The first time you see your newborn baby, it is unconditional love at first sight. Those tiny little hands and cheeks and little body are a full package that will fill your heart with instant joy. You want to do whatever you can to keep every single detail fresh in your mind, their scent, their cries and grunts, even the way their hands grasp at everything. You want to remember every single detail for the rest of your life.
As a new parent, you will quickly understand why so many people will tell you to cherish these times truly. Your child is going to grow by leaps and bounds in what seems like such a short time. Before long, they will be toddling through the home, and you are going to have a difficult time remembering how soft and small they once were and how they would fall asleep as they were rocked. This is why a newborn baby photo session is the perfect opportunity to capture all of these special memories.
Your newborn photography session will be an exciting and monumental time for the entire family. However, many parents will find themselves getting overly anxious or nervous over the event as they try to prepare the baby. All it takes is a little extra planning, and you will be able to relax knowing that you have everything under control. As the years’ pass, you will be grateful that you booked a newborn baby photo session, and you will be able to take a step back into time whenever you desire.
Below you will find our top five tips that will ensure you and your baby have the ultimate photo session to help document this special time in your life.
Schedule The Session In Advance
The majority of photographers will only do newborn photo sessions while the infants are between five to fourteen days old. This is a very small window of time, so you will need to think ahead.
When you schedule in advance, you and your photographer will have plenty of time to prepare for when your baby makes its grand entrance into the world.
Additionally, when you schedule well ahead of time, it will be less likely that the photographer is going to be busy, and you will miss the opportunity. If you should wait until the last minute, you risk missing out on your preferred photographer or being forced to pick anyone who is available without knowing the quality of their work.
The best time to start the booking process will be around the second trimester. Contact a photographer you are interested in and let them know your due date, and discuss any questions you may have. Once your baby is born, you will then contact the photographer and let them in on the good news, and you can fully book an exact date.
Keeping Your Baby Awake Before The Session
It would be no surprise to say that infants tend to sleep a lot! And in many cases, their sleeping habits will not align with our plans. If you desire to have your infant asleep to get those incredible sleepy newborn shots, it is essential to try and keep your little one up as much as possible before the session begins.
By keeping them up prior to the shoot, you will ensure that they sleep through the vast majority of it. This is going to offer peaceful pictures as opposed to the ones where they are red-faced from crying or simply look grumpy.
Feed Your Baby 30 Minutes Prior To The Session
Is there anything cuter than an infant drunk on a full bottle of milk? In our opinion, you would be hard pressed to find it!
There is no denying that infants are perhaps some of the hungriest creatures. You will not want a photo session to get in the way of a fresh warm milk bottle or formula. Simply feeding and burping your infant before the session means your baby will be happier and sleepier, allowing for a much easier photo shoot.
You also do not want to give them a full meal two hours before the session. If they seem as though they are getting hungry, try a small sip to help them get through. Then slightly before they have their session give them a full meal, and you will have a very contented little baby ready for their closeup!
The vast majority of photo sessions will last about two hours, which should give more than enough time if the infant awakes and needs a quick refuel. Just be sure you have an extra bottle on hand and ready.
Undress To Impress
About 30 minutes before the shoot, change your infant’s diaper into a loose clean one and swaddle them up. Most infants are usually naked during the session, and undressing them ahead of time will be a gamechanger. This ensures you are not disrupting their sleeping while trying to undress them. In addition, the loose diaper ensures that there are no diaper marks around their waist for the shoot.
The perfect way to do this without waking them up is to change their diaper, swaddle them tightly, and feed them. This is going to allow you to get everything done in one swoop. In addition, feeding them is going to help calms them quickly, and they will generally fall asleep while feeding.
You are more than likely worried that your infant will get cold while undressed. It is best to keep them swaddled until the photographer arrives. They will then inform you of the steps you need to take before beginning the session.
Sit Back And Enjoy
This is an event you will want to remember first-hand!
The photographer knows exactly what needs to be done to get everything right. Allow them to do their job. You will have the urge to pick them up with every sound they make, and in some instances, you might not even like someone else handling them. This is why you want to find a professional photographer who has years of experience as well as a host of positive reviews.
Photographers understand precisely what this child means to you, and they will treat the baby right. An experienced photographer knows the best positions to place an infant in to ensure they are comfortable and will be able to move them around without waking them.
Additionally, your photographer is going to know exactly how you are feeling, and they will do everything to comfort you. However, if there is a point at which you are feeling uncomfortable with anything that is happening, allow your photographer to know. It is just as important that you are as comfortable as your little one.
Additionally, if your baby is being a little fussy, do not allow it to stress you. Babies have the ability to sense tension or stress, so just try to remain calm throughout the shoot, and they should be fine.
