15 Creative Monthly Milestone Photo Ideas for Parents

Your baby's first year absolutely flies by (even if some of those late nights can feel endless), and capturing this precious time with monthly milestone photos is a gift to your future self. You'll be able to look back at each month of your little one's first year and remember what a special time that was (minus the sleep deprivation).

We have tons of great baby monthly milestone ideas to help you make the ultimate photo series for your baby's first year.

One of our favorite monthly milestones ideas is to share all your baby's stats, not just their age in months. You can do this with a letter board, a printed sign, or anything else that helps you communicate a few extra details. Mention your little one's biggest accomplishment of the month, plus anything that makes this month extra special and fun (so much drool!).

A cardboard number is fun, but we love the idea of using a soft number made of braided cloth or bunting. It's cozy and cute, and if your baby is rolling around during the photo session, it won't bug them to run into it. You can braid a long piece of fabric and then form it into different numbers for each month.

Your baby's age is just one of the big milestones this first year. It's actually kind of shocking how quickly they get big, and including a yardstick or measuring board in your photo can show exactly how fast your baby is growing. A series of measuring stick photos looks amazing in a baby book, too!

Remember those old calendars with blocks you could switch around to show the date? You can get that retro cute look by showing your baby's monthly milestones with printed blocks. Get one block that says "months" and other blocks with the numbers on them. One of the things that's so awesome about this idea is that your baby can interact with the blocks in the photos.

This is one of the prettiest baby monthly milestone photo ideas out there: write the month number in flowers. You can use different flowers for every month and make them seasonally appropriate, or you can just rearrange the same artificial flowers each month for a super pretty and consistent look.

Related: How to Do a Newborn Photoshoot Like a Pro

Laying a number sign next to your baby is always cute, but it's even more fun if the baby holds the sign. Photos like this make it feel like the baby is the one sharing their age, and it's so cute when they chew on the sign or wave it around. Even if the number is upside down, it will be absolutely adorable.

A simple number printed on a onesie lets you get creative with backgrounds and props. We love a black script number on a white onesie. Bring in seasonal accessories like bunny ears or Santa hats to make each photo different and fun.

When you're taking photos of your baby to show the monthly milestones, it's awesome to have some consistency and something else for scale. One of the best ways to do this is by including a favorite stuffy or toy. Your baby will get bigger each month, and the toy will stay the same size and really show off that change.

You definitely want to get some photos of your baby's face and whole body in your monthly milestone pictures, but don't forget to include the little details, too. Capture those tiny toes or the drool on your baby's chin. One creative idea is to get a photo each month that shows a little detail like this, along with the ones that show your whole baby.

A chalkboard is a classic for a reason, but you can change it up with some creative twists. Include a few of your baby's favorite things, like blankets and toys. Go with a color scheme, too — matching your baby's outfit to the toys. You can even do a different color every month for an entire rainbow of milestone pictures.

A chalkboard slate is cute, but if you have a whole chalkboard wall in your nursery or playroom, you have the best milestone photo background built in. Write a big sign on the wall showing your baby's age and take photos of them in front of it.

Everyone loves a smiling baby picture, but do you know what your future self will love even more? Photos that show what life was really like at that moment. If your baby has colic right now, a crying photo will be a sweet reminder later (really). If your baby is teething, a photo with drool is just as cute as a gummy smile.

Those peel-off vinyl stickers you can buy at the hardware store are perfect for communicating your baby's age in monthly milestone photos. Spell out the age in months with stickers on the background (no need to make them perfectly straight).

You can use any blanket or your carpet for the background in your monthly milestone pictures, but it's even more fun to choose something special. A flowered quilt or a homemade blanket can be really sweet, but we also love the idea of painting your own simple background on a piece of canvas. A rainbow or just a wash of watercolors can be ultra-cute when you see it in every monthly photo.

Any parent can tell you that babies use a lot of diapers. Have fun with this by spelling out the number for your baby's monthly milestone using diapers. It's a hilarious take on the standard monthly picture.

No matter which kind of monthly milestone photo idea you try, it's all about having fun. Use your creativity and snap a ton of pictures, and you'll end up with a wonderful record of the sweetest moments in your baby's first year.