How to Prepare for your Newborn Session
Hours or days after the birth of your baby, you will hopefully have a newborn session planned. Just 14 days from their arrival is the cut off for those adorable sleepy poses! Newborn sessions sound simple, after all the baby just sleeps right? Well hopefully, although there are a number of steps we recommend you take to prepare. Keep reading to learn several important tips that will ensure your newborn session runs smoothly.
Turn Up the Heat
In the event that you are hosting the session at your home, it is important that you turn the temperature up to around 80 degrees. Although this may leave us adults a little uncomfortable, it will make your baby more cozy when or if they are in the nude. If your newborn session is taking place in our studio, then we will have this step covered.
Loosen Any Tight Clothing
At least 30 minutes prior to your session, take a moment to loosen your babies clothing and/or diaper. This will allow time for any imprints left on their soft skin to disappear. Meaning you won’t have any harsh lines in your photographs, distracting you form the beauty that is your child. Think of this step like you would removing a hair tie from your wrist prior to a shoot. If you don’t, you know it will be one of the first things you see every time you look at the photographs.
Encourage Sleep
This can be achieved a handful of ways, but the following two tend to work the best. First, keep your baby awake as much as possible prior to the session. This will ensure that the first chance they get to snooze, they do. Therefore they will be much easier to pose. Secondly, feed your baby right before the shoot. With some milk in their bellies they will be ready for a nap - just don’t forget to burp! Should they need any additional feedings during your session, no worries, there will be plenty of time.
Babies Are Messy
Seeing as you have had your baby for a few days to a week now, you might think that you understand the full spectrum of messes a newborn can produce. However during a newborn session they can really put on a show. Your baby may poop, pee, or spit up, and that is not only okay, but completely expected! It happens frequently during each shoot, and we take care to thoroughly sanitize any props and blankets - and ourselves - between clients.
Prepare to be Patient
Mentally and physically prepare yourself for a bit of a waiting game. Babies are unpredictable and despite every attempt to calm them prior to a shoot, they could still be wide awake. Meaning that the shoot can vary in length. This being said, it is best that you book your shoot on a day that you won’t be pressed for time. From the get go you will relieve yourself of some stress, so that you can fully enjoy the session and everything it encompasses. In the event that your baby refuses to sleep altogether, that’s fine as well! Your babies beautiful eyes will simply be on display.
Make the Bed
If you are having a shoot at your home, you may want to clean up the floor for safety. Otherwise its only necessary to hassle yourself with the areas that will be utilized as a backdrop. One example being the bed, because there is nothing more adorable than your baby all snuggled up in it. That, and you should also have a small cuddle session photographed, or possibly the beautiful bond that is breastfeeding/feeding time.
Trust Us
Our intentions are purely to help you obtain gorgeous photographs and memories. With that includes knowledge and experience to properly hold and handle babies. Trust that we have not only the photography, but your babes safety in mind. That being said, never be afraid to speak up if you are uncomfortable with a particular pose, or the way in which we are handling your precious bundle. Your comfort is our priority!
At Florafost Photography we love handling babies as much as everyone else, even more so photographing them. Your adorable bundle of joy is currently the center of your universe, and we wan’t to accurately capture these first few weeks of endearment. View our newborn gallery, and contact us with any questions or to book a session. We can’t wait to meet the newest addition to your family!
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