7 Creative Ideas for Monthly Milestone Pictures

By Katie Trudeau

Babies seem to grow right before our eyes, don’t they? 

Using tummy stickers is an easy (and cute) way to keep track of your baby’s monthly milestones. To use tummy stickers, you simply peel off the sticker and place it on your baby’s bodysuit. If you’re looking for baby clothes online for your monthly photoshoots, tummy stickers work on all fabrics. 

Once your milestone sticker is in place, you’ve got lots of options for getting creative with your photos. 

Growing Side-By-Side with a Stuffed Animal

Every nursery is stocked with at least a few stuffed animals, but there’s always that special lovey. Maybe it was a gift from a grandparent or maybe it was your own lovey from childhood that you’ve saved for your baby. 

Starting from the first milestone photo, include the special lovey in the photo. Chances are pretty good that the lovey will be bigger than your baby at first, but eventually your bundle of joy will outgrow the lovey. They can lay side-by-side, but as your baby gets older, your baby may sit next to the lovey… or maybe even hug or chew a bit on it. 

Stick with a Color Theme

Make your milestone photos look cohesive by sticking with a color theme. When you make a collage at the end of the year, this will make your baby’s photos have a professional aesthetic to them. 

Not sure what colors to pick? 

Look at your belly stickers for inspiration. For example, if you have black and white stickers, you might choose bold solid colors for your baby’s background (swaddle blanket) and baby onesie. You can color coordinate everything in the photo from the swaddle to the onesie.

If your sticker is pink and green, you might try:

*A lighter shade pink for the onesie

*A cream blanket 

Or vice versa!

Play with Blocks 

This milestone photo is similar to the stuffed animal photos, but instead of using a lovey, you can use other toys from the nursery. 

*Duplo blocks

*Wooden building blocks

What makes this fun is that you can add to the photo each month to show how much your baby grows. For example, you might lay out 7 blocks one month because your baby is as long as 7 blocks. The next month, however, you might need to lay out 8 blocks.

Incorporate the Seasons

You can also customize each photo based on the season or month you’re in.

*January: Add paper snowflakes on top of the baby’s blanket. You can also go for an icy theme, a New Year’s Eve theme, or a snowman/snowwoman theme.

*February: To celebrate the month of love, add felt hearts to the backdrop, dress your baby in pink or red, or sprinkle chocolate and candy pieces in the background. If your baby is old enough to eat chocolate, you can give him or her a bite and take photos as he enjoys his first piece of candy.

*March: Are you a basketball fan? Superfan your baby in a onesie depicting your favorite basketball team. Not into basketball? No problem! Other good March themes include St. Patrick's Day (i.e. shamrocks and leprechauns), rainbows, and spring flowers.

*April: Lots of flowers begin to bloom this month. If you have any in your yard you can clip a few, and add them to the backdrop. When you’re done, dry the flowers, and then later you can frame them and hang it next to your babies’ photos.

*May: April Showers bring May Flowers, but if you're tired of flowers, you can always do a red, white, and blue theme to celebrate Memorial Day.

*June: Time to get out your beach pail and shovel. Create a summer-themed photo by laying out beach props. You can even dress your baby in his/her swimsuit to create a polished look.

*July: Another hot month: If your baby is old enough to eat ice cream, hand over an ice cream cone, and snap those pictures. Other July themes include the 4th of July, fireworks, or just a simple red, white, and blue palette. 

*August: Your baby isn’t headed to school just yet, but that doesn’t have to stop you from a back-to-school theme. 

*September: Do you go apple picking in the fall? If so, use some apples as decor in the background of your photo.

*October: Create a pumpkin patch for your baby. Lay out small pie pumpkins and mini gourds. You can even dress up your baby in his or her Halloween costume.

*November: There are lots of good themes for November. Hang a photo banner behind your baby of all of the things you are thankful for, set out a pie in the backdrop for a fun-size comparison, and dress up your baby in festival fall colors. 

*December: December is a fun month for photos. You can take your photos with your Christmas tree in the background. You can also take pictures of your baby in front of your wrapped Christmas presents. If your baby is old enough, set out a tray of cookies and milk and take photos of your baby as he or she enjoys Santa's favorite treat.

Make a Wreath

For a unique backdrop, lay out a muslin swaddling blanket. Create a wreath. Gently lay your baby in the wreath. You can make a wreath from:

*Real Flowers

*Artificial flowers

*Artificial greenery such as olive leaves

*Felt shapes

*Paper flowers

A Milestone within a Milestone 

You can capture a milestone within a milestone. For example, if your baby learns to sit up during his 5th month, be sure to use this pose for your photo. You can also capture your baby crawling, standing, smiling, and waving.

Create a Banner 

Create a photo banner of the previous months’ photographs.

What You Need:

*Twine

*Scissors

*Hot Glue

*Construction paper

*5x7 Photos

What to do: 

1. Cut out a 7”x9” piece of construction paper or scrapbook paper.
2. Glue photo onto paper
3. Hot glue photo onto the beginning of twine
4. Hang in the background of your photo
5. Next month add the next photo to the banner following the steps above.

What this will look like: During your 2-month photos, you’ll see newborn and 1-month photos in the background. During your 3-month photos, you’ll see the newborn, 1-month, and 2-month photos in the background -- and so on. 

What about you? 

What is your favorite way to document photos?

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Kathryn is a self-proclaimed book nerd who has a passion for natural parenting and writing. As a homeschooling mother of two, Kathryn understands the dynamics of busy family life. She is the founder of the Cor Domum movement, a mission that guides families through life so that they can parent with joy. Read more at  www.katietrudeau.com