5 Best Ways For Capturing Baby’s First Year

I get it, professional photography can be expensive, especially if it were something that you are doing every week or every month to capture your ever-changing baby in that first year. So let’s agree to keep splurging on professional images for important moments and big milestones that you’d like to print, and that your smartphone phone camera is perfectly capable of capturing the adorable in between moments that will be stored in the cloud.

To help you document those in-between moments, I have put together a handful of cool ideas for capturing baby’s first year; some simple and few more elaborate options. These are my favourites, that even the most inexperienced and time-consumed parent can accomplish quite easily.

5 Best Ways For Capturing Baby’s First Year

1. monthly onesies

Monthly onsies are one of my favorite ways to document baby’s first year, because you actually get to use this prop more than once, which makes the slightly higher price-point that much more worth it. So much so, that I have partnered up with a local Ottawa shop to create such a product, so you can get the whole year’s worth of onesies and actually use them as baby grows. I have custom designed the decals to document how much baby has grown each month, and keep them within my minimalist style so baby can actually wear them a few times throughout the entire month! Then you can keep them as a tangible souvenir, or pass them onto the next baby in the family.

2. monthly stickers

Aren’t quite ready for that level of commitment? Not to worry, you can also opt for the monthly milestone stickers option, where you can get those same beautiful month decals in the form of a sticker to affix to whatever baby happens to be wearing that day. This is a super-convenient (and cheaper) way to go about capturing monthly milestones–wherever, whenever–since they can fit into the side-pocked of your diaper bag and be ready anytime!

3. milestone blanket

The milestone blanket is also a great option for capturing milestones that allows for more than one way to use the product, with room for re-using with future babies. The milestone blanket is a minimalist design, that can be made as elaborate or as simple as you feel that particular day. You can grab an empty frame and set it over the current month’s number next to a diapered baby, or if you have time you can get a little creative and dress up baby differently every time.

4. milestone signs / cards

The milestone signs are a little bit more elaborate as some planning has to go into them, with the writing of baby’s current stats and skills, but they are as rewarding as the effort you put in. There is also the similar option of milestone cards, which come pre-made and you lay them out with baby as they are achieved.

5. grow-with-me stuffy

The grow-with-me stuffy is my personal milestone capturing choice, for many reasons. The number one reason is that the stuffy can be used and enjoyed by baby, plus the size factor allows for you to literally see the growth of your baby as they get bigger and the stuffed animal seemingly gets smaller, and mostly that because when baby looks back onto these images years later they will have an emotional connection with that stuffy that stayed with them through the years. No, I’m not crying, you’re crying! [as a photographer, I also use props to show the physical growth between sessions]

6. BONUS! smartphone ‘overlay’ apps

What can I say, no parent is perfect. There is bound to be a month (or more!) where you didn’t have the time (or patience!) to put together the setup you intended to, and that’s okay. Pull up the photos you DO have, and run your favourite one through an app that allows you to put on an overlay. You can add the ‘# months’ graphic, and some even allow for a bunch of other cutesy doodles. Some even have some rather funny milestones (most also have pregnancy milestone overlays so you can start getting into the habit BEFORE baby arrives). And while we’re on the topic of apps, this one helps guide you along baby’s milestones, cognitive and physical, with great explanations for parents along the way.

If you have other suggestions or ideas, or simply want to show off your DIY baby milestone photos, go ahead and leave a comment below–I’d love to see them! I am writing a follow-up article to give you ideas on how to use and display these adorable milestone images you’ve been capturing, so stay tuned (if you are a subscriber, you will be automatically emailed once it’s published).

Your friendly neighbourhood photographer,