Pagewren
Baby journal prompts: 85 small things to write down
Wondering what to write in a baby memory book? These 85 baby journal prompts are for parents recording their own child’s story, from pregnancy to the first birthday and beyond. Pick one question and answer it in a sentence. You can leave the rest for another day.
Use these baby book prompts beside a photo, in a notebook or in a digital book. Skip anything that does not fit your family. The month headings are places to collect memories; they do not describe what a baby should be doing at any age.
You can save a PDF from the print window by choosing Save as PDF (on a Mac, use the PDF menu). On iPhone, tap Share in the print options to save a PDF to Files.
While you wait (10 prompts)
You can start before your baby arrives. Pagewren’s onboarding includes an “On the way” stage for starting a book during pregnancy.
- Where were you when you found out you were expecting?
- What were the first words you said out loud after finding out?
- Who did you tell first, and what did they say?
- What nickname are you using for your baby before choosing a name?
- Which name keeps coming back to you, and why?
- What is the first small thing you have set aside for your baby?
- Which song have you been singing or playing while you wait?
- What did you imagine when you first felt your baby move?
- Which ordinary place are you looking forward to showing your child?
- What would you like your child to know about your life right now?
The day you were born (10 prompts)
- What was the weather like on the day you arrived?
- Who was with us when we first met you?
- What was the first thing I noticed about you?
- What did I say when I first held you?
- Which tiny detail from your first photo do I want to remember?
- What did we wrap you in that day?
- Who heard the news first, and how did we tell them?
- What sound do I remember from the room where we met?
- Which moment from that day keeps coming back to me?
- What would I write under your very first photo?
The first weeks home (10 prompts)
- What did the house look like when we brought you home?
- Where did we sit together most often in those first days?
- What little sound did you make that we started to recognize?
- Which song did someone sing to you over and over?
- What did we call your favorite blanket or toy?
- Who brought a meal or helped with an everyday chore?
- What did I notice about your hands while holding you?
- What could I see through the window during a quiet moment with you?
- Which ordinary task felt different with you beside me?
- What small moment made this house feel like your home?
Month by month (24 prompts)
Choose one photo for each month and answer either question beside it. Pagewren can place that month’s photo on its age chapter page. If you want a card for the picture, use the free monthly milestone cards.
Month 1
- Which place in our home appears most often in this month’s photos?
- What was happening just outside the frame of your month-one photo?
Month 2
- Which nickname did we use most this month?
- What were you wearing in a photo I keep coming back to?
Month 3
- What song was often playing in our home this month?
- Who took your monthly photo, and where were we?
Month 4
- Which small object shows up beside you in this month’s pictures?
- What happened just before we took your monthly photo?
Month 5
- What ordinary outing would I like to remember from this month?
- Which detail in your monthly photo sums up our days together?
Month 6
- What has stayed the same in our home since you arrived?
- What would I tell you about the day we took your six-month photo?
Month 7
- Which person spent a memorable afternoon with you this month?
- What familiar sound could we hear while taking your monthly photo?
Month 8
- Which family phrase did you hear again and again this month?
- What happened after the camera was put away on photo day?
Month 9
- Which small part of our daily routine do I want to keep on this page?
- What made me choose this particular picture for your monthly photo?
Month 10
- Where did we go together on a day I would happily repeat?
- Which detail of the season can you see in your monthly photo?
Month 11
- What made someone in our family laugh this month?
- Who would I like to thank beside your month-eleven photo?
Month 12
- What ordinary moment from this year would I like to live again?
- What one sentence belongs beside your last monthly photo of the first year?
Firsts (13 prompts)
These cover Pagewren’s 12 firsts plus Funny Sayings. Write about the moment when it happens for your child; there is no schedule to follow.
- First Smile: What was happening when we first saw that smile?
- First Laugh: What made you laugh, and who heard it?
- Rolls Over: Where were you when you rolled over, and what caught our attention?
- First Tooth: Who noticed your first tooth, and what did they say?
- First Food: What food was it, and what expression did you make?
- Sits Up: What could you see from where you were sitting?
- Crawls: What were you heading toward when we saw you crawl?
- First Word: What did you say, and what did we think you meant?
- First Steps: Where did those steps take you, and who was nearby?
- First Birthday: What small moment from your birthday do I most want to remember?
- First Haircut: Where did it happen, and what kept your attention?
- First Trip: Where did we go, and which moment from the trip felt most like us?
- Funny Sayings: What were your exact words, and what was happening when you said them?
Letters to my baby (9 prompts)
- On your birthday, what is one thing I want to thank you for?
- On an ordinary evening, what did I love about being with you today?
- When you read this as an adult, what would I like you to know about our home?
- What is one thing becoming your parent has taught me about myself?
- Which family story would I like to tell you when you are older?
- What part of your personality did I enjoy noticing today?
- What do I hope we will keep doing together as you grow?
- What would I say to you about a day that felt hard for me?
- If this letter could hold just one memory, which one would I choose?
Family and the little things (9 prompts)
- What does each person in our family call you?
- What words does a grandparent or other loved one always say to you?
- Which family recipe was being made while you watched nearby?
- What does our kitchen sound like on a morning with you?
- Which book do we keep reaching for when we sit together?
- What small ritual marks the end of our day?
- Where do we pause on our usual walk, and why?
- Which household object has a story only our family would understand?
- What happened today that a photo alone would not explain?
pagewrenbaby.com/baby-journal-prompts/
Make it a page
Pick one prompt and one photo. For “What happened just before we took your monthly photo?”, you might write: “We had just come back from a rainy walk, and your socks were still in my coat pocket.” Add the photo and those words in Pagewren, our iPhone baby memory book, and they become a page.
The prompts are here on this website; Pagewren has no built-in writing prompt feature. You can keep a separate book for each child, share a page as an image, and export a Classic PDF. A photo without words or a sentence without a photo can also be a page.