When my first baby was a few days old, my best friend from college called to congratulate me. I always remember the advice she gave me during that phone call, despite the newborns I was in. She told me that one of the best things I can do as a mom is to keep a baby journal. I remember her saying, “You think you’ll remember everything, but you won’t,” she said. I immediately thought of the journals my mom kept for my brother and me, so I knew the idea of ​​a baby journal was a good one.

The next day I went to the local bookstore with my newborn son in his stroller and bought a journal. It has a soft fabric cover with pale blue patterns and a thin red ribbon sewn into the binding. I started writing in it that same afternoon.

I described how quickly my son changed in the first week. His tiny hand held my finger tighter and his gaze seemed more focused on me after nursing. I wrote down the details I remembered about my birth, which was a bit of a blur, but I remembered the doctor telling me “It’s a boy!” and seeing the tears in my husband’s eyes when he held our son. I wrote about those first few days at home when I was mesmerized by my baby’s face. I also wrote about how completely exhausted I was from the birth experience, even mentioning that my body felt like I had run a marathon.

It was such an easy way to record my baby’s milestones and didn’t take up much time in my days, which seemed like an endless cycle of feedings, pumping, nappy changes, pram walks and late night feedings. Even in my newborn haze, I enjoyed taking a break to write in my journal for a few minutes. It allowed me to stop my daily routine and think about my son and my experience as a new mom.

Now that my kids are older, they love reading excerpts from their baby diaries and hearing about their milestones.

– Erin Leigh

I was writing down the simplest things

When my baby was just born, I wrote something short in his journal almost every day. Often it was as simple as “he smiled today!” or “he finally took a long nap!” Another time I wrote about his battle with acid reflux when he was two months old. I described how he started screaming with his tiny hands balled into fists after just a few minutes of nursing. I wondered if she was getting enough milk and doubted that the medicine the doctor prescribed was working at all. When he was six months old, I often wrote short lists of foods he liked and disliked. As he grew, I made lists of his first words. My son’s first time in the pool, first steps, first laugh and first clap all made it into his diary along with his disastrous first haircut and first trip to the emergency room.

At first I asked mom when she thought he would start rolling from back to front. “I’ll look in your baby diary to see how old you were when you rolled,” she suggested. Genius! I was thrilled to be able to refer to the notes she kept for me to help me with my own baby. Sure enough, mom had an answer for me the next day. I rolled from my back to my stomach at about 4 1/2 months. Fast forward a few weeks, and my son met this milestone around the same time I did.

As my baby grew and became a toddler, my writing slowed to once or twice a week, then once or twice a month as she grew and we had three more children. I bought journals for each of my other children when they were also newborns, and followed a similar daily writing schedule. I made it a priority to write often during my children’s first year, even though my entries were often short. Now, with four children between the ages of 8 and 13, I still make time to write in their journals a few times a month, usually on Sunday evenings after my kids are in bed. This quiet time allows me to reflect uninterrupted on the past week and record some of the highlights in their journals.

Now I am able to think about my younger years with to them

Now that my kids are older, they love reading excerpts from their baby diaries and hearing about their milestones. They delight in humorous stories, especially those involving diaper explosions or potty training. A few weeks ago, I was driving my daughter home from school. She asked me out of the blue, “Mom, what was my first word?” I was silent for a few seconds, embarrassed that I couldn’t remember her first words. I told her, “I’ll take a look at your baby journal as soon as we get home.” Sure enough, we found her first word (“hi”) and some funny stories about food waste. She thought the stories were hilarious!

How I Implemented a Journaling Practice

When a mom-to-be or new mom asks me for advice, I always recommend getting a baby journal. As a mom of four, my journals were (and still are) an invaluable parenting tool. As an author, my baby diaries were instrumental in writing my first book, Moving through the newborn months and beyondin which I give advice for new mothers on the topics of routine, sleep, nervousness and self-care. I treasure my baby journals and hope that my children will look back on their baby journals when they become parents.

But if the thought of keeping a baby diary seems overwhelming, my routine might help make it easier:

1. I chose a magazine that worked for me. I knew I liked the old-school pen and paper method, so I wrote in bound journals. However, if you prefer to dictate, you can use a diary app on your phone or create a “baby diary” file on your computer and type everything out.
2. I use a reminder system. I’m a whiteboard kind of girl, so I put all kinds of “journaling” reminders on my whiteboards. You can also set reminders on your phone if that works better for you.
3. I put the journal somewhere I know I’ll see it. When my babies were newborns, I kept my baby journal and pen on the little table next to the nursing pillow so I would remember to write after I nursed my baby. Now I keep my journals on my desk in my office where I see them every day and have a convenient space to write.
4. I date each journal entry. When I read the baby’s diaries years later, I want to know when my baby said “mommy” for the first time or how old she was when she lost her first tooth.
5. I write down what I want to remember. I’ve found it helpful to document milestones, birthdays, transitions (like naps, sleeping through the night), as well as challenges and struggles (things that make you laugh or cry). How much you write and what you write about your baby is entirely up to you.

If your child is already 6 months old or even a toddler, don’t worry: you haven’t missed the opportunity to start a journal. Whether you start the day your baby is born or when he is 9 months old, there will always be something meaningful to write about your child. Keeping a baby journal has been one of the best gifts for me and my children – and our whole family cherishes these journals filled with our children’s milestones, struggles, birthdays and special moments.