Your pregnancy and baby journal.
To share with them when they’re grown up.
The first smile, the first word, the sleepless nights, the funny name they gave the dog. Your child won’t remember any of it. You will, for a while. A baby journal written page by page will give them back their first years, perhaps on their eighteenth birthday.
The years we forget most
We remember almost nothing of our first three years. And yet they’re the years when everything happens: first steps, first words, first fears. The only people who can tell those stories are parents, grandparents, whoever was there.
And they forget quickly too: between short nights and full days, the details slip away. Writing them down, even a few lines at a time, is the only way to hold on to them.
Nine months to tell
The journal can begin before your baby is even born. A few lines a week, a bump photo, a scan: here’s what to write, trimester by trimester.
- First trimester
How you found out you were expecting, who you told first and how, the first scans, how you felt.
- Second trimester
The first movements, the names you thought of, the nursery taking shape, the first things you bought for them.
- Third trimester
The growing bump, the preparations, the waiting, and a letter to the baby who’s about to arrive.
- The day they were born
How it went, who was there, what you thought when you saw them for the first time.
What to write about, from birth to school
- The first days at homeComing home, the first nights, visits from family and friends, the little routines that begin.
- The first yearThe day they were born, the first smile, the first solid food, how they slept, their nicknames, who came to visit.
- From 1 to 3 yearsFirst steps, first words and made-up ones, favourite games, fears, friends from the playground.
- Nursery and starting schoolThe first day at nursery, the drawings, the impossible questions, the things they said that made you laugh.
Photos, voice and video
- Photos. One for each page of the journal, with a line that tells its story.
- Their voice. First babbles, first words, a little song: these are the sounds that change fastest.
- Videos. Short and everyday: mealtime, bathtime, an ordinary afternoon.
- Your voice. Record yourself telling them something. One day they’ll want to hear you too.
14 May, 11 months
Today you took three steps on your own, from the sofa to Grandad’s armchair. Then you suddenly sat down and laughed so hard that even the cat came to see.
You’ll only eat pasta with tomato sauce, and you call everything you like “da”: Dad, dinner, the ducks in the park.
Tonight you fell asleep with your hand in mine. I wanted to write it down, because I know that in a few years you won’t want to any more.
A journal that grows with your child
You can write it together with the other parent and the grandparents: each in their own voice.
Add pages whenever you like
A Diaries capsule gathers text, photos, audio and video, each with its own date.
Choose who will receive it
Your son or daughter. If they’re still under 18, you also name a trusted adult who will keep it safe for them.
Choose the day
Their eighteenth birthday, the end of school, the day they become a parent themselves.
Pregnancy and baby journal: common questions
Any other questions? Write to us via Help.
Other words, for other moments
Your child won’t remember these years.
You can tell them.
The first page can be today’s.