If this is your 1st baby or your 3rd, maybe more, every baby is different. However, there are some tried and true ways to help keep your newborn happy during the photo shoot.
*Make sure your child is well fed before the session. Try to schedule the photos around feeding time. If your baby has a full belly, that usually makes a happy baby.
*You should also be sure your baby has a fresh, clean diaper. No child is cooperative sitting in a dirty diaper. This may seem like an obvious tip, but in the rush of everything, sometimes we forget the basics.
*Bring a pacifier to your session. Even if you are not allowing your child to regularly use one, it will be good for a short time just to help him or her calm during this time of potential stress. If your baby starts to fuss and we cannot stop the crying by other means, this will typically help ease the baby’s nerves.
*Keep your baby warm. Newborns are used to being in a small, warm place. That’s where they’ve been the past nine months, and they are uncomfortable when they are cold. We like to keep it warm on session days for this reason. If we are doing a session at your house, we suggest bumping the heat up as well. We will also have plenty of blankets handy for in between photos.
*We suggest playing soft music or white noise to create a soothing environment for your newborn.
*This is probably the most important thing to note: be OK being a part of the photos. If your child is not cooperating with the session, the best way to soothe her is to hold her and rock her to let her know everything is OK. Sometimes babies just need to be held. A lot of new moms are uncomfortable in front of the camera during the first weeks after birth, and we completely understand. If you do not want to be in photos, we can work around this, but we may need to use your arms and hands. You just have to make sure not to tense up when you get in front of the camera. Babies sense these things and will, in turn, think they need to tense up as well because something must be wrong. If you’re absolutely against being in photos at all, we could cover you with a backdrop and rest the baby on you. This will help your baby feel secure while keeping you off camera.
XOXO,
Amy
