How to Keep Your Baby Book Updated: A Survival Guide

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The first few months after you bring your first baby home, you can't wait for each milestone so you can write it in the baby book. Somewhere along the way, though, you miss a few—and when you finally get back to the book, it is too overwhelming to go back and try to figure out what your baby did and when.

Don't be that mom! The easiest way to keep a baby book updated is to have a plan in place for documenting the milestones, one that it makes it a no-brainer for you to keep up. Pick your plan!

The Calendar Plan

Keep a calendar tacked up in your kitchen; when you make dinner, jot down a few things your baby did that day. It could be only major milestones, like "first smile" or "started walking." Or you could also note more simple things, such as "napped for three hours today!" or "decorated kitchen floor in chocolate pudding." When you have a chunk of time, sit down with the calendar and the baby book, then transfer the major milestones to the baby book. In my family, we love to go through the baby books together and look at the different stuff the kids did—it brings back great memories.

The Sticky Note Plan

The sticky note plan works best for tracking the major milestones. When your baby does something that's A Big Deal, write it down on a sticky note and put the sticky note on the front cover of the baby book. Periodically go through them and transfer the information into the baby book.

The Seeing-Is-Remembering Plan

If you don't want to write down information twice, store the baby book in a place where you will see it regularly and remember to write in it. For example, put it on your nightstand; once a week, fill in information from the past week.

The Camera Plan

Have a camera on hand as much as possible; if your cell phone has one, then you are set. You'll have a photo of the milestone for the baby book, and you'll also know the exact date!

The E-mail Plan

When your baby accomplishes a milestone, send yourself a quick e-mail with a subject line like "Baby book." Copy the grandparents at the same time—they'll be ecstatic. When you're ready to sit down with the baby book, search for the subject line "Baby book" and use the date of the e-mail for the date of the milestone.

Of course, you can go with a combination of plans; I would take a photo of the milestone, and then jot it down on the calendar so I remembered why I took a picture. Regardless of which plan you choose, if you make documenting your baby's life a part of your daily routine, you are more likely to keep it up.