Write to your child for their 18th birthday
The first day feels like nothing else. Capsül keeps it and delivers it to your child when they're grown.
The most useful birth letter gets written in the first few weeks, when you're short on sleep and perspective. Capsül holds it for up to 10 years, or 50 with extension years, which is enough to aim for their 18th. Three letters from parents and grandparents follow, along with how to set the date.
The day they're born
Write what you feel right now. They'll read it at 18 and understand how much they were wanted.
One letter a year
Write a capsül on every birthday. At 18, they open eighteen letters at once.
From the whole family
Grandparents, aunts, uncles: everyone writes a note. A collective gift for their 18th.
First day of school
Their first day of school? Write a note they'll read the day they graduate.
What do you tell a child who won't remember any of it?
The things nobody else can tell them. The name they nearly had. The song that settled them at three in the morning, and the one that set them off.
The photos will show their face. They won't say you sang out of tune.
Keep the big declarations for the end, and in small doses. A teenager skims anything that looks like a speech. They stop at the ridiculous story, the one where you put their nappy on back to front in front of the midwife.
And write while it's still a mess. Six months from now, you'll already have rewritten the story.
How do you get it to arrive on their 18th?
Take the pack that goes furthest, then add the rest. The Prestige pack holds a capsül for ten years. The years after that are bought as extensions, at €1 a year, in blocks of 5, 15 or 40: for an 18th written at birth, you need eight, so two blocks of five.
For a fuller method, this guide walks through the 18th birthday letter. And so yours doesn't end up among the capsules nobody finds, this article explains what makes them disappear.
What does a birth letter look like?
Nothing solemn, usually. These three were written with different moments in mind.
Isla, You're three weeks old. You're asleep on me while I type with one thumb, so forgive the typos. We nearly called you Agnes. Your dad said no at the last minute, in the corridor of the maternity ward, because his maths teacher was called that. You hate Nana's yellow hat. You love the sound of the hoover. Nobody knows why. I'm tired in a way I didn't know was possible, and I'm not complaining. Well, not much. Tonight you're 18. Do you still like the hoover? Mum
Alfie, today you start school. At your age, I bit a boy called Darren. Don't do that.
Leo, The day you were born, your grandad parked in a loading bay and got a £35 fine. He still says it's the best fine he's ever had. We say he could have parked a hundred yards further up. We held you for an hour, taking turns. You didn't cry once, which has never happened since. Nanna Sue and Grandad Graham
Common questions
What should a letter to your baby say?
Treat it like a logbook, not a declaration. Note down the facts of these first weeks: the time of birth, the first visitor, what calms them down. Add a single sentence about how you feel, without polishing it. It will carry further than three worked-over paragraphs.
Can you schedule a letter to arrive on their 18th birthday?
Yes. The Prestige pack covers the first ten years, and extension years cover the other eight. The date is fixed to the day as soon as you send it. Once the capsül is sealed, neither the text nor the date can change, so pick the exact birthday, not a rough date.
Which email address should a baby's capsül go to?
Yours, or a godparent's. A baby has no email, and nothing guarantees that an address set up today will still work in eighteen years. The capsül's link doesn't depend on the address: you can pass it on when the day comes, however you like.
Can you add photos to a birth letter?
Yes, once you've bought at least one pack: one photo attached, and up to three with Prestige. The free version stays text only, and Capsül takes neither video nor sound. A photo of the empty nursery, taken before the baby arrives, often says more than yet another shot of them asleep.