4 Tips to Prepare for your
Newborn Photo Session
4 Tips to Prepare For Your Newborn Photoshoot Session:
KEEP YOUR BABY AWAKE BEFORE THE SESSION
It’s no secret that infants sleep a lot. But sometimes, their sleep patterns don’t cooperate with our plans. If you want your little one sacked out during the photo session, so you can get those adorable sleepy newborn poses, keep them up for a while before you arrive to the photography studio.
Making sure you keep your baby awake prior to a session is a great way to guarantee they will sleep through most of it. That will lead to peaceful pictures, instead of ones where they look enraged or red-faced from crying.
FEED YOUR BABY 20-30 MINUTES BEFORE YOUR SESSION
What’s cuter than a milk-drunk infant? (Hint: the answer is nothing!).
Newborns are some of the hungriest creatures on this Earth. You don’t want their photo session disrupted by their frantic cries for milk.
Feeding and burping your infant right before your newborn photo session begins means less crying, better sleep, and relaxed parents (and photographer!).
Avoid giving them a full meal in the one to two hours before your session. If they seem hungry, try to give them a small snack to get them through. Then, slightly before your session, you can feed them a full meal and expect a happy, tired baby in return.
Most photo sessions last around two hours, which leaves plenty of time to refuel if your baby wakes up expecting a snack.
Just make sure to have an extra bottle on hand if you use formula.
CHANGE NAPPY
About 30 minutes before the session, change your baby’s nappy into a loose (but not too loose), clean diaper and swaddle them.
SIT BACK AND WATCH
This one’s for you, Mama.
Your photographer knows what they’re doing. Let them run the show. As a mother, you may have that innate urge to pick your child up with every grunt they make, and it can be hard to see someone else handling them.
Photographers know how much your infant means to you, and they are treated accordingly. Any experienced newborn photographer will know exactly what positions will be comfortable for your child and how to move them delicately so they won’t wake up.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
To prepare for fussy moments, you’ll want to have a few things ready — a pacifier, a bottle of formula/breastmilk, a swaddling blanket, and a few clean diapers. If nothing seems to be working to calm your bundle of joy, ask for a break in your session while you try to get things under control.