Baby books are scrapbooks used by parents to track their children's development.
Contents
History
Baby books first became popular over 100 years ago to keep track of children's diseases, immunization records, and growth. Baby books started appearing more frequently in homes starting in the 1910s, but did not gain popularity until the succeeding decades.
Uses
Baby books can be used to track a child's development or mark developmental milestones. Many have ledgers that can track disease and immunizations. Some books are pre-fabricated with fill-in-the blank areas and places to put special mementos, such as a lock of hair from the baby's first haircut, a hospital bracelet, birth announcements, or cards from the baby shower. Parents may include ultrasound pictures, pictures of the baby at birth, and pictures as the child grows up. Parents can look at baby books for memories.
Baby books have also been used for research. UCLA has a collection of baby books dating back to 1882 used for the study of the history of childhood, family, art, medicine, architecture, and other disciplines.