How to prepare your baby for newborn photography session

The first rule is to make sure your baby is at ease. It is best to do the photoshoot in your home where they are in familiar surroundings. Make sure your newborn baby is well-fed, nappy changed, burped and preferably naked but for the nappy.

The deeper you can get them to fall asleep the better. You can wrap them in a blanket if you are worried about it being too cold. But have a heater in the room where the shoot will be as well. Even if its a warm day. Most babies don’t like to be naked so in that first week try and get them used to this as much as possible so that when it comes time to do the shoot they don’t mind this so much.

I know this seems a little hectic I mean you did just have a baby – but the best time to actually do a newborn photography session is 3-7 days after birth.

The sooner you can arrange the photoshoot the better . Babies are more pliable and easier to put into these various positions without resistance at this time. This will make the process a lot less stressful on you and the baby and hopefully, we will get some great photo opportunities from it :).

This is a big one and probably the most important. It’s crucial that you try and stay as relaxed and calm and patient as possible even if your baby does start crying. They can sense when you are starting to stress out and panic.

This is also why I generally allow 2-3 hours for a newborn shoot so that you don’t feel the pressure of a time limit as well. But definitely the more relaxed you are as a parent the better the baby will feel and the faster the session will go.

Bring along any personal props you may want to use in the photoshoot. This includes wraps and outfits. I do have some of my own and will be doing the classic photos as much as possible but if there are items you particularly want to use then please bring them along.

Also try to remember things like diapers, a pacifier, anything that helps to calm baby down really. You can also google photos or poses you like before the shoot and discuss this with the photographer so that they can have an idea of what you like. But please recognise that some poses are more difficult than others and props may be different etc. If I feel a pose is too complicated I will tell you that I don’t think its a good idea.

Be ready for photos with siblings, and parents. make sure you are happy to stand in front of the camera. And if the baby has older siblings that they are ready as well. you may also need to bring something or someone along to keep them occupied for most of the shoot.

Especially as you need to try and keep a fairly quiet environment for the baby to sleep. Or if you prefer then make sure the baby is used to noise while from the word go. This way they won’t be disturbed during the shoot either way.