HOW TO PREPARE FOR YOUR NEWBORN SESSION
It is so important to me as your photographer, to make sure you get to hold on to these precious memories of your baby forever. The way their little lips pucker and their eyebrows raise. The little chunky cheeks and tiny wrinkly feet. I want you to look back on these in a couple of years and reminisce on the tiny details and their tiny little body. These first few weeks are something you will want to cherish for the rest of your life. Moments you can’t get back, but can look back on as many times as you want! These photos are here to help you preserve these precious days that go by too quickly.
I want you to feel excited and ready for these photos. Parents often find themselves worried that they may not be fully prepared for their session, and that’s ok! I am here to help.
Here are some tips to ensure both parents, and baby, are ready to take on a newborn session!
Plan ahead.
Letting your photographer know your due date is important to ensure they can keep a date open for you that month. This is especially important for the months of May, October, November & December as these are usually the busiest months in the year. It is important to let your photographer know the day your baby has arrived, that you will be booking in the next week. I personally prefer to work with babies when they are between 7-14 days old. This is when they are smallest and sleepiest! With that being such a small window of time, it is important to make sure you get your session scheduled at your earliest convenience.
Keep baby awake as much as you can before your session.
We want baby sleeeeep sleep sleep! It is so important for baby to be comfortable and relaxed for their photos. It is also important for the safety of the baby while in props, that they aren’t squirmy and upset. This also helps parents stay relaxed and not feel the need to stress when baby is nice and calm and sleeping away! Keeping baby awake before their session will help baby to stay asleep for the majority of their session.
Feed baby half an hour or less, before their session.
Making sure that baby is nice and full and sleepy before their session is a perfect way to ensure an even work flow. We don’t want baby to get fussy and hungry in the middle of their nap! While it is okay to stop and feed baby, and we absolutely don’t mind, it does make getting baby back into the swing of things a little bit harder. We want things so run as smoothly as possible for both the baby’s and the parents sake! No worrying parents allowed! ;)
Bring baby in a diaper only.
Of course you can put a blanket over baby in the car seat! Do what you need to do to keep baby warm. Bringing baby in a diaper is perfect for your photographer to just grab baby out of the carseat, and immediately swaddle, without disrupting baby’s sleep. Trying to take their arms and legs out of a onesie and sliding it over their head, can be a little hard on them in the beginning. It is also ok to bring baby in a zip up outfit, that doesn’t require a lot of moving baby around, or sliding anything over their head. If you are worried about baby being cold in the studio, our studio stays at around 80• in the summer, and we will have a heater pointed at baby in the fall and winter. We want warmmmm cozy babies, always.
Sit back mama, its ok!
I know how hard it is to want to pick up your baby and hug them any time they make any kind of noise. I know it can be hard to trust a total stranger to hold your baby and keep baby safe. This is why it is important for parents to go to a professional who knows what they’re doing. I am not only a newborn photographer, but I have worked in childcare for 10 years and am currently a professional private nanny. I will ensure that baby is safe and warm and cozy at all times during their session.
If at any point during your session you start to feel uncomfortable, please let me know. I will be sure to tell you exactly what i’m doing and what the next steps are, at all times.
A few extra things to know
It is important to bring an extra bottle and paci just incase baby does get fussy. It is best to let the photographer comfort baby with a paci and bottle to ensure that baby stays comfortable with the photographer and the workflow doesn’t get disrupted.
- The studio provides all the props and wraps. If there is something you would like to bring anyways, you are more than welcome to do so!
-Try to keep the volume minimal, to make sure baby stays calm.
-If you picked the classic package, please come prepared to be in a few photos. Neutrals, whites and cream tones do best with these sessions. I have put together a family outfits pinterest page. Click Here to view
