Any suggestions for a good baby book? I saw the “Baby’s First Year Journal” in your Ultimate Baby Shower Guide but I’m wondering if you have any other cool things you’ve found out there? -Janet
First of all, our all new 2012 Baby Shower Gift Guide is going to be out any day now. You’re in for a treat! But back to your question–we’ve found no shortage of super cool baby books of all varieties. What we seem to be lacking, however is the time to fill them out.
For you motivated mamas who are ready to document those precious details, we salute you! Also, we offer these recommendations.
If you’re up for a baby book made all the more personal from you with a little creative writing, try the 12 Wishes for Baby Book from Rag & Bone Bindery (at top). We love the thoughtful writing prompts and the beautiful array of handmade fabric cover designs.
For more traditional content with fabulous modern design, the Binth Baby Book is simply gorgeous, whether your little one was born in the Year of the Rabbit or not–although it’s perfect for 2012 babies. The original lime green is neat, but we’re partial to the new chocolate brown.
We selected a lovely baby book from Conduit Press as a finalist in the Handmade Olympics this year– the sweet details, quality and construction inside and out just blew us away. Seriously, look at the pages. Gorgeous.
The Molly West baby books are a perennial mom favorite. The exteriors are lovely and the interiors are contemporary but with classic baby book themes.
If you’re more inclined to fill out a baby book online than in ink, check out My Own Little Story. Sign up to get prompts via email, sign in to answer the questions (or hit snooze if you need a little more time), and before you know it, your gorgeous hardcover baby book will be complete. -Julie
These are all drool worthy, of course! But I have to say my go-to shower gift is this: https://www.amazon.com/Hallmark-BBA3706-Month-Sticker-Calendar/dp/B001XT3YZ0 Not as cool. Not as designer, but a useful and affordable cute choice!
Available in girl/boy or neutral themes, inside has a spot for one or two pictures and comes with a plethora of stickers (“1st Veggie!”, “2Months!”, etc). If all else is failing, this hanging on the wall beside your glider/rocker with a nice pen stuck in the spiral makes it easy to at least jot a few things down while you nurse or you are stuck under a sleeping baby. I find the baby “book” with too many things to write overwhelming. Done these for both my boys now and I loved flipping through the months of my first’s when I had my second “When did I start using the bumbo with your brother?! Ohhhh!”. Helpful and easy!
This is perhaps a little more more work but I think a very cute idea. The gift-giver uses photos of the child, family, toys, pets, etc and writes a story about the child. The children love photos and of course any story about themselves and their family. It can be done from so many viewpoints so is repeatable and comes in hard and soft cover versions for different price points. It is certainly a treasure to be preserved for future generations.
For new customers, they will even do one for free.
https://blog.lifecaptured.com/bid/41468/Share-the-Love-with-Personalized-Baby-Books
I picked up a copy of “Guess how much I love you” baby book from the book store the other day. What I liked about it is that it is not very long and does not require that much information. I am a busy working mom and judging by the look of our first girl’s baby book, I will not take much time to fill it out. I would love for it to look pretty and modern, but amount of informaiton has to be my top criteria. https://www.amazon.com/Guess-How-Much-Love-You/dp/0763619094/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1300718734&sr=8-4
What about a baby book for home-birth or non-vaxing mamas?
I’ve looked at as many books as I can get my hands on, (not a lot in the rural midwest) and everything is full of information I just don’t use – ultrasound photos, various hospital tests or vaccination forms…
What’s out there for us alternative-minded parents, but with some of the ease of “fill in the blank” books?
Carrie, the books we’ve recommended here are great for any mama and very broad in terms of the prompts–more about milestones you want to remember than keeping a record of vaccinations.
Another favorite is the Petite Collage memory book/box and the Amazon page lists all of the page content. First bath, first haircut…no first DT booster!
Carrie Rag and Bone Bindery (featured above) has another baby book that is customizable. While they cannot change the words on each page, they are more than willing to remove certain pages before binding and insert blank pages if you need them. I worked with them directly to create a baby book for our son who was stillborn and they simply could not have been more kind or supportive of meeting our needs. I highly recommend them.
Thanks, these are great. FYI, last time I checked, it’s still 2011!
We got this Baby Book in a Box Memory Keepsake Organizer
as a gift for our daughter Lia. It’s turned out to be the best baby gift we got. We use it like a recipe box — we write down memories and then file them away. The box is good looking and my wife keeps it on a shelf by her desk.