Inevitably at your baby shower, someone probably gave you a baby book. And as you flipped through the pages, you oohed and awed and promised not to miss a thing. You would be committed to documenting baby’s milestones, the doctor’s appointments, and everything in between.

Unfortunately, if you’re like a lot of new moms with the best of intentions, you may have recently stumbled across that baby album for the first time since that fateful shower—realizing only now that you haven’t documented a thing. No remembrance of any of baby’s milestones to be found.

Don’t fret! There is still totally hope!

First of all, if the baby album just feels too overwhelming to you (there are SO many questions to answer, and you can start to feel a bit bad if you don’t remember all the answers)—toss it. You don’t need a baby album to document your baby’s milestones. Some people like them, because they are already organized and they can guide you through what to memorialize, but you are by no means locked into that book.

A very simple alternative can be to pick up a blank notebook—one you use to write in every night (or every week) before bed as you document your baby’s journey from this point forward.

Another idea is to begin a photo album. Even if you haven’t done anything with your baby’s photos up to this point, you likely still have them (maybe they’re even still on your camera) and you can easily upload them to any online printing company and either have them turn it into a book for you, or take the time to organize those photos yourself and add text memorializing the milestones you remember.

The good news is, most of the biggest milestones are still yet to come! You can keep that notebook (or baby album) handy now so that you are ready and waiting to write down your baby’s first words, the date of his or her first steps, and even funny sentences and phrases that your little one may utter in years to come.

Pssst… We’ve got one great piece of advice for you: our baby app allows you to document these things on your phone, thus, you have plenty of options to document your baby’s milestones. It’s all just about finding what works best for you!

Written by Leah Campbell, infertility advocate, adoptive mama, writer and editor. Find me @sifinalaska on Twitter.

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general informational basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright Health & Parenting Ltd 2016. All rights reserved.

These days, most birth announcements take the form of a rather excited Facebook post accompanied by a photo of your beautiful new baby. Most new parents can’t wait to show their new baby off to the world. After all, you have singlehandedly created the most beautiful and amazing person on the planet. It wouldn’t be fair to keep that to yourself now, would it?

Some parents choose to keep their kids out of the social media spotlight, preferring instead to share photographs with only close friends and family. Whether to share images of your child online is just one of the millions of decisions you need to make now you’re a parent. You may find your decision is influenced by how you use social media. If you’re a social media addict, uploading photos is probably second nature. If you’re more reserved online, you may not feel quite as comfortable uploading pics of your newborn.

Keeping Your Photos Safe Online

This is a personal decision and one that can only be made by you and your partner. Sit down and discuss your thoughts on the issue, and remember, there are some steps you can take to keep your photographs safe online:

• Privacy settings – double check the privacy settings of all of your social media accounts. Make sure that you have it set so that only approved friends can see the images you share. This will make sure you have control over who gets to see the photographs of your new baby.

• Time for a cull – before sharing photographs of your new baby online, it’s worth taking a few minutes to take a long, hard look at your friends list. Get rid of the people you don’t know or trust. Your friends list should be made up entirely of people you are happy to share the new baby photos with.

• Team effort – ask your friends and family to support you by applying the same level of scrutiny to their own social media accounts before sharing images of your baby. Or ask them not to share images of your child online altogether.

Alternatives to Social Media

If you and your partner decide that sharing photographs on social media isn’t for you, there are other ways you can share images of your newborn with friends and family. Many online photo storage sites will allow you to create albums that can be shared with friends and family members. All you need to do is email them the link to the album so they can have a gander at your beautiful newborn baby. You can also create and share eCards using our Baby App, or share your Baby Diary with friends and family via email. You could also use a free smartphone messaging service to send photos to friends and family. For those without access to smartphones or internet access, a good old fashioned set of prints delivered straight to the door will be much appreciated.

Will you be sharing photographs of your new baby online? And if so, will you be taking any steps to protect your images?

Written by Fiona (@Fiona_Peacock), mother, writer and lover of all things baby related.

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general information basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright © Health & Parenting Ltd 2016. All rights reserved.

Moms are shortchanged in the photo department, that’s for sure. You probably spend half the weekend taking adorable candid shots of your partner playing with and caring for your baby. And yet you only appear in a handful of the photos your partner takes of your child. Why is this? Well, in part it could be because you ask people not to take your photo. Perhaps you worry that your hair looks messy, or you haven’t got any makeup on or you’re simply not feeling photo-ready, and so you miss out, again. Here are a few reasons why you should take more photos with your baby:

1. Because it’s easy

Unlike in your grandmother’s day, you don’t have to save up for enough money to pay a professional photograph to take some snaps of you and your baby. Instead, you can simply grab your smartphone, tablet or digital camera and take as many photos as you like. We live in a world where photos are easy to come by, shouldn’t you be making the most of that?

2. Because this moment will pass

I know, it doesn’t feel that way now, but very soon this moment will be over. Your baby will have moved onto the next phase, and those things you take for granted now won’t happen anymore. Babies change so quickly, the more photographs you take, the more able you’ll be to capture those feelings forever.

3. Because no-one else will

If you have mom friends, you might find they take lots of photos of you with the baby. They know only too well what it feels like to realise you’re not in many of the family photos, and they don’t want you to get left out. Generally though, you’ll be the only one taking these photos, unless you ask your partner to take more. So make sure you take lots. Remember, if you take them yourself, you can always delete the ones you don’t like.

4. Because filters

There’s no excuse for not taking a photo when you have an abundance of flattering and eye-bag-hiding filters to choose from. Thanks to smartphone technology, you can make pretty much any photo look amazing these days, so you have no excuse.

5. Because they will be your memories

One day, your baby will grow up and ask to see baby photos. Your child will want to see what she looked like as a baby, how she was dressed and what her family looked like. Make sure you feature in those family photos. Don’t let yourself be the family photographer who never makes it into the pictures. Photographs can help us to remember a moment in time, make sure you give yourself that opportunity.

6. Because the photos will make you broody

How will you ever have more babies if you don’t have an app on your phone reminding you of how lovely it is to have a newborn baby? Quick, take some photos and upload them to social media immediately. Then, one year from now, you’ll be able to feel broody remembering how lovely like was today.

Do you take many photos of you and your baby?

Written by Fiona (@Fiona_Peacock), mother, writer and lover of all things baby related.

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general information basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice. All contents copyright © Health & Parenting Ltd 2016. All rights reserved.

We’ve all seen them – the perfect pictures of a cocooned baby on a beautifully crocheted blanket with just the right lighting. Then when we try to take that picture at home, we come up a bit short of the artistic image we expected. Aside from hiring a professional photographer, what can you do to beautifully capture your precious little one?

Photographers have the following tips for photographing your baby at home:

Safety is paramount: Make sure any props you use are sturdy and clean. No leaving baby laying on a table or fluffy pillow. If baby will be undressed, make sure the room is warm.

Pay close attention to lighting: Natural light makes for the best photos, so set your shot up near a large window to take advantage of lots of daylight. This is especially helpful for making the most of those hospital pictures that capture the first days of baby’s life.

Keep extra supplies on hand: Diapers, wipes and blankets are helpful. Be sure baby is fed and comfortable before starting, and take breaks if baby gets fussy.

Let the baby stand out: Choose a neutral color palate for your background (black, white, grey, beige) and keep props to the minimum. The baby should be the focus of the images.

Use angles to your advantage: Try taking pictures from above – which limits distractions in the background and is typically a flattering angle. Don’t move the baby, move yourself. Take pictures from all different angles, walking around baby and snapping as you go. Consider tilting the camera for an artsy image.

Consider a macro lens or setting: To get the best images of those tiny fingers and toes, choose the correct settings on your camera to bring out the detail.

For the fussy baby: Consider images where mom is holding baby (even if the backdrop is draped over mom’s body!). Play some white noise or classical music to keep the mood calm. If baby is too fussy, end the photo session and try again another time.

Get to know your camera before the photoshoot. A top-of-the-line camera won’t do you any good if you don’t know how to use it. Learn how to change the settings to capture the best lighting. Play around with modes – portrait, action, landscape, shutter speed, etc. Learn what focal length and aperture are, and try shooting manually with your camera.

As your baby grows into a toddler and young child, some of the same rules apply, but you may be trying to shoot pictures of a moving target. Tips for capturing images of your older child include: Get down to their level (rather than always taking pictures from your taller perspective), give them something to hold or something to do, or ask them to copy your facial expressions.

Candid shots are always fun, too. Don’t always focus on the portrait sessions.

The best advice, though, is to stay in the moment. Sometimes being the constant family photographer – for holidays, birthday parties, and vacations – keeps you from living the experience. So, at least once in a while, put the camera away and join in the fun.

Written by Michelle, childbirth instructor, lactation consultant, and mother to 4 busy kids

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a trained medical doctor. Health & Parenting Ltd disclaims any liability for the decisions you make based on this information, which is provided to you on a general information basis only and not as a substitute for personalized medical advice.  All contents copyright © Health & Parenting Ltd 2016. All rights reserved.