Monthly Baby Photos: 10 creative ways to document your baby’s first twelve months
FACT: Your newborn baby will grow and change more in their first year of life than any other time.
It’s not as if we needed a fact to give us a reason for documenting our amazing and fast-developing babies. But it’s true – and it’s why the monthly baby photos are so popular and fun. It’s incredible to be able to see how much a baby physically changes in their first year by looking at side-by-side progression photos.
I personally LOVE progression photos as you can see here and here (and below) – which made this project extra fun to put together.
The key to a good monthly photo series is keeping the setting consistent each month, whether it be a chair or a background, even accessories. That way you can really see the baby’s growth.
Below are some create ways to document your baby’s first twelve months. Click the photos to be taken to the original source.
1. This Mama marked each month of her little boy’s first year with a mini cake bought at local supermarket for $7! I can’t think of a better reason to eat cake every month!
2. I’ve never seen chalkboard drawings as elaborate and creative as this – and lucky little Blake got one each month!
3. A plain white onesie and a simple printed number against the gorgeous handmade quilts make baby the star!
4. It’s all about the surrounding accessories! Playful and colorful pillows and a gold fringe number pop against a neutral chair. So creative and fun.
5. We designed a new chalkboard block number and pattern for each month and kept everything else simple.
6. Keep track of your future star’s months by spelling them out on a mini marquee sign!
7. An oversized pillow gives awesome perspective of baby’s physical growth. The adorable hair accessories and cute montage presentation make it that much better!
8. Simple and stunning. The number of the month written out in pretty, clean flowers – works really well with little ladies I must say!
9. Highlight the month’s milestones with simple and clever text added in photoshop (or other editing programs) – this way it’s recorded forever!
10. Using a new fabric background each month, even as he sits up, gives a clean, cohesive and colorful look!
BONUS:
I just completed Layla’s photos as she just hit a year old! Cue the tears. For hers, I kept it simple with a fluffy blanket and a different DIY dream catcher each month:
I have even more ideas saved on my Pinterest page – visit for even more inspiration!
Let me know what you think about these ideas – and what you can add to the list! 🙂
Hey there, visiting you from DYOB: Blog Beautiful! Oh, these are all so cute! Totally pinning this for our future babes 🙂
Thanks Jessi! Good to connect with you. It was a fun project that I hope moms and families can benefit from 🙂 XO
Cuteness overload omgoodness!!! #babyfever I think I’d want to try mine at the beach every month with the numbers made from sand.
http://www.girlunspotted.com
I think that would be adorable! Just bring an umbrella and it could be possible 😉 – you may just have to be super quick once they start walking haha! XO
I’m practically crying..this is the cutest thing ever!!!!!!!!
You’re so cute! Glad you like it 🙂 🙂
These are adorable! I especially love the marquee and the flower updates. I wish I would have done something more structured like this…Only four months late, wah, wah. Great blog, BTW.
Thanks Claire! That means a lot. And hey, four months, there’s still some time. 😉 The photos on your recent post of Riley are super cute!! Keep in touch!
Ooooh I love all of these so much!
I like the idea of having a favorite teddy or pillow in the photo so we can see the growth but I am a huge fan of the cake idea too! Cake every month yes please. May have to do that just to celebrate with my babe, no photos necessary just give me the cake 😉
OMG, all of these babies! I am done having babies but they make me rethink that idea. I did something like this for my kids who are now 7, 5, and 4. No one was doing anything like this then, I was ahead of the game. People thought it was weird. I got a 12 months size onsie and put them on it from the time they were born and took a picture each month on the same blanket. I then had each of the 12 pictures put in a large frame. I now have 3 beautiful frames with these little babies of mine. I just realized I have never shared this on my blog! Thanks for the post idea!
Love it!! Yes, please share! My daughter turns 2 tomorrow which was my own deadline to post her first year pics, haha! Never too late XO
All of these are such cute ideas. Documenting this stage is so important and fun, so why not get creative?!
Totally!! So fun XO
Oh my gosh! I can’t even pick a favorite … well, I have a tie for a favorite, but they are all so adorable (possibly because of the cuteness of the babes!). I love the chalkboard one with little tidbits about the baby during that month. But I also LOVE the chalkboard drawings, but that looks intimidated to recreate. I wish I would have done more things like this when my kids were still babies!
Isn’t it hard to choose!? The babies are all so darn sweet. XO
Beautiful, amazing pics! I love all of them! If only I had seen this post earlier… much earlier.
Oh my gosh, Mom with FIVE!!!?? Wow! 🙂 Glad you enjoyed XO
These are so cute! Makes me want to start over… well, not really! 🙂 But it does make me want to go back and finish the ones we took but never did anything with! I got some fun ones with big sister when we were pregnant and then of course her first year. But actually it’s the quarterly pictures that we never did a single thing with and they are so cute. I’ll share as soon as I dig them up and edit them now! I LOVE the ones on your pinterest board with the whole baby book – wish I had done that. My favorites are always the ones that really show scale. Like the little guy in the green chair on your board. Amazing how big they get in one year!
Aren’t they adorable!? Glad it motivated you to put yours together. Your quarterly ones were SOOO stinkin’ cute!!! Put them on your photography Facebook page and let me pin them 😉 heeehee. Glad you enjoyed XOXO