4 Reasons Why You Should Still Make a Baby Book

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Recently I was talking to some friends about working on my little one’s baby book, and I was surprised to learn how many people aren’t doing them any longer. The primary argument against baby books seems to be that they are time-consuming and unnecessary when so many memories are already published online through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc…

I will be the first to admit that I’m not the most social-media savvy gal on the block. I have Twitter and Instagram accounts, but I’ve only logged into them a handful of times. I have a Facebook account that I check daily, mostly out of curiosity to see what people are doing and what issues everyone is talking about, but I rarely actually post anything myself.  So, for me, making a baby book for my daughter has always been a given.

However, I understand how it is more time-efficient for those who are frequent social-media posters to forgo creating a separate baby book when they can just scroll back through their timelines…because let’s be honest, how many people have the time to sit down and carefully document in neat handwriting baby’s every accomplishment when there are already too many things to do each and every day?

Nonetheless, here are four reasons why even frequent social-media-posting moms should still consider making each child a baby book:

First month

1. They are physical books

It is a different experience to sit on a sofa with your own mother or your child, open a book, feel the age of the pages, see a mother’s careful pen strokes, and know that every word, picture, and item was chosen with love and a purpose, versus sitting down with a phone or tablet and watching someone else scroll through a timeline looking for that funny picture they posted years ago.

Ultrasounds

2. Baby books do more than just record monthly milestones

They are a place where special baby items can be stored and documented. I like to think that I’m a fairly organized person, but there’s no way I could keep up with all of the baby keepsakes if I didn’t have a definite place to store them over the years.

Such items include ultrasound photos, hospital wrist bands, decorative birth certificates with baby’s foot and handprints, a lock of hair from baby’s first haircut, or some people even include umbilical cords (Not us though. We threw our daughter’s away thinking it was something the dogs dragged in when we found it…although I’m not sure we would have kept it anyway. That’s a debate for another blog post.).

Showers

3.Your children may regret it if you don’t make them baby books

Just after my daughter was born, my parents and I had the best time reading back through the baby book my mother made for me. It was so heartwarming to see the time and attention to detail that my mom spent in filling the pages with all of the special moments of my first year, and it was interesting to compare her notes of when I first smiled, giggled, rolled over, etc… to my own daughter’s milestones. However, I’m the oldest of three kids and my mom had the time to fill my book, but I’m not so sure about the size of my younger brothers’ books.

Baby books are often begun with the best of intentions, but their completion doesn’t always come to fruition, especially with younger siblings. While it may seem like an annoying chore at the time, making a baby book for each child will be a gift that you can share with your grown baby (and grandbabies, just to embarrass their parents) years from now, and it will help avoid younger siblings from feeling left out.

Second month

4.You may regret not making a baby book

My daughter is just about to reach seven months old, and I’ve already struggled to remember some of her earlier milestones and the little quirks she had as a newborn, like the funny moaning sound she made when she ate or took a poo.

If I hadn’t recorded these little moments, over time, I may have forgotten them completely. While your children will love looking back on their baby books when they are older, you as the parent will also love reliving those special times you thought you had forgotten.

Did you make a baby book for your children? Why or why not?

2 COMMENTS

  1. I’ve just started following this blog, and I’ve really been enjoying the posts. However, I have to say that I feel like this post is just one more thing to give moms “mom guilt” about. Since I’ve been in the adult world, I haven’t been someone who’s been into writing stuff down on physical paper – picture albums, scrapbooks, journals, etc. So, the thought of doing a baby book, in addition to figuring out everything else with a newborn, was very overwhelming to me. Instead I started a blog when I found out I was pregnant. I posted every week during my pregnancy, and I post at least once/month now (my son just turned 1). While it’s not something my son will be able to physically hold, nor can I store keepsakes there (those will probably end up in a shoe box), it’s something I did specifically for him that will be his when he gets older. And it was something that I felt I could do (without too much extra stress) and follow through with. I think it’s absolutely wonderful if you’re able to make a baby book, but, for those of us who feel like that’s just one more thing to stress about, there are some other pretty good options. Another good idea is to set up an email address for your child (I also did this), and then send him emails, pictures, milestones, funny things he does/says, etc, and give him the password on his 18th birthday. I sit at a computer 8 hours/day for work, so these things were a lot more doable for me. Just like everything else with parenting, different things work for different parents.

    • Thank you for following Charleston Moms Blog! This article certainly was not intended to cause unnecessary guilt or grief, but rather it was meant to emphasize how special it is to document those precious early memories. Of course creating a traditional baby book is not for everyone, and there are several other great ways to document those special moments for each child, including, as you mentioned, a blog, private email address, etc… I’m old school and like the traditional pen and paper type of book (I realize the irony of writing this in the comments section of my blog post), but like you said, “different things work for different parents”, and that’s perfectly okay. What’s important is being able to look back, in one way or another, and remember what made you and your child’s early days together so special:)

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