5 Creative Ways to Document Your Baby’s First Year

Finding out you are having a baby is one of the most exciting news anyone looking forward to being a parent could receive. Whether it is you...

Finding out you are having a baby is one of the most exciting news anyone looking forward to being a parent could receive. Whether it is your first time, or you already have a growing family, you’re filled with ideas on how to make the adjustment and ensure your baby’s first year, at least, goes smoothly and stays memorable.

Your baby’s first year will probably pass in the blink of an eye, but it is full of amazing milestones for both you and your little one, as they’ll change more than they will at any other period in their lives (Nothing stays the same for more than a few weeks). And while you will have to grapple with late nights, diaper changes, trips to the doctors, e.t.c, you want to be able to hold onto those memories and share them with others. That is why it is important to document the first year of your baby’s life.

While it might take some extra effort and creativity, documenting the first 365 days of your baby’s life will be very rewarding in the long run. To help interested mothers or mothers-to-be, here are some unique ways -from taking photos each month or doing side-by-side comparisons to DIYs and online outlets- to record your baby’s first year on earth.

Baby photo book
This idea has been around for ages. While it seems like the traditional way to record your baby’s first year, it can be wonderful and far from boring. You can decide to create a photo book and record each ‘chapter’of your baby’s life. The chapter can be a month in the life of your baby or a week in your baby’s life, and you can include text in your book too. It could also be random memories of your baby, funny or memorable things people have said. You can have a hard copy: a physical photo album or you can have the photobook uploaded onto a site that offers a huge range of options with your baby’s name.

A One-line Journal
Sure, having a new baby can be utterly exhausting with all the adjustments you have to make to accommodate the baby as well as the chores that you have to complete. You find that most times you can hardly keep your tired eyes open and it’s even impossible to find a few minutes to brush your hair, get dressed and showered, let alone to sit down and write a diary entry. But here’s the beauty in this idea, you only need to write one line a day! It could be a nice quote or a quick doodle about something the baby has done, but essentially it allows you to capture you and your baby’s development and changes during that first year! You can even read it, alongside your child, in years to come and relish in those memories.

A Memory Box
You have probably seen this done in movies or TV shows, but it certainly is a unique and cute way to capture moments of your child’s first year. It pretty easy too. All you need to do is grab a pretty box, preferably made of metal or hardwood, and throw in everything in it from Baby’s first year that you consider significant or sentimental. It could be shavings of the baby’s hair from his/her first haircut, baby’s first pacifier, a print of the birth announcement or the newspaper from the day she was born, her favourite onesie, and more. You can store the memory box in the attic or even bury it somewhere, then dig it up later. It is a much easier alternative to taking a photo every day, week or month.

Time-lapse Videos
Pictures are a good way to capture memories, but videos are even better. While it may be much more tedious to capture, time-consuming when being edited and heavier to store, it can be such a happy, adorable way to document your baby’s first year. The good thing with time-lapse videos is that you can use certain apps on Google Playstore to take the stress out of it. Also, you only need to do is record a one-second video every single day. At the end of the first year, you can create your video which will stitch together all 365 days, making a beautiful memory to show them as they grow up.

Travel Adventure
Very few mothers will be able to pull this off, but it is a super creative way to document your child’s first year. It simply entails extending your maternity leave and traveling the world with your baby until they become a year old. Basically, you have an adventure with your newborn and document it in pictures and videos. From the picture of you and your baby visiting local monuments, and favorite places to visiting nearby destinations. It may not be the cheapest way to record your child’s first year, but it can be inspiring and unique. You can decide to publish your adventures in a photo book or you can take a unique spin and post them on your social media platform.

Can you think of other interesting and creative ways to document your baby’s first year?