Your baby is finally here (yay!!!), or soon will be, and you want to make sure you do an AWESOME job of capturing all those precious moments with your newborn. This list will help make sure you don’t miss any of the important memories to make with your baby!
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1. Start A Scrapbook
I’m a big fan of scrapbooks, and starting one during pregnancy or right after your baby’s birth is a great way to make precious memories with your sweet child.
Fill it in with mementos from pregnancy, your baby shower, and baby’s first precious moments Earth-side.
Put photos and videos of baby with loved ones, and jot down dates and stats of important milestones your baby meets. There is SO much happening during those first months with a new baby, that a scrapbook can help you to keep track of things and remember those cute little moments you might otherwise forget.
2. Take Videos
Take videos of your baby as often as you can! You’ll catch some really cute moments and might be lucky enough to catch a few firsts! I was lucky enough to catch my son taking some of his first steps, AND saying his first two-word combo (get it!). That would not have happened if I didn’t take the opportunity to record him whenever I could.
Many videos are rather boring and mundane, but whenever I got one that I really loved, I’d put it in a separate folder for the more special videos.
I was able to use many of these in a first year video collage. It is still one of my favorite mementos from his newborn days.
Be sure to record cute things your baby does, including your baby’s laughs, coos, attempts to hold his bottle, claps, first time crawling, etc.
3. Take Pictures In All The Outfits You Love
You never know when an outfit you really love your baby to wear will get damaged, or outgrown. If I could do things over again, I’d take pictures in all the cutest outfits my son had as soon as they can fit.
He outgrew several awesome outfits (and shoes) before he even had the opportunity to wear them.
Other outfits were damaged by random baby activities, despite using all the best tips and tricks out there to remove stains from baby clothes.
It’s easy to think that you’ll get another opportunity to wear this, or take that picture, but the truth is the only opportunity you’ve secured is the one you took advantage of.
Take that picture now!
Related Post: Pictures To Take Baby’s First Year
4. Take Pictures With Visitors
Make sure you capture your baby’s photos with all the friends and loved ones that come to visit. You never know what might happen, and having those precious mementos will be a great honor for loved ones and your baby.
In time, your baby will grow up and appreciate how loved he or she has been even before entering this world.
And these photos can make awesome creative gifts for your loved ones!
5. Take Milestone Photos
Be sure to take monthly milestone photos of your baby! It might seem super cliche and maybe you don’t want to do it just because everyone else does it, but please don’t let that stop you!
Those newborn days go by so fast that you should take advantage of ALL the cute memories with baby that you can!
Monthly milestone photos will help you realize and remember just how much and how quickly your baby changed during that first year! And your baby will love to see these photos as an older child and adult!
CUTE TIP: Have professional milestone photos done where mom and dad can be included in some of the photos (and other siblings, of course!). You’ll be surprised how much the whole family is changing!
6. Dress-Up For “First Holidays”
Be sure to dress up for baby’s first holidays, and take photos! If you can spring for professional photos, definitely do! You WILL NOT regret it!
Here are some of the holidays to consider dressing baby up for:
- New Year’s Eve/Day
- Valentine’s Day
- St. Patrick’s Day
- Easter
- 4th of July
- Halloween
- Thanksgiving
- Hanukkah
- Christmas
- BIRTHDAY!
Some might even choose to commemorate the first Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.
Related Post: Important Things To Do With A Newborn
7. Save The Best Clothes, Bibs, Blankets
Keep a bin, bag or box to save the best of the best of your baby’s clothes throughout the first year (and maybe even 2-3 years!). You can use these to make an awesome baby quilt later on, once you’ve decided you’re done collecting pieces.
Keep baby’s first holiday outfits/bibs as well, or just a few of your favorites from those holidays.
Some quilters have amazing skill and can even include some precious baby items like rattles, or soft toys.
8. Take Handprints & Footprints
Whether you want to draw these, use ink, or make impressions on salt dough, you’ll want to be sure to capture baby’s hand prints and foot prints.
Most hospitals will take baby’s foot print, but it’s always a great idea to do this on your own.
They are only so little for a very, very short time, so you want to capture their prints at this stage of life ASAP!
9. Make Custom Ornaments
Custom ornaments are awesome for Christmas, and also for other holidays! My son’s custom Christmas ornaments are some of my favorites.
You can have ornaments done at some photography studios, only photo sites, or even made at home.
You can make custom ornaments using salt dough or other crafty ways. Check out these Christmas keepsake ideas that might spur your creativity.
10. Put Special Mementos In A Keepsake Box
Getting your baby a personalized keepsake box is such an awesome thing to do. It serves as a memento itself, with some of the most important details from baby’s birth, and then you have a designated place to store some of baby’s most precious items!
This personalized keepsake box is perfect for storing some of baby’s important items such as:
- christening outfit
- first pair of shoes
- birth certificate
- handprints and footprints
- custom ornaments
- lock of hair
- umbilical cord stump
- sonograms
- letters
- coming home outfit
- first tooth
- favorite baby toy/lovey
- baby’s hospital ID/tags
Keeping these precious items will show your child how much you have always loved and adored him or her, right from the start!
11. Fill Out A Baby Book
There are now online apps and programs such as Qeepsake and Shutterstock that make it super easy to keep a baby book online.
But nothing really compares to a baby book where you take your precious time to provide a personalized, handwritten touch.
I really love this modern baby book because it is super cute and easy to fill in. Life as a new mom is filled with its challenges, so you don’t want a baby book that’s a challenge to fill out! This baby book knows how intense the fourth trimester can be, so the creators made sure it makes your life, and recording baby’s precious memories, easy as pie! It also comes with a keepsake bag.
12. Create Photo Books
You will have an overabundance of amazing photos from your baby’s first years. Why not make several photo books with the best of the best? You can make themed photo books or just make one for each month, or do as I did and categorize baby’s best photos every few months (I lumped 3 months together at a time).
Photo books are super easy to make online AND they look awesome! You can put custom wording on them and they also make great gifts!
13. Sibling Photos
If this is not your first baby, or if you have a blended family where children were already a part of the picture, be sure to do some special things to help baby and sibling(s) bond while capturing awesome photos and videos!
There are SO many great ideas for sibling photos, and you only need to look on Pinterest to get a ton that you can re-create with your own children!
Taking pictures with the whole family is GREAT and that is probably a given. But be sure to take some photos with JUST the kiddos so they can have those precious photos to savor forevermore.
Final Thoughts
There are so many awesome ways that you can capture precious memories with your baby. I was SO happy that I took time to record many of my son’s firsts, and also felt regret that I didn’t do more. You might find it a bit tedious keeping track of so many things about your baby, but as they grow older you’ll be so thankful that you took the time to get it done!
I hope you found this list useful, and found some awesome ideas of cool and unique memories to make with baby. If you can think of any other super awesome ideas, I’d love for you to leave a comment letting us know!
