Bridget's Cradles | Memorial Ideas for a Baby in Heaven

MEMORIAL IDEAS

Dear sweet momma, my heart breaks that you're in need of the content on this page. I am sorry for your loss and that you have a need to look up memorial ideas for your precious baby in Heaven. I sincerely pray that these ideas are healing and hope-filled for you. The ideas listed and pictures shown on this page are ways we celebrate Bridget's life and remember her in our home and daily life.

It's important to know that every mother grieves differently and not every idea listed here is going to be helpful or meaningful to everyone. And that's okay. This page is not meant to be an all-inclusive checklist of things you should be doing to honor your baby. Your baby is honored just by you being their mother! I hope you'll take the ideas on this page that fit with how you're grieving and leave the rest. I want to encourage you to do what feels right to you and what is going to help you in your journey. And if you'd like to share how one or more of these ideas aided in your healing, we'd love to hear from you. You can also tag your pictures on Instagram to @bridgetscradles using #BChealing so we can see your photo and remember your baby with you. We are praying for you!

AROUND YOUR HOME

A Special Place

Reserve a special place in your home to display memorial keepsakes and trinkets of your baby. This designated place for your baby will be a healing way to connect with them and remember them every day. We have a bookcase that holds some of Bridget's keepsakes. Other special places could include: a glass cabinet, a collage wall, a standalone shelf, or on top of a dresser or nightstand.

Keep Memories Visible

Display keepsakes in a place that would be healing to you and would be a daily reminder of your baby in Heaven. On our bookcase, we have Bridget's feet and hand castings that were taken at the hospital, along with photographs of her and other items that we bought for her before and after she was born (e.g., a onesie, baby shoes, teddy bears, books, signs, willow tree angels, etc).

Paint a Room

If there's a color that reminds you of your baby (perhaps a nursery color, or even a color that you find peaceful and healing), choose to paint a room in that color. We had already chosen mint green paint for Bridget's nursery, but hadn't painted her room yet. After she was born, we decided to paint our guest bathroom that color as a way for us to remember her and see her color everyday.

Display their Name

There are many wonderful customized signs and gift items that you can order (especially on Etsy) with your baby's name. Displaying Bridget's name in our home (for us and for guests to see), makes us feel that she is not forgotten and reminds us daily that she is still a part of our family.

CRAFT PROJECTS

Shadowbox

Make a memory shadowbox with special mementos from your baby's life, including his or her cradle or memory keepsake if you received one. You can find shadow boxes at Hobby Lobby or other craft stores. Use pearlized pins to keep items in place.

In Bridget's shadowbox, I put the following: the gown she wore at the hospital, a small knitted hat that she briefly wore, our hospital wristbands, a mint green knitted bracelet that I wore at her funeral (the charms on it touched her nose and lips), the first pregnancy test I took when we found out we were expecting her, and some of the "It's a girl" trinkets from our gender reveal party when we found out she was a girl.

Wooden Sign

Consider crafting something special in memory of your baby. You could paint on wood or a canvas and decoupage or stencil letters on it such as your baby's name, birthdate, a quote, or Bible verse.

My good friend made this sign for me the day Bridget was born and we were able to display it at her funeral. It's so special to me and it's in reference to the book Love You Forever. It says "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be."

String Art

Learn how to make string art, and create a board with your baby's name, initials, or another word that is special to you. You can find string art tutorials on YouTube. Bridget's sign was made for me, but soon after I received it, I learned the art at a craft Create & Remember night at Bridget's Cradles for other bereaved moms and we all found it very healing and special!

If you'd prefer to have someone else make you a sign, there are many talented artists on Etsy that sell customized string art signs.

Words or Letters

Paint a word or letter(s), such as your baby's initials, full name, or a special word that has meaning for you. This was a pre-made faith sign I found at Hobby Lobby (Bridget's middle name is Faith).

I chose to paint each letter a different color and decoupage it with sparkly glitter. I also did the same with a single letter "B" which I use often for decorating her birthday celebrations each year.

PHOTOS

Frames

Frame special photos of your baby and display them in your home. You can choose ultrasound photos or ones of you holding your baby on their birthday. You could also display their foot or handprints in a frame, and make copies to give to family members. If you have a special place in your home for their mementos or a photo collage wall, you could display several together.

As a decorative touch, you could place little mementos next to the frame like I've done below with my favorite ultrasound picture of Bridget and the word faith that I painted. What's important about displaying photos of your baby in your home is that they allow you to celebrate and remember the precious life of your baby.

Shutterfly Album

If you have photos from your pregnancy and/or of your baby after delivery, consider compiling all of your photos into a Shutterfly photo album. Our album for Bridget is truly one of our most prized possessions on earth. We have photos of each of us holding her, along with pictures of her in her cradle.

When she was buried, my husband and I (and each of our family members) wrote her a letter and buried it with her. We made copies of the letters and typed them up in the Shutterfly book. Each family member has a page in the book designated to them with their letter and pictures of them holding her. We ordered a copy for each of our families. Matt and I look back at it often, and have an annual tradition of reading all the letters every year on her birthday.

Scrapbook

If you like scrapbooking, consider making a scrapbook with photos from your pregnancy, including ultrasounds and bump pictures if you have them. I started filling out a Pregnancy Journal when I was 8 weeks pregnant with Bridget. Even throughout the complications of my pregnancy, I continued writing, journaling, and scrapbooking (it was a good bed rest project for me).

After her birth, I finished her scrapbook with pictures of her and wrote about her birth and what it was like to hold her. Even though it was a sad and hard experience, I wanted to have these memories preserved and documented for the rest of our lives. Daddy also wrote in it about his feelings and hopes for her. We appreciate having this scrapbook to go back and read our feelings throughout the journey and see pictures of my pregnancy with her.

Remembrance Photography

Have a photographer take special remembrance photographs for you in memory of your baby. These could take place at your baby's grave if you feel comfortable with that (such as in the photo you see above of Matt and I bringing Bridget balloons for her birthday).

Or you could choose to take pictures in your home, in a field, park, or place of your choosing holding memorial items of your baby (such as a photo of your baby, a teddy bear, some of your baby's belongings or mementos you've saved, a cradle if you received one, or balloons). We call these special remembrance photography sessions, "Heaven Sessions," and they can also be a powerful way to bring awareness to pregnancy and infant loss.

MEMORIAL ITEMS

Jewelry

Wearing jewelry in memory of your baby in Heaven is a special way to feel connected to them throughout your day. There are many wonderful options for personalized memorial jewelry, especially on Etsy. Origami Owl also has a Living Locket necklace that can be customized with charms for your baby (e.g., angel wings, birthstones, letter initials, a pregnancy loss awareness ribbon).

The charm bracelet above is a mother-daughter bracelet that I made the weekend between when Bridget was born and when she was buried. I made two bracelets exactly the same, and one is placed over her in her casket, and the other I keep in a special Willow Tree keepsake box. It's a treasured keepsake that we share together and it gives me peace knowing she has one with her.

Molly Bear

The wonderful non-profit organization, Molly Bears, made this personalized, weighted teddy bear for us in memory of Bridget.

It is weighted to her weight of 13 ounces and was custom made with her nursery colors, mint green & lavender.

Holding it brings back memories of our daughter and we like to include her bear when we take family pictures as a reminder of her place in our family.

Order forms are open at the first of each month and bears are custom made in memory of your baby.

Initials & Colors

Choose subtle ways to remind you of your baby. In the months following Bridget's loss, I wanted to have multiple ways to be reminded of her every day. I found a phone case with her initial letter B in her color mint green. I also painted my nails mint green and lavender (the colors we had chosen for her nursery and had bought baby clothes, dresses, and
blankets for her).

Whether or not you had picked out nursery colors for your baby and have a color that reminds you of them, there are many different items you can find with their first name initial, such as a keychain, bookmark, notepad, candle, etc.

Willow Tree

Consider buying a Willow Tree angel or figurine as a memorial keepsake and displaying it in your home, perhaps in your bedroom or in your special memorial place. I collect Willow Trees and have the ones mentioned below in memory of Bridget.

These are ones that I think are symbolic and healing for families grieving the loss of a baby: Home, Angel of Mine, Guardian, Remember,

Remembrance, and Miss You. Willow Tree also has Christmas ornament angels that are beautiful as well.

OUTSIDE

Balloon Release

Release a balloon on a special day, such as your due date, baby's Heaven Day, or birthday. You can write a verse or letter on the balloon (or a piece of paper attached to the string) and send it to Heaven.

I find balloon releases so peaceful as I watch the balloons drift off in the sky getting smaller and smaller and closer to Heaven. I always wonder what Bridget's view of the release looks like. The act of "releasing" the balloon is also symbolic of letting go and trusting God with your baby who He holds in Heaven.

Note: Alternatives to balloon releases include butterfly releases, sending off paper lanterns (please follow state law and safety protocols if so), and candlelight vigils.

Decorate their Grave

Whether it be for a special occasion such as your baby's birthday or a holiday, or just because you feel you want to, decorating your baby's grave can be an incredibly healing experience.

Every year on Bridget's birthday, we decorate her grave with rocks we paint (see next idea), flowers, and balloons. It's an annual tradition for me to deep clean her headstone,
pull weeds, update her artificial flower arrangement, and make her space really pretty.

Throughout the year, we also bring special mementos and decorations for other holidays. For Christmas or holiday ideas, please visit Important Dates and Holidays.

Paint Rocks

Paint river rocks and place them around your baby's grave or outside your home in a memorial garden or by a tree planted in their memory. You can be creative with colors and charms such as hot-gluing charms or decoupaging fabric hearts or other designs on your rocks.

Each year before Bridget's birthday, my husband and I (and now our son) paint rocks for her grave. We paint them in her colors (purple, mint green, and pink), and add lots of glitter. We like to paint hearts, crosses, and the letter B on them. I always spray them with a glossy or matte clear acrylic sealer to protect them from the weather and outdoor elements. I love the way the rocks make her grave look so pretty. This is my favorite annual tradition for our family to do together in memory of Bridget.

Memorial Tree
or Garden

Plant a tree in your yard, or create a special section of a courtyard or flowerbed as a memorial garden in memory of your baby. You can also add a memorial stone with your baby's name or a special quote. Other memorial garden ideas include: angel statues, wind chimes, flags, or pinwheels.

We planted a redbud tree for Bridget (with beautiful pinkish purple budding flowers) in our yard, along with some purple maynight salvia and catmint flowers in our garden.

Before we put the tree in the hole we had dug in the ground, we placed a few memorial items into the hole as part of a small "remembrance ceremony" we had dedicating the tree to her.

More Resources

Dates & Holidays

Important dates such as your baby's due date, birthday, or Heaven day can be difficult milestones to face in your grieving journey. Feeling unprepared for what you'll do on these days or for the emotions that will surface can be anxiety-provoking in the days and weeks leading up to these monumental days.

From her own experience after losing Bridget, Ashley shares how she and her family prepared for these difficult days and how they celebrate holidays in ways that bring peace and remembrance.

Grieving & Healing

From her own experience after losing Bridget, Ashley shares practical ideas that she found helpful in her grieving and healing journey.

Ideas include: writing letters to your baby, journaling, praying, crying, and talking about your baby. Ashley also recommends going to counseling, attending support groups, and connecting with other bereaved mothers. A list of ways to heal through helping others is also shared.

Caring for families

Do you have a friend or family member who lost a baby?

We offer practical ideas on how to support them during the first few weeks after their loss. We also share ideas on how to support them in the months and years that follow.

Acknowledging their loss, remembering their baby, and helping them through their grief will mean more to them than you could ever know.

Quotes & Bible Verses

A list of quotes and Bible verses to offer hope and healing for families who have experienced pregnancy or infant loss.

Recommended Books

We recommend the following books which are focused on providing hope and

healing after the loss of a baby.

Helpful Resources

A list of organizations and websites focused on providing healing to families grieving the loss of a baby. We hope you find support & encouragement here.