There is no right or wrong way to honour and remember your baby.  Do what feels comfortable for you and your family.  Don’t let anyone tell you that what you choose to do is ‘wrong’.  The list below is merely a few suggestions for things you can do to remember your baby and keep his or her memory alive.

Keep a memory box of your baby’s special items. 

If you had a late miscarriage, a stillborn baby or a baby who died after birth, you may have hand and footprints, hospital bracelets, clothes and photographs of your baby. 

Most hospitals now provide families with a memory box, and will have items in it such as a lock of hair, blanket baby was wrapped in, a candle, the first hat that your baby wore and babies umbilical cord.

 If you had an early miscarriage or a termination for medical reasons, you may have scan photographs or photographs of special places you visited while pregnant which you could store in your Memory Box. 

You could also include letters to your baby, sympathy cards you received when your baby died – anything at all that reminds you of your baby. 

If you were not given a box by the hospital buy or make a special box to store all these items in, so you can take them out and look at them whenever you wish.

Buy a piece of  jewellery with your child’s name and special date on, or with their prints on.  There are many different companies that provide this.

Some people find it helpful to write a blog to record their journey after losing their baby. 

 If you are not comfortable with openly sharing your experience with the world, you can make your blog private. 

Write a letter to your baby.  Writing down your feelings and things you would love to have said to your baby can sometimes help you cope with the emotions, or at least make them a little more bearable.

Release balloons for your baby. 

You could attach notes, letters or poem to your balloons if you wish.

Buy keepsakes and memorial items that remind you of your baby. You can buy things not only for the home but also the garden. If you had a funeral and buriel you could buy memorial items to have forever at their grave.

Name a star or a flower  after your baby.

Make a donation to a baby loss related charity or a charity that means something to you and your family in your baby’s name.

Order a Charlie Bear from our website, not only for you to hug to fill your arms, but to help other children in the family.

There are some companies that provide bears that are the exact weight your baby was, thus giving you that comfort of hugging something the same size.

Donate Memory Boxes to your local hospital.

Become a bereavement befriender and support other parents who have lost a baby (you will need to be a year into your loss to sign up).

Contact your local council and find out if there will be any local tree plantings.  You could arrange to have a tree planted in your baby’s memory.

Plant a flower garden for your baby.  You could do this in your own garden if you own one, or you could buy large planters to use on a patio or balcony.

Organise a fundraiser or sponsored event to raise money for a baby loss charity, or our charity, in your baby’s name.

Speak about your baby as often as you feel like it, to whoever will listen. Acknowledging that your baby was here and was important is an important step.

Make a scrapbook or photo album of photographs of your baby, or photographs of things that remind you of your baby.

Light candles for your baby on special dates, or whenever you wish.

Organise something special on your baby’s birthday or a special date.  You could ask friends and family to join you in releasing balloons, or you could do something small at home by yourself to remember your baby, such as writing a letter, lighting candles on a cupcake, or buying a special keepsake that reminds you of them.

Take photographs of items that have your baby’s name on, or you could take photographs of your baby’s name written in the sand, on pavements, made out of pebbles, leaves – anything at all!