DIY Monthly Baby Photos (Plus Free Template)
Remy is 7 months old today! I cannot believe how fast time flew by and I’m begging it to slow down just a teeny bit. I’m trying to enjoy each snuggle and each smile. SIGH. At the end of every month, I like to reminisce on how much Remy has grown and document his milestones and if you know me, I always have to do this in photos! Similar to my bumpies, I like to show Remy’s progress and growth by taking a similar photo each month where he wears the same onesie and sitting at the same spot. Then I add in what milestones he achieved that month, such as starting solids or sitting up by himself! It’s great to scroll through these every once in a while and really see how our son has grown (sniff).
Today, I’m here to show you how you can create your own monthly baby photos, which are great for sharing and updating friends and family! I’m also sharing my Canva template to make your life easier!
1. Choose a plain background with natural light
This is so that nothing distracts from your little one and the text that you’re going to add. For Remy’s photos, I used the couch but ours is pretty neutral. This allows Remy to do different positions and poses, while still being comfy! For my bumpie pics, I used a plain wall in our dining room that had great natural light.
2. Leave enough room on one side for adding text
This one is kinda obvious. If anything, I would take a wide shot and then crop as necessary while making sure that everything is still in focus.
3. Get that smile!
This step is probably the hardest! For Remy, I employ any help I can get: his grandparents, his toys, silly faces, etc. I take so many photos, trying to get that perfect smile. Seriously, look at this photo roll.
4. Edit the photo
Edit the photo with the photo editing app of your choice! I use the PicMonkey app and adjust the brightness, contrast and temperature. See what a difference just a little editing does?
5. Use Canva to add text
Upload your edited photo to canva.com or the Canva app and start adding your text! Canva has a great library of fonts and templates to choose from. I like to add Remy’s stats, his current favorite thing to do, and any developmental milestones that has been achieved for the month! Add whatever and how much you like. Howecver, don’t add too much so that it may end up looking busy and taking away from your precious babe! Some ideas to add are: any holidays that were celebrated, what size clothing they wear, what and how much they’re eating, etc.
6. You’re done!
And there you have it – your finished monthly baby photo and it looks great! Now just hold back happy tears while you do this for each month for your little one. As a result, you’ll have great memories to look back on and reminisce on how much your son or daughter has grown and all the small little details that just warms your heart. <3
Have you done monthly baby photos to document milestones? What things do you add to the photos?
These are so cute. I would assume my youngest being three is too old now! Haha. But I did do something similar with both of my boys! So cute.
Very useful tips! I wish I had this with our oldest lol. I use presets on Lightroom to edit my photos!
I love documenting monthly photos! I’ve never added text though, that’s a great idea!
Wish I would have found this two years ago with the last baby, or 5 years ago. Adorable! And I love canva! I cam still so this for their bday pics.
Such a cutie! I need to get better about taking pictures.
I so wish I had this last year when my son was born! This would’ve saved me so much time lol.
Love all the tips here! So relatable to get them to smile and find a photo that is not blurry. Milestone photos are really reminiscing to look at as they grow so fast. I enjoy using Canva too in editing. Btw, I adore those text you put in every photo. Amazing effort mommy 🙂
Hi Nessly, it is sooo nice to reminisce over these photos. All the feels 🙂
These turned out beautiful! I absolutely loved taking monthly photos of my daughter when she was younger. I used the same blanket for every photo. It is so true that it take A LOT of photos to get the right one!
Hi Tricia! Thank you for your kind words! I love the blanket photos too!
SO CUTE! Obviously it helps when your subject is utterly adorable!
Hehe Amanda, it definitely helps 🙂 Thank you for reading!
Such a sweet way to do it! We tried using blocks to spell things out, but, yeah, it was a struggle.
Hi! I love the photos with the blocks! I just knew my little one would not sit still long enough for it! haha
This is such a cute idea! I’ll definitely be using this for my next child.
Hi Aliya, yay! I’m so glad that I can inspire you! Can’t wait to see your monthly photos!
I definitely regret not doing monthly photos when my daughter was little – you make them look so easy, too! 🙂
Hi Chelsy, don’t regret it! I’m sure you have tons of photos in your camera roll to help document her first year! Thank you so much for stopping by 🙂
Ughhh why didn’t I find this when my boys were babies?!?!!? I’m legit so sad! 🙁 LOVE THIS though!!
These are such cute pictures! My son is now two so getting him to just sit still is a challenge but I love the idea of doing it this way haha. I could probably bribe him with some fruit or something or turn it into a game of “see how long you can sit in that place” haha. Thanks for the tips
Hi Alexia! Thank you for your kind words! Now that Remy has started crawling, these monthly photos are getting to be a challenge! But I’ll take your idea and bribe him with fruit hehe. I hope your photos turn out great!
Loved this idea. Wish these things would have been available when my girls were born. You’ve given such clear instructions I think it will be easy to create these. I’m going to go back and see what I can do to create similar pictures of my daughters when they were little. Hope the memory serves me well. 🙂
Hi Melody! Thank you for your comment! Let me know how your photos turn out 🙂
I use canva for almost everything. I love it! Your baby is soo cute too..
These are great! I wish I had this when my toddler was still a baby and I was still doing monthly photos!! No doubt I will be able to implement these into my regular photo sessions!
Thank you for the feedback, Shannon! You can definitely still do yearly photos with milestones! I included a free Canva template, if it works with your photos! 🙂
This is so wonderful! I love doing monthly pictures and your steps are perfect 😀 Especially editing in canva. A lot of moms don’t thing about that.
Thank you so much for your feedback, Amanda! Now, I included a free Canva template so hopefully it’s easier! 🙂