The First 1000 Days: A Baby Journal

This is a lovely, more open-ended baby book. We have really enjoyed taking it out and writing little stories that come up. Instax mini Polaroids also fit very nicely in this book and you can still write notes and messages around them. The book is nicely gender neutral, minimalist. The binding is of good quality. It’s smaller thn you’d usually see in a baby book or scrap book but I found it the perfect size to take along on trips! The trick is to remember to actually fill it out! If you forget about it, my advice is to forgive yourself and fill out what you can. You’ll regret abandoning the whole thing but every note you put in there will be treasured. Our kiddo is nearing 3, and this is one of my favorite baby purchases that will stick around. If I have another child, I’ll be sure to get the exact same book!

I am a first time mom and bought this book to document the first 24 months of life. It is such a great little book that is a creative and artistically formatted. It is not s cheesy baby book. It allows you to document monthly milestones, favorite games, songs, stories, etc with a very open format. Lots of suggestions on things to write about as we'll. There is even a place in the end of the book where you can write the child a letter and tape it into the journal. I love this little book so much that I have adopted it as a "signature gift" of mine that I give to every friend who is expecting. It will be a wonderful journal to look back on to remember the first few years. They go by so quick!

Love this beautiful journal-style baby book! Parents are able to write what they want in the way they want to with open space to add drawings, pics, etc. 2 open pages for 1st month, 2nd month, etc. However, the headlines are odd for these pages; for example, it begins “1 month” for 0-1 months, “2 months” for 1-2 months, etc. to 12 months for 11-12 months (technically, 12th month) and then goes onto first birthday pages. I remedied this by changing the headlines. This book was gifted to me and I love it so much that I looked for something similar without these technical difficulties to give as a gift & found nothing, so I got out stamps & stickers to change the headlines before gifting it. Seems others have not worried about this, though, and Still recommend highly even with this flaw!

I really enjoyed filling out this journal. I didn't start until my son was just over a year, but in a few hours I was able to jot down lots of notes from memory and fill it most of the way out. McClure includes thought-provoking questions on some pages while leaving most of the pages blank (with only the month denoted) for free-form writing. Her art is simple and heartwarming and adds an element of fun and class to the journal. After I added a few pictures here and there it seems complete, even though I don't have every white space filled out. Please know, a 4x6 picture fills up most of a page, so there isn't a lot of room for pictures. I am using this book in conjunction with a photo keepsake book. Also, you should be aware that about half of the journal covers month 0-24 and the other half is for jotting down "firsts" and the songs you sing, books you read together, drawings, and other inspiring things.

I was so excited that Amazon had this book since I saw it on [...] and the price was great. Not only that, but the book was divine! I could write all my thoughts and milestones that my son had done in this handy notebook that I fit into my bag. The pictures where pretty and there was enough space to jot down notes and even glue some pictures inside. This book will come in handy when I finally make my scrapbook because so I can remember what happened in the months that are going by so fast. I wish I got it since my son was born. He's one now, so I had to start midway. This will definitely make a great baby shower gift. I think I'll buy more for my girlfriends. This will especially be a treasure for any artist or designer that will appreciate the wood cut looking designs. Hope this review helped!

I am a fan of Nikki McClure so when I was expecting I was thrilled to find she had a baby journal. Overall, I enjoyed the illustrations and the small size of this journal. Although I did like to use the book, I was not entirely happy with it from a practical standpoint. I am an avid journal keeper and overall enjoyed using this book but if I were to do it again, I may choose a different journal. * Poor layout I would have liked more space for specific baby's firsts (teeth, walking, etc.) and less space crowded by illustrations. I am not saying that I do not like the illustrations, they just seemed to be poorly laid out and often crowded my space to write, especially on the month by month pages. Pages that were open for one to write anything they wanted were often crowded with random words or illustrations in the middle of the page. I would have preferred no words and illustrations in the corners so I had space to write and place small photos or momentos. * Poor organization The flow of the book is a bit strange... a lot of pages with illustrations and random cute words on the page. I think it would be better to have the month by month and then pages for baby's firsts, visitors, etc. I would recommend this book for someone who does not want to write a great deal. A large open space is intimidating to some people. This would work well for someone who probably will not write a whole lot- just jot down little notes here and there. It is a cute book ... probably one of the nicest baby journals available.

I had a traditional baby book for my first baby, but i got this for my second. This is more like a journal. I love that you are more free to write about whatever you like. In my first baby's book, I filled in all the blanks about milestones, birthday parties, etc, but I later realized that the book doesn't really tell you anything about my daughter's personality and what made her unique. With this baby book, I write about my baby lighting up when daddy gets home from work, about him giggling at his sister's singing, about the things he loves to do, about the things that make him special. This book actually tells the story of your baby. (And of course, I write in the milestones and everything too...but in journal form rather than in fill-in-the-blank form.)

I really enjoy writing in this, and it works better for me than the traditional books that ask lots of difficult and not-all-that-interesting questions (e.g. who attended the second baby shower and what gifts did they bring? On what date did the central right incisor surface? These were clearly not written with non-firstborns in mind!) Instead, there's just a two-page spread for each month to write memories and thoughts, and then some other pages about special events and memories. I like the freeform setup, and it feels like the book is a love letter to our baby. We like the aesthetic, too, especially my artist husband. There aren't really places to put in physical mementoes/big pictures, so if you're into that you'll want a different book or a separate scrapbook. (I'll make one of those if I get my act together someday....)