How to make a monthly baby milestone card on iPhone

A good card answers one question for the family: what was this month like? Most parents include four things.

• The age: "Month 3", or the weeks and days if you prefer.
• One to three photos from the month. One clear photo beats six crowded ones.
• A few milestones: first smile, rolling over, first tooth, a first word. Three or four short lines are enough.
• Optionally, the weight and length, if you want the family to see them.

Keep it to a single image in portrait (a 4:5 shape fits a phone screen well), so it opens full-size in a chat and nobody has to scroll through twenty pictures.

The iPhone has no baby-card maker, but Photos can write on a picture. It takes a few minutes per month:

1. 1Open Photos and pick the best photo of the month. If you want several, make an album called "Month 3" first so they are all in one place.
2. 2Tap Edit, then the Markup button (the pen tip), then the plus button and choose Add Text.
3. 3Type the age and a few milestones, then drag and resize the text so it sits on a quiet part of the photo.
4. 4Tap Done twice to save the edit.
5. 5Share the result from the share button, to one person, a family group or an album.

This works, and it costs nothing. The weak spot is the paperwork: you have to remember the milestones and the weight yourself, and with a new baby that is exactly what slips. That is the part an app can do for you, if you have been logging along the way.

Baton builds the card from things you already logged, so the work happens during the month, not at the end of it.

1. 1During the month, open the Moments tab, tap New moment, write a line, add up to four photos and pick the day. If it was a milestone, choose it from the list (first smile, rolls over, first tooth, first word and so on) or name your own.
2. 2Add the baby's weight and length when you measure them. They go in the same log as feeds, sleep and diapers.
3. 3On the monthly birthday, Today shows a card that says the month's card is ready. Tap See the card. It stays there for a week, and Not now puts it away until next month.
4. 4Look at the preview. Use the month chips above it (Month 1, Month 2 and so on) to see an earlier month, up to the baby's age, with the first card arriving on the first monthly birthday.
5. 5Tap Share. The iPhone share sheet opens, so you can send the picture in Messages, Zalo, AirDrop or any app on the list.

You can also open the same screen from More › Discover features, on the Monthly card tile, at any time. Cards run from month 1 to month 24.

Baton puts only what you saved on the card, and leaves out whatever you did not:

• Photos: up to three, taken from the moments dated in that month. If there are none, the screen tells you to add a moment with a photo and the card has no picture.
• Age and the name of the month, for example Month 3.
• Weight and length: your latest measurements from around that month (up to about two months before it ended), each with its WHO percentile, such as P58, and a note naming the WHO Child Growth Standards. With no recent measurement, the numbers are left off.
• Milestones: up to four lines from the moments you marked as milestones and the items you ticked on the milestone checklist, with "+2 more" if there are extra.

A percentile only says where one measurement sits among many babies on a published chart. It is not a grade, and the card gives no advice. If a number worries you, ask your pediatrician, and leave it off the card if you would rather share only the photos.

Open More › Reminders and turn on Monthly birthday card. Baton sends a gentle note at 10:00 on each monthly birthday, up to 2 years. It is off by default, and iOS asks permission the first time.

This is the only notification it adds. If you would rather not have notifications, skip it: Today still shows the card for a week after each monthly birthday.

A simple rhythm: add the moments as they happen, measure once a month if your clinic does, and when the card is ready check the photo and the milestone lines before you send it.

• Who it goes to. A private chat or family group is different from a public post. Decide before you tap Share.
• The details. A name, an age and a photo can be enough for strangers to recognise a child. Leave out what you would not say out loud to someone you just met.
• The numbers. If a measurement feels like a comparison with someone else's baby, you can simply not include it.
• The photo. Pick one where the baby looks like themselves, not the sharpest one.

• Free: the monthly card, share cards, 20 moments with photos and the milestone checklist. The free card carries a small Baton mark.
• Baton Plus is optional. With it, cards go out without the Baton mark and moments are unlimited. Prices and what renews are in the Pricing section on the home page.
• Private: Baton has no account. Your moments, measurements and milestones stay on your phone and in your own iCloud, and the developer cannot read them. The card is made on your phone, and only the one picture you choose to share leaves it. Baton has no ads and does not track you.