled on a date that suited us, the church and both godparents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There may be another baptism on the same day like there was for our first child, which was kinda nice to stand up the front with another family. But our other 2 kids were the only baptisms on that day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Else Needs to Be Booked\/Organised for the Christening?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So you’ve booked the church and the godparents – these are the most important things to get booked in. After that there are a lot of optional things that you may need to book. We had a casual reception at our house with just family and godparents over for lunch after the church service. Being a new mum you will likely still not be getting sufficient sleep, so take it easy on yourself and don’t overdo it. The most important part of the christening is your child being marked as God’s own. Take time to let that sink in. Choose the things that really matter and forget the things that don’t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other things you may like to book and organise early are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n