Keepsakes
What to put in a baby keepsake box
The classic things UK parents save in a baby memory box, how to keep them in good condition, and how a scent keepsake can sit alongside them.
My Baby's Scent ·
Why parents keep a box of firsts
The newborn weeks pass quickly, and many parents find that small physical things — a hat, a wristband, a card — carry the period better than photographs alone. A keepsake box gathers them in one place so they are easy to look after and easy to find years later.
There is no correct contents list. Some families keep two or three things; others fill a large box. What matters is that the items mean something to you, not that the box looks a particular way.
The classics worth saving
The items parents most often keep include the hospital wristband, the first hat or coming-home outfit, a scan photograph, the cord clip, a lock of hair from the first trim, and the cards and gift tags from the people who visited.
A few lines written in the moment are worth adding too: the date, the weight, what the first night at home felt like. Details that feel unforgettable now are surprisingly easy to forget.
How to keep things in good condition
Label everything with a date while you still remember it. Wrap fabric items in acid-free tissue rather than plastic, which can trap moisture, and keep the box somewhere dry and out of direct sunlight — a wardrobe shelf rather than a loft or garage.
If you keep a lock of hair or the cord clip, a small sealed envelope inside the box keeps them clean and stops them getting lost among larger items.
Adding a scent to the box
Research on autobiographical memory has found that odour-cued memories tend to feel more emotional and to come from earlier in life than memories cued by words or pictures. That is one reason some parents want a scent in the box alongside the objects.
My Baby's Scent makes a reconstructed fragrance keepsake for adults, presented in a personalised engraved tin sized to sit in a memory box. It is inspired by your baby's early scent, but the research above concerns natural odours and ordinary memory — it does not show that a reconstructed fragrance reproduces an individual baby's smell or retrieves memories more reliably. Keep the tin, bottle and cotton out of children's reach.
Sources & further reading
- 1. Smell your way back to childhood: Autobiographical odor memory
Willander & Larsson, Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 2006. Original research.
- 2. A naturalistic study of autobiographical memories evoked by olfactory and visual cues
Herz & Schooler, The American Journal of Psychology, 2002. Author-hosted original paper (PDF).
Educational reading, not medical advice. These sources study natural odours or memory, not our product.