Honoring Your Baby
I sat down with my dear friend Catherine Lutz, who is the proud mother of twin angels Samuel Franklin and Jackson Oliver, and we put together a list of ideas of things you can do to honor your baby. There are countless things you can do, hopefully this list will help you come up with something perfect for you and your family. If you have found your own special way to honor your baby and you would like to share it here, please email Stephanie.
Madeline's Ash tree & Madeline's garden, photographs by Stephanie Cole
Make or buy birth announcements to send out to friends and family
Plant a tree at your home or a park
Plant a garden
Make a stepping stone
Keep a journal
Donate a favorite children's book to the library in your baby's name
Buy a special piece of jewelry, such as a birthstone ring or a locket
Light a candle
Make or buy a special ornament each Christmas
Hang a stocking for your baby at Christmas (some families fill the stocking with letters to their baby)
Donate Christmas presents to needy children
Donate toys to the pediatric floor of your local hospital
Buy a charm bracelet and add a charm at each birthday
Write your baby's name in the sand
Participate in a remembrance walk or memorial gathering
Release eco-friendly balloons
Sponsor a child in a third world country
Have a brick put in at a playground with your child's name engraved in it
Have your baby's clothes turned into a special quilt or teddy bear
Get creative, write a poem or song for your child or make a painting or drawing
Place flowers in the ocean's waves
Put together a scrapbook or baby book
Frame a picture of your baby or your baby's footprints
Save and dry flowers from the memorial service
Hold a remembrance gathering on your baby's birthday or due date
Get a bumper sticker such as "mom of twin angels" or "mom of an angel"
Get a stillbirth or infant death awareness ribbon, bumper sticker or rubber bracelet
Donate blankets through Sweet Pea Project to the hospital where your baby was born
Designate a shelf or place in your house to display your baby's keepsakes
Plant a butterfly bush in your yard
Volunteer to help raise money for your local infant death support group
Keep a memory box with your baby's keepsakes
Include something you connect with your child, like a teddy bear, in family portraits
Use a special stamp, such as a butterfly, on holiday cards to represent your baby
Have an artist make a drawing or painting of your baby
Donate copies of Still, or another book for bereaved parents, and place a special bookplate in the cover dedicating it to your child’s memory