Baby Photo Album

Baby Photo Album

A baby photo album or scrapbook is something to take great care with. It will be something your child will treasure in the years to come. When looking to make a baby photo album, there are several things to consider. Do you want a traditional baby photo album or a digitally created one? Whichever you choose, there are ways to make sure that all the important information will be included in the album.

What to Include in a Baby Photo Album

Photos - Pictures of the pregnancy can be included in the baby's photo album. If you took baby belly photos at each month's stage, these are great to include in the album as well. The child will love to see how they grew inside their mother's belly when they are older. Ultrasound photos are another fun photo series to include in the album. Photos from any baby showers and photos of baby gifts can also be included.

As well, you may want to include non-embarrassing photos from the baby's birth. Other occasions to take photos and include in the baby photo album would be: leaving the hospital wearing their new clothes, pictures of the baby's new home, his nursery, his toys, his siblings, his parents and grandparents, any pets, his toys, etc. As time progresses, you can take additional photos of the baby at each major stage in his growth - example at 1 month of age, at 2 months of age, etc. Some people even purchase a 12 month sized outfit and take the baby's photo wearing the outfit at each stage so the viewer can see how much the baby has grown. Another idea is to take the baby's photo with the same stuffed animal in each picture. Having an item for comparison such as this will be very helpful for the child to later understand how small the baby once was. Of course, the baby photo album can end with a bang - photos of the baby's first birthday, eating his birthday cake, photos of guests to his birthday party, gift opening, etc. After the first year is over, you may want to begin a new baby photo album for each year of their age. So begin a new one from age 1 to 2 and another from age 2 to 3, etc.

Pregnancy Memorabilia - Besides including pregnancy belly shots and ultrasound photos, you may also want to include any documents you received from prenatal visits. Perhaps an appointment card, an ultrasound report, a label from a maternal multi-vitamin, etc. You can also write down or 'journal' about the pregnancy. Talk about why you wanted this baby, names Mommy and Daddy discussed, cravings, morning sickness and any excitement you had while pregnant. This will help the child understand and know they were wanted.

Birth Story - Write down the birth story for you child to read when they are older. It is important to write this information down once it is fresh in your mind as with time memories slip away and are not as crisp.

Information - Write down the baby's full name, birthdate, time, weight, length, hair color, eye color and any other distinguishing characteristics. Also include the town/city, province/state and country where the baby was born.

Baby's Name - Do some research into the baby's name and origin and include that in the baby photo album.

Gift List - Keep a record of all the baby gifts that the baby received as well as who gave them. Keep this record in the baby photo album. Also keep a list of shower gifts and the giver of those.

Hospital Visitors - Keep a list or record of all visitors who came to the hospital to see the new baby.

Baby Cards - Hang onto the baby cards and keep them in a clear plastic sleeve that is inserted into the baby photo album or scrapbook. Hospital I.D. Bracelets - Include both the mother's and the baby's hospital I.D. bracelet in the baby photo album.

Footprints - Put the baby's actual footprints into the baby photo album. If your hospital did not do this, you can do it yourself with a little non-toxic stamp pad and a piece of paper.

Family Tree - Make a little family tree of your baby and his or her relatives. You can purchase a pre-printed page showing an illustration of a tree with boxes at each branch for the names to be filled in of siblings, parents, grandparents and great grandparents. The child will love to look at this family tree and it will help him or her understand where they came from.

Lock of Hair - Your baby may not have any hair to snip a lock from! If not, you can wait until their first haircut and include a snipped of th baby's hair from then. Just date it accordingly. You can put the snippet of hair inside a small clear or glassine envelope.

Day in History - Take a quick scan of a local newspaper or look online to find out what major events were happening in the country and around the world on the day of the baby's birth. As well, jot down the price of common items like milk, eggs, bread, gasoline, housing price averages, diapers, wipes, etc. Much later, the child as an adult will get a big kick out of reading this!

Digital Baby Photo Album

Digitally created baby photo albums are very easy to create. You can very easily create one yourself using the free online tools that are available. All you need to do is create an account and begin uploading your photos. If you have photos and other memorabilia that are not digital photos, you can scan and upload them. Another option is to have your book bound like a binder with rings or plastic coils so you can easily add in clear plastic sleeves for other things that are more tangible.

The online sites even have text boxes available for you add in some journaling or writing to go with the photos. Some places even have a focus more on scrapbooking so you will see lots of paper choices, font selections and even little digital 'stickers' that you can drag and drop into the photo album for a little creative spin. Some sites even offer printing of your album into a hardbound or softbound book.

A great idea is to make up a digital baby scrapbook or baby photo album online and have it printed for your child and then print out another couple of versions for the grandparents. Perhaps focus more on the journaling and photos in the gift baby photo albums. It is nice because the grandparents will cherish having a baby photo album of their grandchild as much as you will. If they live far away, it will be even more precious to them.

Traditional Baby Photo Album

Baby Photo Album Colors - When shopping for a baby photo album you will notice that they mostly come in pastel colors. If it is for a boy, you can choose blue. For a girl, choose pink. Of course, if you don't know the baby's gender or it is for a gift, you can always choose green or yellow.

Acid Free - Be sure that you purchase only acid free supplies when making up your baby photo album or baby scrapbook. It is important to have acid free materials so that with age the photos and everything else does not deteriorate.

Style - Baby photo albums can be made into an actual scrapbook. This is probably the best route to go because they are guaranteed to be acid free for one, and secondly they are easy to add subsequent pages to if you need to. Other ideas you could go with are actual photo albums (check to be sure they are acid free first), binders or traditional baby books. Baby books have pre-printed pages which will give you prompts for information to include in the baby photo album.

Whichever route you take in creating a baby photo album, do your best to make it a concise record for your baby. He or she will thank you for it in the future. Not only that, but you will feel like you have accomplished something very well. It is important.