How to Start Your Own Christmas Pajamas Tradition

One of the great things about the holidays is the joy of passing down all of the fun traditions you grew up with to your children. Granted, some traditions may require a little more work than you remember – like chopping down your own Christmas tree and making cinnamon rolls from scratch. If you can get through the season without shorting out the electrical grid with your holiday lights, count it a success!

Fortunately, there is at least one holiday tradition that you can enjoy sharing with your children that doesn’t involve you breaking into a sweat. This year, lean in to comfort and give your family the sweet holiday tradition of cozy, new matching Christmas pajamas that won’t only keep you warm but will surely warm your heart, too. And, if you just want to celebrate winter itself while being cozy, check out our selection of family Christmas pajamas you can wear throughout the season.

So how do you start your own Christmas pajamas tradition this year with pajamas? It’s easier than you think — and a lot more fun than you might expect.

How The Tradition Works:

Whether it’s something you grew up doing as a kid or a brand new tradition you want to start with your family, wearing traditional Christmas pajamas in the morning is the perfect way to kick off the magic of the day. It may sound hokey, but we promise you’ll love getting that early morning pic by the tree of your twinkly-eyed crew in their crisp new Christmas pajamas as they eagerly await the unwrapping of their first present. Plus, it’s a great way to keep those pictures of past Christmases organized in that bin of photos you keep meaning to put in scrapbooks.

Christmas pajamas don’t just put everyone in the mindset of merrymaking, but they are also comfortable to wear most of the day. If you aren’t going anywhere, you may find yourself in them all day — and that’s OK! It’s the best outfit to lounge in, enjoy meals, watch Christmas movies, and cuddle around the fire as your kids enjoy their gifts. Pajamas are a simple and easy tradition to start because they require no special effort. All you need to do is get dressed in them the night before and roll out of bed! This is a win-win for everyone, especially parents.

When to Wear Christmas Pajamas?

If you want to go by traditional “rules," it’s expected to wear holiday pajamas on Christmas Eve. This gives everyone in the house a sense of anticipation about the following morning. Wearing pajamas the night before also makes it easy to be ready for the festivities without any extra effort. If you have an especially cozy pajama set, you can wear them well into the new year. Since the last two weeks of the year are theoretically a blur, Christmas attire is not just appreciated but expected.

If you want something wintry that you can wear for the rest of winter, you may want a set of flannel pajamas that look great in both holiday photos and when you’re watching Netflix on the couch in the middle of February. However, nobody is going to judge what you wear to bed when the temperatures dip below 40.

Christmas Eve Magic

Score some major parenting points this season and let your kids open their new kids’ Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve. Bonus if you let them open one other gift to entertain them until bedtime! After all, you want them wearing your hand-picked family pajamas for the morning’s pictures but you also don’t want them getting lost amongst the chaos of a Christmas morning wrapping paper tornado.

Let your family appreciate the effort you put into picking out the perfect sleep set for each one of them and pass out your gift on Christmas Eve when they’ll have time to appreciate all of the thought and love you put into shopping for them. For an added treat, wrap their super-comfy PJs with a new book they can enjoy reading in bed that night as they wait for the man in red to show.

To Match or Not to Match?

That is the question, isn’t it? Of course, we love matching traditional family Christmas pajamas as much as the next parent, but there are going to be years where your family (read: teenagers) just aren’t going to let you get away with it — at least not without a few complaints. If your kids are past the age where they think matching their parents is fun, then save yourself a headache this holiday season and shop for comfy, cozy pajamas that your independent thinker will love. You can also give them the choice to wear Christmas pajama tops with their favorite pajama bottom, or vice versa with our lovely Christmas pajama bottoms .

If matching PJs aren’t in the cards for your holiday photos this year, then consider color coordinating your happy family instead. Just stay in the "zone" of red, white, and green and you have a color palette that nods to the holidays. That way, you can relax in a comfy new Supima® cotton nightgown and fleece robe while your kids kick back in their color-coordinated (but not matchy-matchy) flannel pajama pants or graphic fleece pajama set.

When Do Christmas Pajamas Come Out?

Since holiday shopping tends to start a few months early, you can confidently look for new holiday prints and styles around October or November — or even earlier! All you need to do is check out our holiday pajamas page to see what’s new. Depending on our stock, you may also find last season’s pajamas on sale. However, if you want the freshest styles, circle back to our Christmas pajamas page when you start to see holiday decorations in stores. You can always count on the cycles of retail to tell you when new products are rolling out.