Baby Books have been popular with new parents for decades. The earliest versions were used not just to record the event and the particulars of the newborn’s size, weight, hair colour and other distinguishing characteristics. They were also an important place to record diseases, immunizations and, of course, growth.
The first
baby books, at least in terms of mass production of them, were marketed in the
1910s. Some were plain, some were fancy. Over time, they got more elaborate in
terms of how they were bound and what information could be recorded.
They were
almost always filled out by mothers who diligently kept track of developmental
milestones: weight gains, first word spoken, first step taken. And that first
haircut. The books usually listed the first people to visit the new mother and
her baby and the first gifts that were given to them.
When
cameras came to be commonly available to families (Who didn’t have a Kodak Brownie?)
photographs were added. In recent times some parents have included copies of ultrasound
images of their babies, obviously from before they even came into the world.
These days blogs and social media sites have taken over somewhat. There is
nothing quite like having a real book, though, with important events recorded in
Mom’s hand and containing that precious lock of baby’s hair.
Many notable people have had them. A few have been preserved in publications such as that for Robert Louis Stevenson which can be looked at on the Internet Archive website.
My parents filled them out for my siblings. I still
have mine and remember pulling it out to look at over the years, especially
after my wife and I had our children. It is fun to compare your own growth with
that of your children.
One special book I have was for my little brother, who died at the age of two. Besides the photos of him in our family albums, and the formal birth and death record, it is the only record of him as a person.
James Edwin
Shepheard (he was named for his two grandfathers) came into the world on 23
February 1948. I first wrote about him in a blog post, My Brother Jimmy…, on 24 February 2015. That post was more about the loss of children like
him among some of our ancestral families.
What few
photos and home movies we have of Jimmy show him as a quiet, happy and
contented baby and toddler. That’s how my older sisters and I remember him. 
Jimmy in front with brother Wayne and sisters Sharon and Lynn
The pages in the baby book record his entry into the world and his record of growth. It tells us when he talked and when he walked. When he got his first teeth and when he got his first haircut.
