I think that a good idea.

We threw a big 1st birthday for each child – which was largely for the adults, TBH. And then we held off till school. They don’t really remember or appreciate them until then.

This is totally up to yourself. If you have a big family / friend group you feel you like to invite over and celebrate with then go for it ! When kids are very young it’s often the question for who the celebration is though; for the parents or the child..

The first few years it has always been just family for us. Grandparents and relatives including cousins, nieces, nephews etc. More than enough if there is a large family with all of them included.
Later you can increase the numbers gradually by including a couple of very close friends of yours and your child. Bear in mind that the Mum of the children may prefer to stay at the party too even if you aren’t mutual friends. It seems to be the normal thing these days until the child is older. For short parties the parent who takes the child to the party may have to return soon after leaving their child if they live a fair distance away as far as travelling time is involved

We only did small family and friends birthday parties til the kids started school. They had cousins of similar ages so they still had kids to play with

You’ve set the standards high by going big on 1 and 2, so it makes sense you’re brain is saying you’ve let him down. But you haven’t. You’re still having a lovely family party, a cake, he’ll feel like it’s a celebration and love it. And there are many more birthdays to come in the future to have bigger parties! Enjoy your celebration (no doubt it will still feel like a lot of work even if it’s not ‘big’)

If you want to celebrate with a party..go for it! Just have age appropriate games. or just music and bubbles if really young..

I think unless they have friends to invite its sort of a waste, waiting for school is probably better.

im a big fan of parties! so they only have them once a year! go for it

Pretty sure that, at age 3, he won’t have expectations that are too high for his birthday. As long as he gas presents and is made a fuss of throughout the day, he’ll be just fine. Good idea to stop the big parties before he is old to realise and start to expect it every year

I gave my kids a big 1st birthday but for my sons 2nd and 3rd we just had a get together with family. When they turn 5 and then maybe 10 I will give them a big party again. If you are feeling bad about it just organise a play date with one or two kids at the park
Your not doing anything wrong, they won’t grow up expecting one every year (you may not be able to afford it) this way it won’t seem odd

Any party is a good party big or small!!

I think family parties is enough for kids under 5. I did the same for my son too.

I don’t think he will understand the concept of a birthday until he is older. They suggest to have the number of children there equal to the birthday child’s age! So if he’s 3 then having three friends over are plenty for him to play with!

Parties before the age of 5 are really more for the adults than they are for the birthday child. Save your $$ until your son starts school. Parties are super super expensive once your start inviting school friends.

I really don’t understand the point of having big parties for little ones, they don’t really know what’s going on and they won’t remember it.

I think leave it till he is at school. I’m not the biggest fan of having a huge party for babies and toddlers, i have always just done a nice family gathering Thats just me though!

yeah leave it till his at school making friends it would mean more to him then, then it would now

there are some good comments here

with my kids i gave them a pretty big party for their last year of kindy (before their friends went off to different schools) and then a big one when they were in prep (as they had so many new friends) after that we cut back to small party of 1/2 dozen or so of closest friends and trying to do something special.