What did you do when your baby took their first steps? For me, I hurriedly took out my phone and snapped a photo, and took a video of that milestone. Then I sent it to my friends and family. However, I wanted to cherish that monumental event forever and beautifully preserve it in some way. With that, I’ve got three words for you: baby milestone book!
Using this kind of book is a tradition, and most moms and mommies-to-be want to pick the right one. While there are many baby milestone books in the market today, here are my favorites.
Mama’s Choice for the Best Baby Milestone Books in 2024
I’ll start strong by introducing the overall best, the KeaBabies First Years. I love this baby milestone book’s minimalistic look, with its gender-neutral color scheme and cute hand-drawn animal characters. It is suitable for any modern family type, such as families with LGBT parents, adoptive parents, or single parents.
It has a size of 9.3″ by 9.3″ and weighs 1.5 pounds. I like the Keepsake Envelope that comes with this book. Mommies can store little things like a lock of hair from their baby’s first haircut or hospital bands. To make the journal more personalized, it has extra pages at the back where you can write a letter to your baby’s future self.
The book has 90 pages that each have specific prompts that let you remember any milestones and firsts. KeaBabies First Years Journal also has specific areas for all the major holidays and every season. With this baby milestone book, you can capture your baby’s first time at the beach or their first thanksgiving.
The second baby milestone book on my list is The Baby Memory Book by Paper Peony Press. It has 98 pages, enough to store memories from year one to year five. The journal gives me a classic feel with its hardcover and stunning flax-colored linen cover complete with gold foil text.
Every first is a momentous occasion, but your little one’s first birthday tops them all. The publishing company that made this baby milestone book allotted a significant area for your baby’s first birthday celebration. You can put their photo of them eating their cake or opening their presents.
You can also save the candle from their cake in a keepsake envelope at the back of the book. The book also has an area where you can put your baby’s family, so they’ll know their heritage. Lastly, you can put unforgettable quotes or funny things your kid might say in a section of this book.
By far, Baby’s Book by Peter Pauper Press has the cutest designs on the list. However, it would not be up in your alley if you want a more gender-neutral or masculine color scheme. This baby milestone book’s floral design and pink color are more suited for parents with baby girls.
This journal also has the most number of pages on the list, totaling 112 pages. The book’s last page was left blank so that parents can write a sweet note for their baby. There are also cute yet inspirational quotes scattered across the book to add to the design.
The company behind this book used acid-free papers so you can have well-preserved photos. It is also significant, around 8.5 inches by 11 inches, giving parents ample space to write about their child. Moreover, I like how you can personalize this baby milestone book’s front cover with a photo of your baby.
This baby milestone book is well-suited for families with LGBT parents or single parents. Moreover, if you don’t want an ordinary envelope to store keepsakes, this one’s for you. The Little Growers Baby Memory Book has a keepsake box spacious enough to hold any trinket you may want to put.
Its memory book contains 58 printed pages with prompts like birthdays, the first day of school, and the first holidays. It also has ten blank pages so parents can write anything under the sun. The book comes with five plastic photo pages that can fit 20 4″x6″ photos as a bonus.
The Little Growers Baby Memory Book comes with 30 milestone stickers that you can put on your child’s shirt. The stickers can vary from ‘Just born!’ to milestones like the kid’s first haircut. The book also comes with a no-mess inkpad so you can imprint your child’s feet and hands. This baby milestone book is more expensive than most of its competitors due to its components.
If you’re not the journaling or scrapbooking kind of mom, this baby milestone book is for you. The My Tiny Adventures Book already did the designing part, and you only need to put the photos. However, the images need to be 6″x4″ so they can fit into the outlines. It has a beautiful gender-neutral design that will suit all the modern and traditional family structures.
The book is straightforward to use as the pages are labeled accordingly. Most of the pages are for the milestones and firsts. However, there are other significant pages in this book. For one, there is a page delegated for the story of how you found out you were having a baby.
Like most baby milestone books out there, this one has a keepsake envelope where you can store mementos. It also has 28 stickers that will surely cover every milestone and firsts of your little one.
Let’s round up our list of the best baby memory books with another minimalist book. It comes in four different colors: teal, gray, light blue, and pale pink. I like the gray one because it’s a genderless color, and it works well with any family type. You need to operate your fingers to the bone if you want to make it colorful.
You can put a 3″x3″ photo of your baby and their hand or footprint on the front cover. To mark your child’s handprints or footprints, it comes with a clean-touch ink pad. The ink pad can accommodate hands and feet up to 2.25” wide x 3.5” long.
You can easily document everything; from the moment you knew you were pregnant up to your baby’s fifth birthday. The book has 50 pages labeled so it can guide the parents every step of the way. With its minimalistic look, the book is rather bare inside.
How to Compile the Perfect Baby Milestone Book
Teenagers sometimes are too shy or embarrassed when their parents let their friends see their baby milestone books. However, kidding aside, knowing how to find and create the best baby milestone book is essential. Without a guide, picking the right one will become a tedious task, and you may end up with the wrong one.
You need to assess what you need. Do you need a journal with a big container for your child’s keepsakes or only a small one? Do you want a milestone book with colorful designs or a simpler one? Ask yourself if you need many pages or only a few of them. These questions are necessary to assess what journal you’re going to pick.
As to the content of your baby milestone book, it is highly advisable to put anything valuable. From the ultrasound photos up to your baby’s first haircut, put anything you deemed memorable. Keep in mind not to overcrowd pages of the book and label every image you put.
Frequently Asked Questions About Baby Milestone Books
Q: What if a page in the baby milestone book is not relevant to my family type?
A: You can tear the page if it is not relevant to your family. Another option is to paste a piece of decorative paper over the page and decorate it. This way, you would not have to tear the page and save the other side of the page.
Q: What if I need more pages?
A: Most baby milestone books have extra pages at the end for cute letters to your child. In some instances, you can remove these additional pages and put them wherever in the book.
Q: What should I put in the baby milestone book?
A: You can practically put anything memorable in the book. Watch this video as it provides a good overview of the things you may want to put in the book:
See how she even put the photos of her growing tummy in the baby milestone book!
Q: How should I store this kind of book?
A: As this book is a precious memento, you need to keep it in a secured place. Store it in a dry place where you can get it hassle-free. Please do not put it near windows to avoid any photos from deteriorating due to sunlight.
Final Thoughts on Finding the Best Baby Milestone Book
Finding the perfect baby milestone book is a challenging task. Take time to check all of them and see what fits your needs. It’s like buying a house; you need to check the features first before signing anything. You need to know if it has the things you need (extra pages or a cute layout) before getting it.
As for me, the KeaBabies First Years is the best baby milestone book out there. The KeaBabies First Years milestone book covers every milestone and every first of your little one. It also has pages explicitly made for every major holiday and season. Lastly, it has an envelope to store precious things like a lock of hair or your baby’s hospital band.
