Tips for New Parents Attending a Newborn Session

I absolutely love photographing newborns! Its so incredible to be able to capture these early moments when the little one is one a few days old. Knowing that they we are capturing a small window of time that will be looked back on for years and years to come is just amazing! 

I am not going to lie, there is a lot of work behind a Newborn sessions and they can be challenging. After all you can’t predict baby is going to corporate straight away, also remembering stopping for many feeds and nappy changes! But even with its challenges, when the shoot comes together Its by far worth it! 

o help, I have compiled a list of tips in which I find very helpful in making the session as smooth as possible for all your parents coming down to the studio. 

1. Booking your session

Know your due date? Then get in touch! We recommend Newborn Sessions to be held in the first 14 days before birth (Ideally the first 7 days), Its for this reason we ask you to get in touch nice and early so we can get some dates booked in the diary. 

hen booking your newborn session, we generally pencil in two dates – one two weeks before the due date and one a few days after the due date. This way we are usually covered if little one decides to arrive early or keep you waiting!  Once little one has arrived then drop me a message and we can firm up the best date for you!

2. How to dress your newborn?

personally don’t recommend clothes for the newborn sessions as they usually never fit right in the first few weeks. Its for this reason, I either wrap baby or have them completely bare during the session. 

On the day of the shoot I always recommend dressing baby in something with poppers so that its easy to undress them ready for wrapping! I also recommend loosening the nappy for around 30 mins before the shoot . This gives all those imprint marks time to disappear ready for their shoot! 

3. A Sleepy Baby…

Newborn sessions generally work best when your newborn is sleepy, so we try and encourage this by recommending to try and keep little one awake and alert for a few hours before the session. We appreciate that your own sleep deprivation may fight this, but trust me its worth it in the end!  

4. A Well Fed Baby

A well fed baby is a happy baby! I therefore recommend timing your next feed for when you just arrive at the studio, this also helps get your newborn nice and sleepy for their session. Please bring with you lots of supplies as we can stop as many times you need for your little one 🙂 

5. Patience Is Key…

Newborn sessions do take a long time, It all depends on babies willingness to be nice and sleepy ready for the session. But don’t worry if an hour into the session we have still not taken any photos as this is normal! Getting your newborn nice and comfortable is the most important thing! I usually pencil 3 hours in for every session, some may only take an hour and some may need the whole session. I just ask that you be prepared to be patient 🙂 

Big Brothers and sisters? 

i absolutely love when parents bring the older brothers and sisters along…especially if they too are returning faces! As mentioned in my last tip…newborn sessions take a long time and be little boring for the siblings! So I tend to recommend either bringing plenty of entertainment for the older child or organising for one parent to bring the second sibling along after an hour or two…that way they can arrive ready for their photos! Making the whole experience fun and enjoyable for the whole family! 

7. The Family Photos

If it’s your first few weeks of parenthood or you’ve brought a new member to the family, take this opportunity to capture photos of the whole family! 

8. RELAX AND ENJOY!! 

The most important thing! Relax!  Quite often your baby can pick up on the atmosphere in the room, happy parents mean happy babies! So why not take this time to sit back and relax and enjoy your new bundle of joy’s session!!