Looking for a journal to keep all of your new baby’s firsts and other memories?
I spent weeks, maybe even months, trying to find the right baby book for me. Everywhere I looked, I couldn’t find a book to match my story, which was ultimately the most important part to me in selecting a book. I searched and searched trying to decide on a baby journal. It finally came to my due date and I still hadn’t ordered one. I finally decided on one, but I still felt it didn’t fully fit my situation.
After a lot more research, my top pick for best baby memory book is the All About Me Baby Journal. Why is it the best? It is so flexible, it will fit any family situation, which is ultimately what you look for in a baby book.
The All About Me Baby Journal is my personal favorite because it is so versatile. But not everyone is sure to like it! Here it is, along with some other bests, that vary depending on what you are looking for.
| The Best Baby Memory Books This Year | Why It's Best | Mom Rating |
|---|---|---|
| RubyRoo Baby First Year Baby Memory Book | For creating sealed letters to your baby, low cost, stickers and scrap book materials | ♥♥♥♥♥ |
| Lucy Darling Little Artist Baby's First Year Journal | For girls, floral theme, places for "firsts", spaces for 5 years despite the "First Year" title | ♥♥♥♥♥ |
| C.R. Gibson ''She's Magical'' Baby Memory Book | Beautiful, well organized, milestone focused | ♥♥♥♥♥ |
| Ronica First Year Baby Memory Book & Baby Journal | 60 pages capture baby's first 5 years | ♥♥♥♥♥ |
| Promptly Journals Childhood History Journal | Simple and elegant, has space for 18 years worth of memories | ♥♥♥♥♥ |
Best Baby Memory Books and Keepsake Books 2020
1. All About Me Baby Journal
Best Simple Baby Memory Book
So why the All About Me Baby Journal? You want it to match your story and be tailored to your family.
Features
The most important aspect in looking for a baby journal was that I wanted it to fit my story. I didn’t want to have blank spaces in it where I wasn’t able to fill in the information. For example, I’m not married. Some books have a whole page about getting engaged and married. This isn’t something I wanted in my baby book. The All About Me Baby Journal has a space to talk about parents, but doesn’t go into detail about the engagement and wedding and so on.
This book works for any parent. A lot of baby books out there have a page that says something like “All about Mommy” and one that says “All about Daddy”. The All About Me Baby Journal gets rid of those specific terms and just says “parents”, thereby working for same sex couples, unmarried couples, etc.
Design
In filling out my baby memory book, I often came across milestones that I hadn’t recorded the exact date of and then felt stressed trying to fill in certain pieces of information. Filling out a memory book for your child shouldn’t be a stressful exercise. The simplistic All About Me Journal makes sure it’s not too difficult to fill in the blanks after some time has passed. Just by looking back at photos, you should be able to fill in any blanks even if you’re like me and don’t take detailed notes!
Some baby memory books are religious or centered on a particular world-view, really limiting the audience that they will fit. The All About Me Journal is not religious, although if you wanted to include something like a baptism in it, there is room to do so.
Special Dates and Pages
Baby Shower
I’ve seen some books with 3 or 4 pages dedicated to the baby shower. If you didn’t have a baby shower, this probably isn’t something you want in there. The All About Me Journal does have a spot to put a picture from your baby shower, but you could easily put a different picture there if you didn’t have one.
Footprints and handprints
There is a place for footprints and handprints. I do like that this book isn’t super bulky either, so it isn’t a whole lot to pack if you want to bring it in your suitcase to the hospital to get these prints done when your baby is born.
Around the world
Most baby books have a space to describe “what the world was like when you were born.” Some are really detailed, and ask for the price of a gallon of milk, current price of a stamp, popular songs, and so on. The All About Me Journal does have a section for this, but it isn’t very detailed. It asks who the president was, what was in the news, and a couple of other current event type questions.
Possible downfalls?
It isn’t super informative
The All About Me journal doesn’t ask for every single detail. I personally like this, but I know people who have a journal that they write in every single day for their children, so if you are someone like this, it may not be what you are looking for. Instead of asking for every single milestone, it has a page for each month and a space to fill in a special memory from each month.
It’s expensive
You can easily find an array of options for half the price of this book. Is it worth the extra price? If you are struggling to find a baby book that fits you and your family’s story, I’d say it is worth the price. Like I mentioned before, I initially ended up getting a book that I wasn’t fully happy with just because I was running out of time (and wanted the book in time to get my baby’s hand and footprints done at the hospital!) Then I was left with some empty pages because they just didn’t fit my story. I ended up spending more, in the end, to get the book that better fit my needs. So yes, in my opinion, it is worth spending a little bit more to get a book that matches your story.
Use a baby scale to record baby’s weight and write down their growth changes
2. Lucy Darling Baby’s First Year: A Simple Book of Firsts Memory Book
Best Baby Memory Book for Girls
When you have a little girl, you want something that’s just as sweet as she is. That’s when you can turn to this adorable First Year Memory Book from Lucy Darling. The whole book features a rustic floral theme that perfectly reflects the current trends. This book starts with some pregnancy pages, then it has pages for each month after baby is born. There’s an area for handprints and footprints, as well as areas for baby’s firsts and holidays. This book covers all the way until the 5th year, where you can put your kiddo’s first school picture! Even though there is limited space to write, there are some blank pages at the back for any extras. It’s just one of the top baby books, period.
3. She’s Magical Baby Memory Book
Best Milestone Marker Book
If you’re looking for a book that hits all the big milestones, without a bunch of extra stuff that you really don’t want or need, I do recommend the C.R. Gibson She’s Magical Baby Memory Book . It’s pretty simple, but fun and beautiful. And while you can’t capture every single day, you can get all the big things that you need to give your child a great snapshot of their first 5 years.
You’ve got a section with lines for recording height, weight, percentile, and age. You’ve also got sections for birthdays 1-5. Then there are the big ones: first step, first tooth, first day of school, etc. There are sections for all about mommy and daddy and other family aspects, so keep that in mind if you come from a non-traditional family.
Don’t worry, there’s a boy version too: C.R. Gibson ”Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” Blue Baby Memory Book for Boys
4. Ronica First Years Baby Memory Book & Baby Journal
Best First Years Memory Book
While most baby books really focus on that first year, this book distributes the attention and space evenly across the first 5 years. You can buy it in gender neutral or gender specific themes. No matter which design you choose, the pictures inside are cute and fun and bright. 60 pages have room for a 4×6 photo and a few notes. You capture monthly ages, plus the big days like dentist visits, doctor visits, holidays, and even pregnancy. There’s room for a family tree, too. If you want a classic and fun first years memory book for your child, then the Ronica First Years Baby Memory Book is for you!
5. Promptly Journals – Childhood History Journal
Best Childhood Journal Book
If you are like me, you got older and got married, and your mom handed you about 5 different memory books to span your first 18 years of life. The Promptly Journals- Childhood History Journal book looks to consolidate all that. So rather than just documenting baby’s first year or baby’s first through fifth years, it goes from pregnancy to age 18. There are 254 pages to fill, and the book has prompts just in case you aren’t sure what to put. There’s spaces for photos, footprints, and other keepsakes, too. The linen cover is gorgeous and timeless, so it will grow easily with your child.
6. Mom’s One Line a Day
Best Baby Journal Book
If you’re someone who keeps a daily journal, it’s worth taking a look at Mom’s One Line a Day. This is a different style of baby book in that it doesn’t have room for pictures and doesn’t ask for firsts or anything like that. But it does give you a place to keep a daily account of things that your little one did that day.
It has one page for each year, and spans five years. For example, March 5th 2017-2021 all will share the same page. It’s kind of neat in that once you hit the one year mark, when you write in it each day, you will see what your child was up to a year ago that day.
7. C.R. Gibson Little Man Perfect-Bound Memory Book
Best Baby Memory Book for Boys
The C.R. Gibson Little Man Perfect-Bound Memory Book is a great option if you’re looking for a less expensive, but still cute baby book. It includes a place to put a family tree, baby’s firsts, and a page for each month. It has a few pages about the mother’s pregnancy as well. There’s lots of space for photos and mementos. Best of all, it comes in a lovely box for storage or gifting!
This baby book is for boys and has space for 5 years of memories!
8. Pearhead Linen Baby Memory Book
Best Modern Baby Memory Book
Some parents don’t want the slightly kitschy and childish design that a lot of baby memory books have. The Pearhead Linen Baby Memory Book is amazingly simple. It has a nice fabric cover, real binding, gold foil lettering, and over 50 pages to fill. It has some of the normal baby firsts and baby book pages, but it’s updated and truly modern, with blank pages that help you focus on the little moments that make up life. It even comes with a non-toxic, clean-touch ink pad to capture those tiny little footprints for the cover of the book.
9. First Year Memory Book: Letters to My Baby
Best Baby Letter Memory Book
This 10 inch by 7 inch book has spaces for all of baby’s memories. The unique thing about the First Year Memory Book: Letters to My Baby book is that it comes with paper, over 200 stickers, and other scrapbooking gear to help you make letters for baby. There are prompts that will help you write down all your thoughts and feelings into sealed letters for your child to read when they get older. Honestly, there are fancy companies out there selling something similar for a much higher price, so this is a great idea for a baby memory book on the cheap! Plus, they make another First Year Memory Book: Letters to My Baby for years 1 through 5, so you can have a cute set.
10. My Baby Time First Year Memory Book
Best Book for Storing Baby’s Keepsakes
The My Baby Times First Year Memory Book doesn’t allow for a whole lot of details, and it’s only a baby’s first year book. But it does have secured pockets to keep things like your baby’s hospital bracelet, your pregnancy test, ultrasound pictures, and so on. I like the idea of this as sort of a secondary baby book. It doesn’t allow for many descriptive memories, but it does keep all of your child’s little keepsakes in a safe place.
Baby Memory Book FAQ’s
What do you put in a baby memory book?
It varies, of course, depending upon which book you purchase and what you would like to have in your book. Available memory books range from highly detailed books containing space and prompts for every possible bit of information to simpler books that amount to a mother’s journal.
Possible contents of baby memory books include photos and mementos, recorded milestones (sitting, crawling, first word, first step, first birthday, etc.), family history, information on showers, parties, and baby gifts, cards of congratulations, information on mother’s pregnancy, and mother’s memories of any kind.
Should I buy a baby memory book?
That’s totally up to you. What you should do is find some way to regularly record your special memories about your baby/child. You may want to keep a mother’s journal. You may want to get a large paper calendar and write a few notes each day or week, detailing those things which stood out to you about your child and his or her development.
You may choose to record your own memories on your computer, take photos, and create a photo memory book online rather than follow a formatted book of prompts. On the other hand, a purchased baby book may serve as a help, guiding you to write down those things most worth remembering.
Remember, if you have several children you will want to try to provide documentation for every child that is roughly equal to what you recorded for the first. (:
How do I choose a baby memory book?
Take time to look at some books and see which ones most appeal to you. Choose one that is attractive to you, that will make it easy for you to document those things that you most want to remember about your child’s babyhood, but which will not overwhelm you (especially if you plan on having several children –available time for documentation tends to decrease with each child added to the family).
The most important thing is to take pictures and to regularly record those things that stand out to you.
Do I need a pregnancy book?
No, but you may wish to buy one. You might like to note the details of your pregnancy either for reference in future pregnancies or for sentimental reasons.
You may enjoy recording your experiences and feelings and even looking back on this record years after your child is born. Your child, on the other hand, may or may not have interest in that information.
How can I take better photos of my baby?
Use available, natural light. Gentle outdoor light or side lighting from window are particularly nice. Do not use flash unless it is necessary, or you are a practiced photographer. Move in close. You don’t always have to get the whole baby.
Concentrate sometimes on only the face. You might want a close-up of a tiny baby hand or foot. Be patient. Take pictures of baby’s face looking over parent’s grandparent’s shoulder. Take close-ups of baby when happily engaged by parent or sibling.
What years should be covered in my baby memory book?
At least one year. After the first year it may be harder to find time to get to your book to record memories. Also, those first 12 months are the ones in which your baby changes and develops most quickly.
Don’t stop recording memories after that first year, though, even if your book is complete. Scratch down or type up firsts, developmental milestones, and especially the words that your child speaks.
As Art Linkletter said, kids say the darndest things, and the things that they say reveal their developing personalities most clearly. Do not fail to write them down (along with a little context so that, later, you will fully understand the circumstances around those memorable words).
My Recommendation
I strongly recommend the All About Me baby journal for anyone looking for a simple, and broad baby journal.
That being said, overall, it is important to try to get any details about the baby book you’re purchasing beforehand because you don’t want to get a book that makes what should be a fun exercise overwhelming or stressful for you! If you are someone who jots down every detail about your little ones, then you may want a more descriptive book. If you have more of a non-traditional family like me, I’d strongly recommend checking out the All About Me journal because I found it broad enough to fit into any family.
