5 Tips for Newborn Session Prep
I’m sharing my top 5 tips for Newborn Session prep because getting ready for a photoshoot that is so important to you can feel overwhelming. Especially, if you’ve just brought home a new baby. When you book your newborn session with me, Christine Deaton Creative, I always send along my Maternity and Newborn Style Guide. I’ve left no detail to chance in this invaluable guide of information as you prep for your newborn session. My Maternity and Newborn Style Guide will help you prep what you can while you are pregnant, and also give you all of the necessary tips for prepping baby the day of the newborn session too. Here are 5 tips straight from my Style Guide:
1. Bath Time
It’s important to keep baby awake for about 2 hours before we start your session. This will help facilitate those sleepy vibes for baby once the session starts. In order to help keep baby awake for those 2 hours, you can give baby a calming bath. The water and stimulation as you get baby nice and clean will help keep them awake longer. As soon as bath time is complete it is likely baby will want to eat. That’s where tip number 2 comes in…
2. Got Milk?
We want to avoid nursing or bottle feeding baby until 15 minutes before your session start time. Feeding generally takes a bit of time for a newborn to completely eat, and get nice and full. If you start 15 minutes before I arrive to your home (or immediately upon your arrival to the studio), then baby will be done eating and burped when it is time to wrap them for the session. As I whisper lullabies and gently swaddle baby for their session they will blissfully fall into a deep sleep, so we can capture all of those love-soaked portraits!
2. Pro Hair and Makeup
If you booked your session with me prior to baby’s arrival, then you will have read in my Style Guide that I highly recommend professional hair and makeup on the day of your session. There are lots of reasons why this is a great idea. First, you will be so tired from baby’s arrival, sleepless nights, nursing, and settling into life at home, that the last thing you want to do is your own hair and makeup. Moreover, it’s the exact time when you should be getting pampered and loved on. Lastly, professional hair and makeup always photograph beautifully! It’s one less thing your mind will wonder to during your session. You can rest assured that every detail is perfectly in place.
3. Reinforcements
Whether we book your session in your home or in the studio, I bring everything we need for your newborn session. There are additional items that you might find helpful though. Newborn sessions can be long because we are on baby’s schedule. Bring snacks for mom and dad (and baby’s siblings if they are joining us) because you never want to be low on energy (aka smiles) during your session. Speaking of siblings, they control the schedule too, especially if they are under the age of 5. We’ll get all the sibling photos done first, so that if they want to be done and watch Disney+ on the couch, then we are sure to have gotten the perfect portraits with them already!
4. Essentials
Often there are so many elements we are trying to balance for a session that something basic can be overlooked. Try and pack or layout all of the essentials the night before your session, so nothing gets left behind. These essentials might include:
- pacifier
- diapers and wipes
- burp cloths
- an extra outfit (or two) for baby
- touch up makeup for mom
- water bottle for dad
- accessories like belts, necklaces, and dress watches
5. Temperature
Baby loves to be warm and cozy. When I have baby all wrapped up during their session they are happy as can be! Toward the end of their session, when I set them on my posing bean bag for their individual posed portraits, I begin to unwrap them a bit. First, we start with a little hand poking out, then before you know it we almost have baby completely unwrapped. During this process baby is easily awakened if their environment is too cold. For this reason, we always try to keep your home (or the studio) at 78 during your session. It’s a tad warm for us, but baby is super cozy, which always means the most precious portraits!
