Ashley Eccleston

When you're holding your brand-new baby in one arm and a keepsake kit in the other, a surprisingly tricky question pops up: do you go for the hand or the foot first? It feels like it shouldn't matter. But anyone who's tried knows that getting it right first time, when you're running on broken sleep and pure love, makes all the difference. So here's the honest answer, from a family who's helped capture thousands of these tiny prints. This is something our co-founder Ashley knows better than...

Megan, one of our hand and footprint kit customers, capturing her baby's handprints. You've got the kit ready, the paper laid out, and a baby who has decided - with surprising determination - that their hand is staying firmly shut. Sound familiar? You're not doing anything wrong. That tight little fist is one of the most common reasons parents give up on handprints, and it has a perfectly good explanation. The brilliant news is there's a simple knack to it, and once you know it, you'll wonder...

Thinking of using paint for your baby's handprints? Here's what's safe, what to avoid, and the mess-free alternative most parents wish they'd known about.