10 Tips for Keeping Your Online Baby Journal Updated
Our friends at Kidmondo share 10 great tips for keeping your online baby journal updated...
There are many excellent reasons for parents to keep an online baby journal. It is a great way to chart memories and milestones of the growing life of your baby, and keeping detailed records can be a good way to chart the medical progress and statuses of the children, being both a helpful and valid source of information. But with all the stress and activity of caring for an infant, it can be easy to forget to update the journal, which would mean missing out on precious memories as well as documentation. Here are some tips for keeping your online baby journal updated:
Use a Good Journal System: To get started, you first need to choose an online journaling system that meets your needs. If you have twins, for example, you’ll need an online system that will allow you to easily keep two journals updated.
Make a Daily Time for Updates: Making it a daily priority to update the baby journal will help make it a habit. Creating a routine time to journal the events of the day is a good place to start.
Record Doctor Visits: Documenting what happens at each doctor’s visit can be a great reminder for anyone to update their baby log. (Not to mention it can be extremely helpful later on down the line to have an extensive and detailed record of your child’s health journey.) Parents will be grateful they took the time to record the important information later on.
Have a Camera Close By: Most people have cameras on their phones, so keeping that phone or a regular camera close throughout the day will help you capture images of your growing child. When parents see their child standing for the first time — or just sitting in the cupboard covered in flour — having the camera within arm’s length for a quick grab and “snap” is essential for really memorable journaling.
Create Reminders: So often we think “I need to do this later” and then instantly forget about it for the day. Alarms and reminders are excellent for countering that, whether set for the same time every day or customized per schedule. Adding a snooze is also helpful for those times when the alarm goes off in the middle of making supper.
Choose One You Can Share with Family and Friends: The pressure of promises to share details with friends and family can be a good motivator to get journaling. Parents should make a regular time where they share the latest updates and delights of their child. Thinking, “Oh, this would be great to go in the journal!” is a good personal reminder.
Record Each New Meal: This kind of record-keeping can be very helpful. Each time parents try a new food for their child, they should document it. As the children grow older, tastes change and allergies may even develop, so having an extensive record of foods they’ve eaten is both good for them and good for their parents.
Don’t Ignore Journaling “On the Go”: If you’re running errands, shopping or dropping the baby off with a friend as you rush off to work, there isn’t always time to write out an elaborate story or to upload recent pictures to your journal. But you can quickly send yourself a text or email with the info as a reminder to add the story or images to the journal later. With Kidmondo, you can even email your journal itself for easy updating!
Let Your Other Kids Help: People in your family can share their experiences with your child. If you’ve got other kids, you can ask them for stories and memories they’d like to see added to the baby journal.
Write in a Personal Style: You don’t have to be a great author or love journaling to keep up with a baby book. Whether the style is to use organized categories or pile everything in one entry into a single paragraph; whether you like lots of details or prefer concise phrases; whether you like tons of pictures or prefer descriptions and simplicity — just do whatever you feel comfortable doing. Don’t stress about making it perfect. Just have fun!
It is an important job for the family to keep up with the baby journal. Though it may be hard work, it is a very rewarding task and will bring memories back for years to come.