Being a new parent is an incredible and surreal experience, and the newborn stage goes by in the blink of an eye. Be sure to preserve these special moments with creative projects that will capture the beauty of this fleeting phase. When your children grow up, you will forever have your sweet memories to look back on.
Preserving Newborn Memories
There are many ways you can make sure memories of your child's first days are never forgotten. A journal and a photo album are the most traditional methods of memory preservation, but they aren't your only options. From crafty to tech-savvy, there are tons of ways to commemorate those precious newborn days.
Make a Scrapbook
Scrapbooks are an excellent way to capture your child's newborn days. Devote an entire book just to those first few months of life, including plenty of pictures and newborn memorabilia like hospital bracelets or identification cards and sweet baby embellishments. Be sure to sprinkle in as many sayings as possible, so you can reflect on how you felt in these first days of parenthood.
Organize a Newborn Photoshoot
There is nothing sweeter than a new baby, which means there is no better time to capture your infant on camera. You can schedule a professional photographer to snap pictures of your sweetheart, or you can take the task on yourself. Choose to turn your images into baby announcements for family or large wall portraits for your home.
Create a Keepsake Box
Keepsake boxes are perfect places to store all of those little bits and pieces of paraphernalia left from the newborn stage that would otherwise get lost. You can make your own keepsake box for your baby from simple materials, or you can fashion a sturdy keepsake box from wood. These serve as special and safe spaces to hold items like:
- Locks of hair
- Wristbands from the hospital
- Special cards from family
- Newspaper announcement
- Ultrasound photos or photos from the birth
- Hospital hat
- Swatch from hospital receiving blanket
Start a Video Diary
You might consider creating a video diary detailing important milestones experienced during the first few months of your baby's life. Share your memories of labor, your feelings when you first laid eyes on your baby, and your most vivid memory of your special bond, so your child can someday hear about their journey into the world. Add first milestones, funny moments, and accounts of visitors in the days and weeks following your baby's birth. Video document the first walk around the block, the initial meeting with the family pet or siblings, as well as the first time your newborn enters their new home.
Email Your Baby
It sounds like a strange activity to do for a newborn, but if you are tech-savvy and good with words, consider starting an email for your newborn. Email them during their first days of life and beyond, sharing your thoughts, feelings, and memories about parenthood with them. Tell them all about themselves, so they can read the email entries and learn about their unique journey when they grow up. This might be a fascinating idea if you have a NICU infant who goes through many battles and hurdles during those early days. Tell them how strong they are.
Invest in a Stylish Shadow Box
Shadow boxes are stylish, decorative elements that turn letters, cards, rattles, and tiny baby clothes into artwork for your home. Gather up materials you want to showcase, and arrange them in your shadow box. Hang your shadow box in your child's nursery or another space in your home where it will be seen often.
Start a Time Capsule
Making a time capsule is a fun way to capture all that is happening in the world around the time your baby is born. You can fill your time capsule with newborn memorabilia, letters to your baby, and family photos. Record what gas and grocery prices are, who is leading the nation, or what current events are taking place, and place those in your capsule. Set a special day, such as graduation from high school, when you plan to give the capsule to your child.
Purchase a Large Wall Calendar
Use a large wall calendar to record notes about the cute things your baby does daily. Decorate with baby-themed stickers or mini prints of your favorite baby pictures for a quick and easy keepsake. With a wall calendar, you will have an entire year of thoughts and memories to look back on.
Utilize a Blog
Create a personal blog to share pictures and funny stories about your baby with friends and family who live far away. You can print out copies of your entries to add to your child's baby book. Blogging is a wonderful and informal way to share your daily happenings and significant milestones with the world. It will house your daily parental musings for years to come.
Recycle Newborn Outfits
New babies come with so many cute outfits! But what do you do with those cute onesies once your baby grows too large for them? You can recycle outfits and turn them into a personalized baby blanket or put outfits on stuffed animals to display around your infant's room.
Preserve Key Dates and Times on Wooden Blocks
Wooden blocks are fun toys for tots, and they can also serve as newborn keepsakes. On wooden blocks, paint or carve out your infant's name, their birthdate, the time they were born, and their weight and length at birth. Display these on a shelf, or as your baby grows, add them to an extensive block collection for your baby to build and explore with.
Make a Memory Jar
Every day for the first two months of your baby's life, write something down on a small slip of paper. You can jot down funny and sweet moments or write down any "firsts." Collect the slips of paper in a pretty jar and keep the jar somewhere safe. Pull these slips out and read them as the years go on.
Create Salt Dough Ornaments
Make salt dough ornaments from those tiny hands and footprints for baby's first Christmas. Salt dough ornaments are easy and safe to make with little ones, and year after year, you will be in awe of how tiny your human once was. While creating these memories for yourself, be sure and make extras to give as gifts for grandparents.
Tips for Newborn Memory Projects
Regardless of how you choose to preserve memories of your baby's growth and development, the job will be easier if you remember these simple tips:
- Set aside a specific time to record your thoughts. For example, you may wish to spend an hour or so writing down important memories at the first of every month. This will ensure that you don't end up hopelessly behind on your project.
- Handwritten letters are more personal, but it's fine to use a computer if you feel more comfortable typing your thoughts.
- Write from the heart. When it comes to preserving newborn memories, don't be afraid to be sentimental. There is nothing in the world that compares to the bond between a parent and child.
- If you're having trouble deciding what memories are most important, think about the things your parents included in your own baby book, as well as the details you wish they would have recorded about your childhood.
- Don't overlook the importance of everyday things. While most parents remember to record birthday parties, Christmas gifts, and special holiday celebrations, the smaller everyday moments have value as well. Your child's funny mannerisms, relationships with siblings, and favorite toys are details that deserve a prominent place in the record of your family history.
- Make preserving newborn memories a group effort. Ask family, friends, and other special people in your baby's life to contribute their own memories to your project.
Making the Newborn Days Last
The newborn stage is brief, so creating ways to preserve this phase is key. Choose a few different projects that you know you will cherish forever. The kids will grow and go soon enough, but keepsakes and memories will stay with you always.
