The short answer
Christmas 2026 falls on a Friday. For delivery in the contiguous US, our estimate is to order by Tuesday, December 8 to be reasonably safe, and Monday, December 14 at the very latest. For Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico, those dates move to Friday, November 27 and Thursday, December 3. These are estimates worked out from our shipping policy, not a guarantee. PatPat does not publish an official Christmas cut-off, and the shipping policy doesn't list an expedited option.
Christmas tree print family pajamas in dark greenShop now
Christmas tree and car print family pajamas in white and redShop now
Gingerbread print family pajamas in khakiShop now
Estimated order-by dates for Christmas 2026
“Safer” aims to have the parcel in the house by Friday, December 18. “Latest” uses up every day of the slow end of our delivery estimate and lands on Christmas Eve, with nothing left over for a delay.
| Shipping to | Policy estimate after processing | Safer order date (estimate) | Latest order date (estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contiguous US (48 states) | 2–5 business days | Tuesday, December 8 | Monday, December 14 |
| Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico | 10–16 days | Friday, November 27 | Thursday, December 3 |
| Europe | 7–17 days | Wednesday, November 25 | Wednesday, December 2 |
Delivery time is only half of it, because stock runs on its own clock. These dates answer “will a parcel get here,” and they do not answer “will your sizes still exist.” That is why our sizing and order-date guide still gives the third week of November as the practical limit for a whole family. A larger family with hard sizes should go by that date and treat December as the backup, and our guide to choosing family Christmas pajamas by household shows which size to look for first.
How we worked out the dates
You can check this yourself. Our shipping policy gives two numbers: processing of 1–3 days, then the delivery estimate for your region. We took the slow end of each and counted backward.
- Start from the day it has to be in the house. That is Thursday, December 24 for the latest date, and Friday, December 18 for the safer one.
- Count back the slow end of delivery. For the contiguous US, that is 5 business days: December 24, 23, 22, 21 and 18. So the parcel has to leave by Thursday, December 17.
- Count back the slow end of processing. That is 3 business days: December 17, 16 and 15.
- Order on the business day before that. Monday, December 14. The same count from December 18 gives Tuesday, December 8.
That is 8 business days in total, and we skipped weekends, Thanksgiving (November 26), Christmas Day and New Year's Day. We made five assumptions, and you should know each one, because any of them could be wrong for your order:
- Processing in business days. The policy says “1-3 days” without saying which kind. Business days give the more cautious answer.
- No number for peak season. The policy says processing can take longer in peak season. We did not invent a figure for that. Instead, the safer date leaves four spare business days, December 21 to 24. How many are enough is our judgment.
- Same-day start. We assumed the processing clock starts on the day you order.
- Christmas Eve as a working delivery day. That is the weakest link in the latest date, which is one more reason not to plan on it.
- Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico and Europe. Those estimates say “days,” not “business days.” The latest date counts them as calendar days. For the Hawaii, Alaska and Puerto Rico safer date, it happens that two readings agree: November 27 gets there by December 18 on calendar days, and by December 24 if the 16 days turn out to be business days. We added nothing for customs on European orders.
As an outside check, USPS recommends sending by Thursday, December 17 for Ground Advantage, Friday, December 18 for Priority Mail and Saturday, December 19 for Priority Mail Express within the contiguous US, and it notes that actual delivery can vary. Our December 17 ship date lines up with its ground date. Treat that as a sanity check on the calendar and not as a statement about how your own parcel will travel. For Ground Advantage to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, USPS gives no single date and describes a service expectation of 10 days or more, which fits how much earlier that row of our table runs.
What each order date looks like
Here is the same math run forward for the contiguous US. “Quickest” is the policy’s fast end, 1 day of processing plus 2 business days of delivery. “Slowest” is the slow end, 3 plus 5. Neither includes a peak-season delay.
| If you order on | Quickest estimate | Slowest estimate | What it means |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday, November 9 | November 12 | November 19 | Time to try on, and to buy again if a size is wrong |
| Monday, November 16 | November 19 | November 27 | The practical limit for a whole family, as sizes go |
| Monday, November 30 | December 3 | December 10 | Delivery looks comfortable on this estimate, but check stock on hard sizes |
| Tuesday, December 8 | December 11 | December 18 | Our safer estimate, with four spare business days |
| Friday, December 11 | December 16 | December 23 | Tight. The slow estimate lands the day before Christmas Eve |
| Monday, December 14 | December 17 | December 24 | Our latest estimate, with no room for any delay |
| Tuesday, December 15 | December 18 | December 28 | One day later and the slow case misses Christmas |
| Monday, December 21 | December 24 | January 4 | Plan on it arriving after Christmas |
The December 15 row is the one to look at. One extra day on the order date pushes the slow case back by four days, because Christmas Day and a weekend fall in the gap.
Is there a faster shipping option?
The shipping policy doesn't list an expedited option. We read it on November 6, 2026, and delivery is simply estimated by region. The free-shipping threshold can vary by region, so check it at checkout. If your checkout ever shows a faster option, the terms on that screen apply to your order, but we cannot tell you to plan on one.
So the fastest route to Christmas morning is choosing better rather than paying more. On paper, the best case is about 3 business days from order to door. That is the quick end of two estimates, and we would not plan a holiday around it in the third week of December.
If you are already past December 14 and the pajamas truly must be there by the 25th, a store near you is the safer bet than us. We would rather tell you that than sell you a parcel that turns up on the 28th.
If you have missed the date, or nearly have
There is still a plan that works. Here are the options, starting with the one that keeps the set together.
Choose a print that has everyone’s size in stock. This is the one thing that saves real time, since you will not lose days hunting for a substitute or waiting on a size. Our Christmas pajamas size finder shows only designs where every size you enter is in stock. If the print itself is still open, the matching family Christmas pajamas collection has a size filter built in, and the group we label best family Christmas pajamas is a shorter edit of our own choosing, not an independent ranking.
Buy now, then add to it later. We normally say to put everyone in one order, because each size sells out on its own. When time is short and someone’s size is uncertain, buy the hardest sizes first and add the rest when you know them. Keep in mind that a second order runs on its own clock of 3 plus 5 business days, and the print may lose sizes in between.
Put the children first. If you cannot get everyone in time, cover the people who care most about the morning. Our kids Christmas pajamas are the place to look. Adults can wear plain red, cream or navy for that one morning and join the print later, a fallback that also appears in our sizing guide.
Wrap the promise. If the parcel will land after Christmas, put a printed photo of the print in a gift bag with a note about when it is due. That still gives the children something to open on the day. If you are shopping for a family gift, our Christmas Eve gifting guide has more on how to buy for people whose sizes you cannot ask about.
Shop the look
A family set and a bag to put it in: choose the gnome print for parents and kids (one listing, choose each member and size) and add the green gift bag, which is sold as a separate listing.
Gnome print family pajamas in white with red trimShop now
Green Christmas gift bag with a tree printShop now
Once you have placed the order
A late order leaves little room for small errors, so these checks are worth a few minutes.
Check the address before you pay, and think about where you will be. A parcel sent to the wrong address costs time you do not have in December, and under the shipping policy a package returned for a wrong address or failure to claim can be reshipped only with additional shipping charges. If you are traveling for the holiday, send it to where the pajamas will be worn, and only if someone will be there to receive it.
Watch for the shipping email. Once your order ships, you should get a confirmation email with a tracking number. If you have no tracking details about three business days after you ordered, allow a little more for the season, then email service@patpat.com with your order number. Do this while you still have other options.
Read any delay notice properly. If an order to a US address cannot ship on time, the FTC’s order rule says the seller has to tell you and give you the option to agree to the delay or cancel for a refund. Be careful with silence, because if the notice gives a new ship date within 30 days, not answering can count as agreeing. If a date no longer works for you, reply and cancel.
Open it the day it comes. Check every piece, with the tags on, against your list. Returns have to be unworn with tags and original packaging, and our policy offers no direct exchange, so a wrong size means a return plus a separate purchase. That can easily run past the 25th in late December. Our article on five mistakes to avoid when buying Christmas pajamas covers how to avoid needing one at all. It helps to measure before you order, since there will be little time to fix a wrong guess.
Frequently asked questions
What is the last day to order PatPat Christmas pajamas for delivery by Christmas 2026? PatPat has no official cut-off. Our estimate for the contiguous US is Monday, December 14 at the very latest and Tuesday, December 8 to be safer, based on the slow end of our policy’s processing and delivery times.
Are these delivery dates guaranteed? No. They are our own estimates from a shipping policy that itself gives estimates, and peak season, carriers, weather or public holidays can all make delivery later.
Does PatPat offer expedited or overnight shipping? The shipping policy doesn't list an expedited option. If you need certainty after mid-December, a local store is the safer choice.
How long does shipping to Hawaii, Alaska or Puerto Rico take? Our policy estimates 10–16 days after 1–3 days of processing. We estimate ordering by Friday, November 27 to be safer and Thursday, December 3 at the latest.
How do I know my order has shipped? Orders come with tracking, so look for the tracking details once it ships. If nothing has come after a few business days, email service@patpat.com.
Can I add a family member after I have ordered? Yes, as a separate order, if that size is still in stock. That order has its own processing and delivery time, so use the same date math for it.
The order-by dates are only useful while your sizes are in stock, and those sell out one at a time. Measure tonight, then shop the full collection with every size on your list.
About this article
Written and fact-checked by the PatPat Editorial Team. How we research, source and review what we publish is set out on our editorial standards page.
Method. Every date here is an estimate we calculated for Christmas 2026 from the processing and delivery times in the PatPat shipping policy, read on November 6, 2026, using the steps set out above. PatPat is the seller, does not publish a holiday cut-off, and does not guarantee these dates. Product and size information was read from PatPat product pages and inventory on the same day. We did not measure actual delivery times for this article.
Sources. Processing, delivery and tracking terms: PatPat shipping policy. Returns and exchanges: PatPat refund policy. Recommended 2026 send-by dates: USPS, 2026 Holiday Shipping Deadlines. Delay notices and cancellation: FTC, Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise Rule.
Last updated 6 November 2026 · Next review November 2027
