Mum Creates Child And Pet-Proof Upside Down Christmas Tree

A clever Aussie mum has created the ultimate child and pet-proof Christmas tree, by attaching it to the ceiling.

Mel Webber has turned Christmas on its head, literally, in a bid to keep her dogs and toddler from getting at the decorations.

“What Christmas looks like in our house!” Mel wrote, sharing photos of her creation on the Kmart Home Decor & Hacks Australia Facebook page. “My way of child and pet proofing the Christmas tree.”

Upside Down Christmas Tree 1

Her post attracted more than one thousand comments, with other mums praising her creativity. But there were others who were unsure how safe the tree was, and why it was necessary.

“I have small dogs, two being male, which would love to pee on the tree,” Mel explained. “One is also a puppy. We have been doing this since my daughter’s second Christmas. She was born in September, so we never gave her the chance to be ‘naughty’. I didn’t want to spend a month telling a 1.5 year-old ‘NO’.

“So this was pre planned. And unless an adult wants to swing on the tree like a stripper pole, it’s not just going to ‘unsafely’ fall from the sky. The feet are attached inside the ceiling with a support board to take the weight.”

Upside Down Christmas Tree

Other mums wondered where the Christmas presents would go, with Mel pointing out that there’s actually lots of room to place gifts.

“Look at all the extra space underneath it, we can gift our daughter a pushbike and have it wrapped under the tree. Pretty sure a standard one, you can realistically fit how many little presents underneath it? Before you have to start spreading them out around the tree anyway!”

We think this is a genius idea. Would you do this to stop little hands and paws getting at the decorations?

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41 Comments

- - meedee said
  - 19 Jul 2024
    12:27 pm
I think its awesome….whatever works and there will always be negative nancys

- - mom489365 said
  - 11 Dec 2022
    7:33 pm
What a great idea, I’m sure some dogs will try jump at it.

- - Ellen said
  - 11 Dec 2022
    8:39 am
Sure is very creative.. I chose for many years not to have a Xmas tree because of this.

- - ashna9 said
  - 11 Jan 2022
    6:18 pm
Not my style but very creative.

- - Zmijka86 said
  - 06 Jan 2022
    4:18 pm
My mum needs one like that…with her 4 cats

- - tessie said
  - 03 Jan 2022
    7:57 pm
I love this idea especially when it comes to small children. You can’t keep an eye on them 24/7 and the fact that it’s bolted to the ceiling makes it perfectly safe. With one son and my grandchildren living so far away, my youngest son and I don’t need a big tree anymore. I now use one from The Reject Shop that’s big enough for us. The best thing about ours is that it’s a circular tree and you only have to remove the pole from the centre and it drops down flat.

- - ~Loui~ said
  - 01 Jan 2022
    12:38 am
This just looks a little silly to me.

- - mom468034 said
  - 24 Dec 2021
    3:44 pm
Why not just put it up a bit higher on a small table or covered milk crate? It’s a novel approach if you want to do something different though!

- - mom105072 said
  - 23 Dec 2021
    6:55 pm
what a great idea

- - mom60462 said
  - 23 Dec 2021
    4:12 pm
very cleaver idea

- - mom169700 said
  - 23 Dec 2021
    12:39 pm
Our cat would see this as a challenge or a new cat tower.

- - SAS185 said
  - 22 Dec 2021
    11:36 pm
This is just gold. I love it.

- - Andrea said
  - 22 Dec 2021
    10:07 pm
Very inventive, lol

- - Danicastefanie said
  - 22 Dec 2021
    9:54 pm
Oh wow!

- - smart_ass said
  - 21 Dec 2021
    1:41 pm
Some people are creative with their Christmas trees

- - sars_angelchik said
  - 17 Dec 2021
    8:44 pm
That’s just weird- much easier to buy a puppy play pen and put that around the tree.

- - mom160270 said
  - 15 Dec 2021
    4:24 pm
It’s not something I would do.

- - rovermum said
  - 15 Dec 2021
    10:25 am
Wow! How on earth is it holding to the ceiling without all of the baubles falling off? It looks a bit silly to me and not something I’d bother with. I used to tell my toddler NO until he understood. Perhaps erecting a child-proof fence around it would be better.

- - Shazza said
  - 14 Dec 2021
    7:51 pm
Is that a display house? Doesn’t look like a lived in home.. Why bother with it then!

- - BellaB said
  - 14 Dec 2021
    7:13 pm
It’s clever, but I wonder how hard it was to “erect” it?