New baby cards
What to write in a new baby card for family
For a new grandchild, niece, nephew or cousin. Lines that go in the memory box rather than the recycling.
Welcome to the family, little one. You have arrived to people who have been waiting a long time for you.
HeartfeltCongratulations. Watching you become a parent is one of the great pleasures of getting older.
HeartfeltTo our newest arrival: your parent was exactly this small once, and equally loud. We could not be happier you are here.
HeartfeltCongratulations to you both. Call at any hour. That offer does not expire.
HeartfeltCongratulations! We look forward to telling this child every single story about you in roughly twelve years.
FunnyWelcome to the family. Fair warning: we are loud, we over-cater, and you will love us.
FunnyCongratulations! Love to all of you.
ShortWelcome to the world. We adore you already.
ShortSo happy for you both. With all our love.
ShortCongratulations on the safe arrival of your baby, with love and best wishes from all the family.
FormalWarmest congratulations on your wonderful news. Wishing you all much happiness.
FormalDelighted to welcome the newest member of the family. With love to you all.
Formal
Family baby cards have an unusual afterlife: a decent share of them get kept and shown to the child fifteen or twenty years later. That is a real opportunity, and almost nobody takes it, because most people write to the parents and then run out of card.
Write a line the child can read one day. Who they are named after, what was happening in the family the week they arrived, what you hope for them. It costs nothing now and is worth a great deal later, which is not true of "congratulations on your bundle of joy".
Three things worth getting right
- Write one sentence directly to the child, dated, for them to read later.
- Tell the new parents something true about themselves as children. They will love it.
- If you are a grandparent, say plainly what you intend to be to this child.
Common questions
What do grandparents write in a new baby card?
Something that establishes the link across generations: who the baby resembles, what their parent was like at that age, what you are looking forward to doing together. Grandparent cards are the ones most likely to be kept, so write as if it will be read aloud in twenty years, because it may well be.
What do you write to a sibling who has just had a baby?
You have the one card that can be both affectionate and rude. Use the shared history — what they were like as a child, what they swore they would never do as a parent — and then say the sincere thing at the end.
One card, signed by everyone
You have the words. Card Event collects everyone else in one link, with photos, video and voice notes, and no app or account for the people signing.
Start a cardWriting to someone else?
All card wording guides — lines for a family member and everyone else