It’s no secret babies change a lot in their first year. They start as tiny nuggets who love snuggling, then grow into wiggly, smiling creatures who eventually begin rolling, crawling, and some even walking before their first birthday. And many parents want to capture the amazing changes in their little ones by taking monthly baby photos.
Whether you want to share your monthly baby photos on social media, capture them for a baby book, or print them out for gifts or wall art, there are so many easy and creative ways to showcase your baby’s growth. Here, we’re sharing over 20 monthly baby photo ideas, with a few props to shop to add to your baby registry or grab after your baby’s born. Keep scrolling for these baby milestone picture ideas we love, plus where to shop the cutest monthly photo props.
1. With a monthly milestone pennant
Give your monthly baby photos a vintage feel with numbered pennants. Plus, you can use each one as a birthday prop as your little one grows.
2. In the same chair
For one of the easiest baby photo ideas, plop your little one in the same seat month after month and see how they grow and change—and whether they’ll stay still enough for a photo once they’re on the move!
3. With the same toy or stuffed animal
Placing a stuffed animal next to your baby will help you see how much they’ve grown each month. Plus, the baby milestone photo prop doubles as a toy as they grow.
4. With monthly baby blocks
Whether you use numbers from your existing set of traditional baby blocks or purchase personalized blocks, these monthly baby photo props can become toys they play with later.
5. In monthly onesies
Buy a cute monthly onesie for baby to wear in their photo each month. DIY-ing monthly onesies could also be a cute baby shower activity for guests to make during the party.
6. Held up by mom or dad
Another super easy monthly baby photo idea: Hold your baby up against a blank or meaningful background—like a wall in their nursery or outside to see the seasons change.
7. Using an Instax camera for pictures you can hold
Grab the Instax camera for monthly baby photos you can hold onto—or stick right in their baby book. Or for a milestone photo you won’t need to remember to take every month, just capture a pic of your full pregnant belly, then a similar shot when your baby is 9 months old, like Branded Content Editor Steph did in this “9 months in/9 months out” photo. It’ll be crazy how the time between will feel like the longest ever, and also a blink. This baby milestone picture idea is also a reminder to get yourself in the photo.
8. Using food to mark the months
The pizza baby monthly photo idea from mom and family photographer Dani Leigh Giannandrea went viral a few years back—and we can see why! Another funny food baby milestone picture alternative? Use a dozen eggs in a carton, with one for each month to document the growth of your new little “hatchling.”
9. With a milestone sign
Monthly baby photo signs and cards are fun items to add to your baby registry, especially now that they’re available from most retailers, including tons of cute options on Etsy—from simple discs to laser-cute signs to fun shapes like this hot air balloon.
10. With a monthly blanket
Grab a monthly blanket photo prop that doubles as a play mat for an easy milestone photo idea.
11. With a chalkboard sign
Looking for milestone picture ideas you can even do with future kids? Add baby’s details to a customizable chalkboard in each month’s photo.
12. With a letter board sign
Add a letter board sign to your baby registry, and you’ll be able to use it from birth through those first day of school pictures.
13. While they’re asleep
No one wants to risk waking a sleeping baby, but photographing a sleeping baby can make monthly baby photos a lot easier whether choosing to shoot overhead in their crib or posing them on the floor. Adding props nearby like pillows, hats, or toys can add some interest. Just remember to remove them after the photoshoot to follow safe sleep guidelines.
14. In a Moses basket
A Moses basket works as another fun prop for size comparisons each month. Watch as your baby starts teeny tiny and eventually starts climbing out on their own.
15. With seasonal accents
A letter board sign and a few seasonal accents make this monthly baby photo op clean and creative.
16. With nature accents
Grab some inspiration from nature using flowers, leaves, holiday garland, or other natural accents to create the number in your baby’s monthly photo.
17. With their siblings
Capturing baby’s growth alongside their siblings is another sweet monthly photo idea you’ll love looking back on.
18. With their first pet
Not many things are sweeter than a baby and a puppy (or a kitten!) Capture the budding best friends in monthly pics you’ll want to share.
19. In the same outfit
It’s no secret babies grow quickly. Buy a cute personalized sweater or outfit in a larger size, and watch your little one fill it out and eventually outgrow it through their first year.
20. With their ultrasound photos
Why not start with your baby’s first photo, ever? Incorporate your baby’s first ultrasound photos to create a sweet milestone photo idea.
21. On a personalized baby blanket
Blankets create an easy background for monthly baby photos. Consider a pretty heirloom blanket or one with baby’s name or monogram for a special photo.
22. Using a baby milestone photos app
No props needed! With baby photo apps like Baby Story or Baby Pics, you can turn any photo into a monthly baby picture.
Tips for taking monthly baby photos
From personal experience, taking monthly baby photos works best when baby is fed and happy. If using props, set them up during nap time so you can smoothly transition baby for their photo op. Use natural light, like a nearby window, and consider using your phone’s Live Photo setting since they can wiggle quite a bit as they get older.
Then there’s perhaps the most important tip of all: don’t stress if you miss taking the photo on the actual day each month. Your baby will never know the difference.
Kathy Sisson, Senior Editor
Kathy Sisson has been a key contributor in the editorial parenting space for eight years, not only as a full-time editor at The Everymom but previously as a freelance writer for top parenting sites, including Scary Mommy, Motherly, Parent Co., and more. As an editor at The Everymom, she has produced hundreds of articles on a range of parenting topics, reviewed dozens of family-focused products, interviewed leading experts in the children and parenting world, and created viral parenting social media content. A mom of two, she is committed to sharing the honest, helpful, and often humorous stories of motherhood.
