HOW TO MAKE BABY FOOTPRINTS & HANDPRINTS AT HOME (THE SMUDGE-FREE WAY!)
You want to freeze their tiny hands and feet in time before they grow up...way too fast! Here's how to get great, smudge-free baby hand and footprints at home — with minimal mess!
The Short Years Baby Book comes with pages specifically designed to capture your baby's hand and footprints as a precious keepsake. Here's how...
You wish you could freeze this moment in time.
And treasure up how tiny their hands are; the way the bits of fuzz get stuck in the little wrinkles and between their fingers.
All the countless times you have to pick up nail clippers and trim their paper thin nails that grow so fast.
But your little darling just won’t stop growing.
Too soon you’re trading the three month clothes for the six months.
And they outgrow their shoes, it seems, even before they’ve had a chance to wear them.
I know you want to cherish every bit of baby sweetness with your little one.
Which is why, when you receive your Short Years Baby Book in the mail, you’ll find all of your chapter dividers and journaling pages, along with pages to capture prints of your babe’s sweet little hands and feet.
Is there anything sweeter than your baby's itty bitty hands and feet? Here's how to capture them before they grow!
At what age do babies get footprints taken?
Typically, babies get their footprints taken at the hospital (or birth center or at home) on the day they're born.
There's nothing sweeter than holding your baby's perfect little hand or nuzzling their itty bitty, wrinkly foot. And like any mom, I wanted to be sure to freeze time by making a keepsake of my baby girl's hand and footprints.
She is my fourth baby, and I knew all too well how quickly she would grow!
I packed my Hands & Feet Prints Pages in my hospital bag (like I tell everyone to do), and my plan was to have the nurse make them after she did the standard hospital ones.
However, in the frenzy of the moment, I was so focused on wanting to hold my baby, I totally forgot to ask about doing the prints for the baby book!
Footprint fail!
All was not lost though, as my amazing husband was able to get them on Day Two.
How to Get Baby Footprints at Home
How to Take Baby Footprints Video
There’s something so magical to me about seeing my husband, now a seasoned dad of FOUR!? holding our baby girl.
Cue the postpartum tears!
He’s never taken baby footprints before, and I’m so impressed at how great they turned out!
Here's how you can get the same great results at home:
1. Prepare your baby
Feed your little one first, so they will be nice and relaxed. Be sure their foot is clean and accessible, so they'll be ready to get the prints.
The Short Years Baby Book includes Hands and Footprint Pages that go right in your baby book. You can also add our convenient ink pad, so you'll be ready when the time comes.
2. Prepare your supplies
Lay out the footprint page and the non-toxic Short Years Ink Pad, so they are ready to go when baby is having a happy moment.
If you’re having trouble finding your Hands & Feet Pages, they are tucked in with the chapter dividers and lined journal pages.
3. Hold baby facing out as shown in the video
This allows you to easily maneuver Baby's foot while taking their print.
Gently grasp your little one's ankle and firmly press their foot into the ink, making sure that there's good coverage over the whole foot. Then, press it onto the paper from the heel to toes for a nice clean print.
4. Wipe your little one's foot clean
Removing the ink from your baby's foot is easy. Just use a wet wipe to gently clean up. If there's a little left under their nails, not to worry! It will come clean after a bath or two.
What kind of paint can you use on newborn footprints?
While you could use paint to make your little darling's footprints, we find it works best to use ink for the most clear, high-quality print.
If you don’t have your copy of The Short Years Baby Book and Ink Pad yet, hop over and grab yours now.
Footprint Tips
In retrospect, I would recommend telling your nurse or midwife before your newborn arrives that you want to capture your little one's footprints.
Be sure they set the page by the bassinet where they’ll be weighing, measuring, and doing hospital prints.
That way, everything is prepared and your nurse knows the footprint plan before all the excitement begins!
Even with the best planning, sometimes things don’t go as expected.
Don’t be afraid to be flexible and do the prints on your own at home.
And as we all know, sometimes life happens and it’s just not possible to take prints in the first few days.
But not to worry!
One mom shared that she took her baby’s footprints when her daughter turned one, and included them in the first-birthday chapter of her Short Years Baby Book.
No matter when you capture your little one’s footprint, you’ll love looking back and remembering just how little and precious they once were!
At what age do babies get handprints taken?
If you’re wondering how to get a newborn handprint, the short answer is you don’t.
While most families make footprints at the hospital or in the first few days of their child’s life, it’s best to wait to attempt the handprints until later.
That’s because infants have a grasp reflex that causes them to keep their hands in little fists for the first few months. (Which is why they’re so good at grabbing onto your finger with their little hand, even as a newborn.)
Their grasp will relax somewhere between five and six months of age, and that’s the best age to think about taking their handprints.
However, we also have some Short Years parents who do them at their child’s first birthday and add them to the First Birthday chapter.
Whenever you decide the time is right, here’s how to make your baby’s handprints at home (without making too much of a mess!)
How do I get my baby to do handprints?
Watch the video to see how to take your baby’s handprints at home.
How to Take Your Baby’s Handprints at Home
1. Prepare your paper and ink
Lay out your handprints page and ink on a solid surface.
2. Wait until Baby is calm and relaxed
It can be a little tricky to create a good print of an older, curious baby who loves to reach and wiggle.
So, make sure your baby has recently had a nap and has a full belly. Pick their most calm and relaxed part of the day.
3. Make your baby’s handprint
If you can, ask someone to help you keep Baby happy and distracted, or even hold them, while you maneuver their hand onto the paper. (See the video above, for the easiest method.)
To avoid getting a smudged print, press baby's hand onto the paper from the heel of the hand toward the fingers. Be sure to carefully press each finger to capture its print on the page.
It can help to put Baby in just a diaper, just in case, to avoid getting ink on their clothes.
4. Remove the ink from Baby’s hand
If you're wondering, 'How do you get ink off a baby's hand?' It's easy.
You can use a simple wet wipe to remove ink from your baby’s skin once you’re done. Don’t be alarmed if a trace of the ink lingers under Baby’s nails for a few days. It will come off after a bath or two.
How to Do Baby Handprints without Paint
While you certainly could use paint to get your little one's print, we find that ink makes a much more clear, smudge-free handprint. You can find The Short Years Ink Pad here to make it easy.
And that’s it!
If you haven’t already…
Order your Short Years Baby Book now
Because you can’t keep them little, but you can treasure up how itty bitty they once were with your beautiful hands and footprints keepsake pages.
