Making a baby album: what to include and how to build it

A baby album may well be the album people look back at most. You in a few years' time, your child once they're grown up, grandma and grandad at every birthday. That's also what makes it daunting to start. What do you put in it, how do you keep that fragile scan photo safe, and how do you keep up when you're barely sleeping? Making a few choices in advance makes it a lot easier.

What to put in it

You don't have to keep everything. Choose what tells the story. Most baby albums roughly follow three parts.

From the pregnancy:

• the positive test, or your reaction to it
• the scan photos, with the date and how many weeks along you were
• bump photos, for example taken from the side every month, in the same spot
• the baby shower or a party for the new baby, with cards and wishes from guests
• how the name was chosen, and how the nursery was put together
• a letter to your baby, written before the birth

Whatever you do, store the scan photos carefully, even if you don't know yet when you'll start scrapbooking. Some pages you'll only make once the baby has arrived.

Around the birth:

• the birth story, written down as soon as possible, because details fade
• weight, length, time and place
• the hospital band or name band
• the birth announcement card and the cards you received
• the first photos, including those of visitors and of brothers and sisters
• footprints; these are easiest to make in the first few weeks, as little hands stay clenched for a long time. An inkless kit saves on mess.

The firsts:

The first smile, rolling over, the first tooth, the first mouthful, the first word, the first steps. But also the first bath, sitting on a great-grandparent's lap, the first holiday, the first snow. Cards from the baby clinic with length and weight will mean more later than you'd think.

Don't forget the world around you. What was on the front page that day, which song you heard everywhere, what a loaf of bread cost. In twenty years you'll love reading that back.

Keeping scan photos and hospital bands safe

Scan photos are usually printed on thermal paper, the same kind as a till receipt. It fades from light, heat and some glues and plastics. A scan that's pin-sharp now can be almost white in ten years.

So:

• Scan or photograph every scan photo straight away, at high resolution. That way you'll always have a copy.
• In your album, use a print of that scan on photo paper. It lasts much longer.
• Keep the original separately, in an acid-free envelope or a clear sleeve, somewhere dark and dry.
• Never put glue or tape directly on it, and don't laminate a scan photo: the heat can turn the paper black.

If you still want the original in your album, slip it into a pocket or sleeve on the page, so you can take it out.

A hospital band is thick and often made of soft plastic. Don't leave it loose against photos, as it can leave an imprint, and substances from soft plastic can damage photos over time. A small polypropylene bag or an envelope on the page works well. The same goes for a lock of hair from the first haircut. Bulky things like a little hat or a babygrow fit better in a page protector with one large pocket, or in a memory box next to the album.

Chronological or by theme

Both work, and they suit a different kind of album.

Chronological means month by month, or week by week in the early days. The advantage is that you never have to think about where something goes, and growth shows up beautifully. One set photo each month, with a card or little sign showing the age beside it, gives a strong common thread. A ring binder is handy here, because you can slot in pages if you find something later.

By theme means a page about bath time, about sleeping, about first foods, about family. That's freer and more forgiving if your photos aren't neatly in order. You can also let a theme run across several months, such as all the first foods together.

Many parents combine the two: the pregnancy and the first year chronologically, and after that themes or one album per year. Above all, choose what you'll keep up. A finished album with no fixed order is better than a perfect timeline that stops at month four.

A small tip for the layout: give each page a title, a few photos, a bit of writing and a little decoration. Keep the colours calm, for example two or three pastel shades, so the album looks like one whole, even if you finish it in a few years' time.

A baby album as a gift

Making a baby album for someone else is a lovely gift, but of course you don't have the photos. Two ways to solve that:

• Make the album almost finished, but leave room for photos on every page. Decorate the pages, add titles and perhaps questions, and let the parents add the photos themselves. Little boxes, flaps and pockets with cards to write on make it easy.
• Make a wishes book: ask family and friends for a letter or a few lines for the baby, with a photo of whoever wrote it. Bind them together into a little book. Lovely to make for a baby shower or a party for the new baby, and to read together later.

Keep a gift album simple rather than too full. The parents need room for their own story. A card for the birth details at the front is a nice start.

Words and titles

A baby page doesn't need poetry. Short titles work best: welcome, hello world, our little one, finally, two weeks old. A line from a lullaby or a much-loved picture book works too, and often means more than a shop-bought sticker quote.

For the writing under your photos, a few set questions help: what happened, who was there, how did it feel, what don't you want to forget? Write as if you're talking to your child. Later, that reads much more warmly than a list.

Things that are good to write down:

• what you thought when you first saw her or him
• the nicknames you used
• what helped with crying, and what didn't
• what an ordinary day looked like
• the funny things brothers and sisters said

If you don't like your handwriting, type out cards and print them, or use letter stickers and stamps for the titles.

Keeping up when you're short on time

With a baby in the house, an evening of scrapbooking is a luxury. So separate recording from sticking.

• Jot down what's happening in the moment, in a note on your phone or a notebook by the bed. The date and a few sentences is enough. Later, that will be your most important source.
• Mark a few favourite photos each week or month, so you don't have to go through thousands of photos later.
• Collect cards, bands and receipts in one box or envelope per month.
• Get photos printed in regular batches.
• Work with pocket page protectors, so you can slide photos and cards in without sticking.
• Use old pages as examples; you don't have to come up with something new every time.

And if the first year is over and the album is still empty: that's not a problem at all. You can still write down memories years later, and the photos and notes will be waiting for you. Start with what you have, and let the album grow at its own pace.