The Story of Baby’s First Year: A Step-by-Step Guide to Make a Baby Photobook

One of the most important stories a family can capture is the story of their child's first year; birth to first birthday. We sat down with Mae co-Founder, Nichole Healy to learn how to make a baby book. 

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Mae is your camera roll’s personal assistant engineered to help you tell your stories in both digital and physical form via personalized products. 

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Current Baby Book Options Stress Us Out

Most commercial baby books isolate this first year and attempt to capture all the milestones and big moments. They also seem to drum up unwanted anxiety, as their presence just makes new parents feel like they are required to fill them out (and are failing if they don’t).

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This is Your Story!

But, every story is unique and doesn't necessarily fit into those cookie cutter books. It’s time to put those unwanted feelings aside and capture baby’s first year in your own way. Below are some tips to help you do just that. 

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Step 1: Collect the Stories

The first thing to do is collect your stories. Since you will inevitably have a lot going as you adjust to parent life, I always say keep this simple. The easiest way to do that is just to have a plan that is easy for you to follow. 

Record Voice Notes

What you’re looking to record are funny stories or little things you want to remember. Recording milestones via voicenote like on the day of baby’s first smile or first word will also come in handy so you don’t have to recall them later. 

Voice Memos? Really?

Yes! The best way I’ve found to actually do this is to record memorable stories via a voice note to yourself. Ideally, do this 1 to 2 times per month (or more if it’s fun for you!). 

Give the Memo a Name and Date

Label the note with a memorable title and the date so you can easily go back to them. 

Just Do It!

Don’t worry about making this perfect - this is just to collect stories or things you want to remember. 

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Step 2: Let’s Look at the Photos 

That camera roll is about to get busy, but this is to be expected. There are a ton of moments to capture when the babies come along. In fact, families produce on average 3,000 photos and videos per year and it’s roughly five times that amount during baby’s first year alone. So, again, you need a plan. 

Every Month Choose Your Favorite Photos

Here’s a simple one: every month, choose just 12 to 20 of your absolute favorite moments. 

Save Them to An Album

Move them into an album labeled Baby’s First Year. Doing this you’ll end up with a good number of photos ready to create a personalized baby book. 

Delete As You Go

While you go through your photos, be sure to delete some too. 

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Step 3: Combine your Stories and Photos in a Book

Finally, now that you’ve done all the work to capture stories and curate your best photos, all that is left is to combine the two into a baby book. You have already completed the hardest part!

Do Not Try to Include Everything

Even after your monthly curation, you may still need to decrease your number of photos further depending on your print budget. 

Remember, the more photos you have the more expensive your book will be, so be cautious. 

Let Your Photos Tell the Story

Use design to highlight parts of your stories instead of using a lot of text. 

Use Voice to Text to Make it Easy

If you’ve recorded lots and lots of voice notes, you can find a transcription app to quickly get your audio into text format. 

Print It

Finally, this is a book you and your child will cherish for a long time to come, so find a high quality printer. Investing some money now will mean your book will last for years to come.   

Don't forget about your Village. You might want to print a couple copies to gift for the holidays!

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Step 4: Read It

I've not met a child who doesn't enjoy looking at pictures of her or himself. This book is all about them, and that is so special.

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