My daughter turned 5 this month. She’s sweet, spunky, independent and cuddly. And she doesn’t have a Baby’s First Year photo book yet. 

It’s on my list, but it’s daunting. The number of photos I took when she was a baby is only slightly less than the number I took of my firstborn when he was her age, and that is to say, if the photos were printed I’d be wading in them. 

But they’re not printed, which is a problem. 

Before guilt settles in on my shoulders and I get distracted, I’m here to help you, fellow parent who has babies who are no longer babies, to get those baby photo albums designed and printed. Maybe even before the holidays - as a gift for your child or partner. 

It’s pretty easy to get sucked into taking photos of your newborn. Everything about them is new and precious, so tiny (why are tiny things so cute?) and soft. You want to remember everything. Which is how we wind up with 2500 photos that look nearly identical and then have the impossible task of narrowing them down. Which photos should you choose? You need a system. (Actual meaning: I need a system.) Here are my tips and strategies for creating your newborn photo book: 

First, break down your bazillion (actual number) photos into smaller time chunks. I go with months because that’s how we break up infants’ lives in that first year anyway. 

Then, scan through the photos in that month and flag any that include milestones and firsts - smiles, yawns, teeth, finding their hands and feet, rolling over, sitting up, eating solids, crawling, standing, walking, talking (I know it’s not a video book, but still), etc. Any milestones that are personal to your family should be included too, like the first time he reached out and rubbed the dog’s nose, or the first time her brother snuggled her without smothering her. Whatever your family celebrates in that first year. 

Don’t forget photos of them in the cutest, couldn’t resist outfits. 

Grab any photos of your baby playing with toys that you had as a kid, if you have those photos. Those will be good to have later. See also - playing with gifts from older relatives or wrapped up in knitted blankets from Great-Grandma. And photos of those important people (including you) in the baby’s life.

Remove duplicates. 

Now, make sure you have a variety of images from different angles, and include wide, medium, and tight views, where you get full-body and also cropped-in photos.

Don’t forget those tiny newborn details (head, shoulders, knees and toes - knees and toes). And also eyelashes, hair swirls on the back of the head, chunky leg rolls, fingers, tiny noses and lips, and the back fuzz from the first weeks. 

If you have a mix of color and black and white photos, consider putting black and white on one whole spread (two pages that face each other) and color on another, so the two styles don’t clash and make your eyes bounce around the page too much. 

Oh, and also, include maternity (the ultimate before and after). Even if you didn’t get professional lifestyle maternity photos done, and all you have are phone photos from the 9 months you grew your baby. Include a few, near the beginning of the book. 

Did you also do posed monthly photos, with a prop or some sort of marker to indicate the baby’s age? Do you have 12 of them? You could put all of those on one spread to really emphasize the growth from month to month. 

There you have it, my tips and systems for creating my daughter’s baby photo book. I mean, your own baby’s album. Now to just go and do it!

If the thought of doing all of this yourself is still overwhelming, I can help even more, with my photo book design services, perfect for Baby’s First Year, and an excellent gift idea. Read all about that here.