Congratulations! Having a baby is a BIG DEAL! Whether this is your very first miracle baby or it’s your sixth one and counting, I can’t wait to help make this experience as magical and memorable as I possibly can! Newborn sessions are some of my absolute favorite as a photographer. The emotion and the love felt in these precious first few days are unlike anything else in the world. And I’m honored you believe in me enough to entrust me with capturing these moments. Many of my clients stress over how to prepare for their newborn session but DON’T WORRY! I’ve got you covered here with this blog post.

After you’ve officially booked your Newborn Session with me (paid the non-refundable retainer and signed your contract) I’ll send you a questionnaire asking you for more specific information about your session: where in your home you want to take the majority of the photos, who else will be at the session, which photos are most important for me to capture, if you have any photos ideas already in mind etc. Once I get that information back, then the fun really begins! So here are my best tips on how to prepare for your newborn session!

Schedule Your Session for the Best Time Possible

With newborns, it’s usually best to have their session sometime between 5-14 days old when they’re still sleepy all the time. It makes posing easier when they just sleep all the way through the session. I know that sometimes little ones want to come on their own schedule, and we can definitely work around that, though, so don’t be too worried about having to change the date if baby comes early or late! (Because the baby’s schedule is so often different than what we expect, I don’t usually book newborn session until about 1 month before your due date/delivery date.) I’ve found that most babies are happiest in the morning right after they’ve been fed. I like to plan sessions for around 9am or 10am, whichever works best for your baby’s routine!

Prepare Your Baby for Your Newborn Session

Before I get there, you’ll want to change your little angel into a clean diaper and either swaddle them in a solid colored blanket or in that cute little outfit you’ve had picked out for weeks! If you have small stuffed animal that has a lot of sentimental value or a special baby blanket that you want included in the photos, go ahead and grab that too. If possible, go ahead an feed your baby right before I get there. That will ensure that they’re happy and full for our session, and hopefully they’ll sleep right through it (or will at least keep from fussing too much). If that doesn’t work and you need to nurse during our session, NO WORRIES. Go ahead and take care of your baby. If you want nursing photos, just ask me! If not, that’s okay too.

Do Some Light Cleaning (or have someone else do it)

The session will take place in your home (or mine if you prefer) and we’ll focus on capturing lifestyle photos with minimal posing. We’ll mostly stay in just one room, preferably the one with the best lighting! I’ll ask you to send me a few photos of your home if I’ve never been before, and we can determine where the best lighting is and which room you want to focus on. Most people choose either the nursery or the parents’ bedroom! Go ahead and tidy up whichever room we decide on, but don’t worry about the rest of the house. You just had a baby for goodness’ sake! There is absolutely no judgement on the tidiness of the rest of the house.

Family members are more than welcome (and actually very much encouraged) be a part of the session!

Don’t Stress!

The beauty of lifestyle sessions is that we don’t have to get through a certain amount of poses or force the baby do to what we want. Lifestyle sessions are meant to be laid-back and pretty chill. We’ll just capture whatever the baby will do for us and we’ll love it! Just follow these tips on how to prepare for your newborn session and you’ll be fine. Whatever happens, happens. And you’ll still have some wonderful photos at the end of the session!

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