Tips for Announcing the Arrival of Your Bundle of Joy

After waiting nine long months for your little one to come into the world, it’s always exciting to be able to announce their arrival.

Since you’re sleep deprived and weary at this time, though, it’s also wise to follow a few essential tips to create the right announcement and make the whole process easier.

Set a Budget

Firstly, come up with a budget for this activity. By putting aside a set amount of funds to cover the creation of the announcement and the related postage, you’ll find it simpler to make decisions along the way.

There are options for every kind of budget, so work with what you have, rather than generating more stress for yourself and your family by spending more than is feasible for your budget. After all, you have a gorgeous yet expensive bub to factor into your finances now!

Create a List

Once you have a total amount you feel comfortable spending, you’ll have an idea of how much you can spend on printing the announcements, and therefore who (if anyone) to send a physical notice to. If you have a limited budget, it’s often best to stick with digital emailed cards only or to send a small number of printed quality baby announcements to those in your inner circle, like close family members and friends.

If your budget is larger, you can go bigger. In this case, send notice of your exciting news out to all of your family, friends, work colleagues and bosses, and other contacts. Be sure to post an announcement to anyone who attended your baby shower or who has given you a baby gift.

Announcement Timing

Timing is something many new parents stress about when it comes to new baby announcements. However, while it’s good to let people know as soon as possible, don’t worry if it takes you a while to find the time and energy to make this happen.

Etiquette suggests that parents have up to around six months to advise people of a baby’s birth. Keep in mind that everyone knows how hectic life is with a newborn, so they generally won’t expect to receive a notice right away or be upset if it takes you a few months.

If you want to be sure to get cards out quickly, do some preparation work while still pregnant. You won’t have the picture of bub to include, obviously, but you can go ahead and choose the stationery type and style or the e-card you like, and create the likely wording you’ll use when the time comes.

Put together a template in advance so once your little girl or boy is in the world, you can fill in the pertinent details, add a picture of them, and you’re ready to go. If you’re going to go with printed announcements, you can even buy stamps and address envelopes in advance, too.

Information

A question many new moms have about birth announcements is what kind of information to include in them. This is up to you and what you feel comfortable with, but here are the types of details most people cover:

  • An introduction that includes the names of the parents announcing the good news
  • Baby’s name, weight, length, and birth date
  • Where bub was born (the city) and at what time
  • Details of the baby’s siblings

For people close to you and/or those who have sent gifts, it’s also nice to include a personalized message when time permits.

Ideas for Creative Birth Announcements

If you want to send a birth announcement that’s a bit different, get as creative as you like. The only limit is your imagination (and your available time, energy, and budget!). For example, you could create a card that has a speech bubble coming from bub’s mouth in their photograph. Write a message as if your newborn is announcing their own birth to the world.

If you’d like to get the whole family involved, why not create a multi-generational announcement? You could post your baby or just their hands with yourself, their siblings, the grandparents, aunties, uncles, and fur babies.

If you’re crafty, consider creating a comic, book, or newspaper style announcement using a wide variety of pictures of your little one. Alternatively, showcase your skills by creating a cross-stitch, needlepoint, woodblock, collage, or scrapbook style announcement. You can also use props from around your home to create a unique photo for the announcement.

The arrival of your new baby, whether it’s your first or fourth or another number, is exciting and joyful. Follow the steps listed above to ensure that sharing the news with those in your life is a similarly positive experience.

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