.png)
So, you have delivered your baby and have scheduled your newborn photo shoot! How exciting! You may be wondering what you can do before the session to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible. The goal is for the baby to arrive full, clean, and sleepy. Of course, no one can predict 100% what the baby will do, but here are some recommendations of some things you can do before you arrive to help make sure the baby is camera ready.
In the few hours before your session, try to keep the baby awake as much as you can. Play with the baby, tickle those little toes, and talk/sing to them. You want to engage with your baby as much as you can to keep their attention. We want the baby to be nice and sleepy when it comes time for the session.
Give your baby a bath the morning of your session. Clean off any eye boogies, and be sure to wash the hair. Clean hair photographs best! If your baby has not yet lost their umbilical cord stump, and you cannot yet submerge the baby in water, just give them a sponge bath.
Most babies do not like the process of dressing or undressing. When babies arrive and I have to pull shirts or onesies over their head, they often wake up. To prevent this, please dress the baby in a zip-up or button up sleeper. This way, I can undress the baby without disturbing them.
Right before you leave, give baby a full feeding. Hopefully, they will fall asleep during the car ride, and will arrive to the studio full, sleepy, and ready to go. If you have a longer ride to get here, (an hour or more), go ahead and feed them before you leave. If the baby arrives ready to eat again, I will ask you to go ahead and feed the baby before we get started. Full babies usually mean sleepy babies!
If the baby is being bottle fed, bring along either extra pumped breast milk or formula for extra bottles. Breast feeding mothers are obviously welcome and encouraged to breast feed baby on demand. When the baby is in my studio, they are the boss. If they need to stop and eat, we stop and let them eat!
Be sure to bring along a baby hairbrush and a pacifier, if you are not opposed to the baby using one. If the baby gets fussy while I am posing them, I can often give them a pacifier for just a minute to calm them down long enough to get the shot.
I hope you will find this helpful in preparing for your newborn session! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me!