Tips to prepare for a newborn photo shoot
A newborn photo shoot is one of my favorite gifts for a new mother. Whether someone pays for it as a surprise at her shower or she decides to splurge herself, capturing those squishy brand new baby moments is priceless.
Most newborn photographers are happy to take a deposit and write down your due date, knowing baby may come earlier or even two weeks later than that day. The best time to snap those brand new photos is within the first week to two weeks, after the marks and redness (or jaundice) from birth have faded away but before the baby acne arrives.
Your photographer will set you up for success, but in case you're curious, here's the advice both of my newborn photographers gave for our girls sessions:
Plan your outfits in advance.
For many women, you'll leave the hospital still feeling and looking like you're 6 months pregnant. It took me 6 months to lose the weight from my first baby, but the second baby it only took 6 weeks. Even then, I was shaped weird and holding water weight. Get a couple outfits for yourself that you think might work and give yourself some grace. Girl, you just had a baby, you are going to be glowing and look as beautiful as you did on your wedding day, I promise. Solid colors or muted designs are best. For our first shoot we wore charcoal gray, for our second we wore a jade green while the girls were in matching floral dresses and we matched the vines in their pattern. Many of your shots will be of a plump naked little baby, but the photographer will likely have outfits and swaddles to use and you're welcome to bring your own outfits too. We brought a cute little set of angel wings because we always said my Dad sent down our daughter from heaven and we also brought a pink tutu because I was a ballerina and there is nothing more adorable than a girl's first tutu! Check out these adorable outfits on Amazon if you want/need some ideas: like this... and this! ... Oh my gosh and this!
Make sure your baby is sleepy.
This one is very hard, especially as a brand new mom, because you and baby are still recovering and figuring each other out. Do you best to keep baby awake the morning before the shoot. This is a good time for baby's first bath if you haven't done one already, but remember not to submerge baby's umbilical cord if it's still attached. Feed baby 2-3 hours before the photo shoot time and plan to feed baby the moment you arrive. In our case, both sessions started at 2 a.m., so baby woke up to feed about 2 a.m. and then again at 6 a.m. I gave each girl a quick "snack" with a few minutes of breastfeeding (or an ounce on the bottle) to keep her going until shoot time. Then we showed up, stripped her down, fed her and they both became peacefully dozy, taking several beautiful calm shots with eyes open and then fell asleep hard so the photographer could mold their adorable little Gumby bodies into those precious newborn poses you see. If you can't keep your baby awake, try tickling their toes, undressing them so they are cool (but not cold!), and maybe try a second bath.
Come dressed for a very hot studio.
Since the baby needs to be naked, the photographer will keep the studio (in both our cases it was a room in her home) incredibly hot. It's important the baby is comfortable and healthy, so the room will likely be in the 80s. Not too bad if it's 100 outside, but keep in mind you just had a baby, so girl your hormones are going to be raging and if you're anything like me that means you'll be drenched in sweat in just a few minutes! Bring a change of summer clothes, cold water, blotting paper and foundation and power to touch up your face. Don't forget lipstick or lip gloss! Maybe it's just me, I forgot lipstick both times and it made me look a bit washed out. Again, I JUST had a baby, my body was out of whack and that left me either sickly pale or uncomfortably flushed, there seemed to be no in between.
Prepare for your older kid(s).
We brought along our toddler to take a few family shots and a few of the girls together, but after her 20 minutes was done she needed to hang out for another 2.5 hours. That's a lot to ask for a two year old! Looking back, my husband and I should have taken two cars and they could have left while I stayed with the baby. Bring more snacks than you think you'll need, plenty of activities, and a phone charger in case you're already with pushing the screen time limit rules a little bit.
Don't forget the diapers.
I had a brand new baby, I was a little bit clueless. Make sure your diaper bag has plenty of diapers and wipes, because new babies are going constantly. Bring little disposable baggies so you're polite when disposing of diapers at the photographers house/studio and use your changing mat to be sure nothing gets on his/her carpets, counters, etc. Likewise it's always good to make sure you have plenty of food for baby, whether that means bringing along your pump and/or formula, however your baby eats. If you're a brand new mother you may not really know yet how often or how much your baby eats, so bring extra just in case. Always better to have too much than not enough!
What else would you add to this list? Find me on social media and let me know!
www.Facebook.com/ListsForLittles
Most newborn photographers are happy to take a deposit and write down your due date, knowing baby may come earlier or even two weeks later than that day. The best time to snap those brand new photos is within the first week to two weeks, after the marks and redness (or jaundice) from birth have faded away but before the baby acne arrives.
Your photographer will set you up for success, but in case you're curious, here's the advice both of my newborn photographers gave for our girls sessions:
Plan your outfits in advance.
For many women, you'll leave the hospital still feeling and looking like you're 6 months pregnant. It took me 6 months to lose the weight from my first baby, but the second baby it only took 6 weeks. Even then, I was shaped weird and holding water weight. Get a couple outfits for yourself that you think might work and give yourself some grace. Girl, you just had a baby, you are going to be glowing and look as beautiful as you did on your wedding day, I promise. Solid colors or muted designs are best. For our first shoot we wore charcoal gray, for our second we wore a jade green while the girls were in matching floral dresses and we matched the vines in their pattern. Many of your shots will be of a plump naked little baby, but the photographer will likely have outfits and swaddles to use and you're welcome to bring your own outfits too. We brought a cute little set of angel wings because we always said my Dad sent down our daughter from heaven and we also brought a pink tutu because I was a ballerina and there is nothing more adorable than a girl's first tutu! Check out these adorable outfits on Amazon if you want/need some ideas: like this... and this! ... Oh my gosh and this!
Make sure your baby is sleepy.
This one is very hard, especially as a brand new mom, because you and baby are still recovering and figuring each other out. Do you best to keep baby awake the morning before the shoot. This is a good time for baby's first bath if you haven't done one already, but remember not to submerge baby's umbilical cord if it's still attached. Feed baby 2-3 hours before the photo shoot time and plan to feed baby the moment you arrive. In our case, both sessions started at 2 a.m., so baby woke up to feed about 2 a.m. and then again at 6 a.m. I gave each girl a quick "snack" with a few minutes of breastfeeding (or an ounce on the bottle) to keep her going until shoot time. Then we showed up, stripped her down, fed her and they both became peacefully dozy, taking several beautiful calm shots with eyes open and then fell asleep hard so the photographer could mold their adorable little Gumby bodies into those precious newborn poses you see. If you can't keep your baby awake, try tickling their toes, undressing them so they are cool (but not cold!), and maybe try a second bath.
Come dressed for a very hot studio.
Since the baby needs to be naked, the photographer will keep the studio (in both our cases it was a room in her home) incredibly hot. It's important the baby is comfortable and healthy, so the room will likely be in the 80s. Not too bad if it's 100 outside, but keep in mind you just had a baby, so girl your hormones are going to be raging and if you're anything like me that means you'll be drenched in sweat in just a few minutes! Bring a change of summer clothes, cold water, blotting paper and foundation and power to touch up your face. Don't forget lipstick or lip gloss! Maybe it's just me, I forgot lipstick both times and it made me look a bit washed out. Again, I JUST had a baby, my body was out of whack and that left me either sickly pale or uncomfortably flushed, there seemed to be no in between.
Prepare for your older kid(s).
We brought along our toddler to take a few family shots and a few of the girls together, but after her 20 minutes was done she needed to hang out for another 2.5 hours. That's a lot to ask for a two year old! Looking back, my husband and I should have taken two cars and they could have left while I stayed with the baby. Bring more snacks than you think you'll need, plenty of activities, and a phone charger in case you're already with pushing the screen time limit rules a little bit.
Don't forget the diapers.
I had a brand new baby, I was a little bit clueless. Make sure your diaper bag has plenty of diapers and wipes, because new babies are going constantly. Bring little disposable baggies so you're polite when disposing of diapers at the photographers house/studio and use your changing mat to be sure nothing gets on his/her carpets, counters, etc. Likewise it's always good to make sure you have plenty of food for baby, whether that means bringing along your pump and/or formula, however your baby eats. If you're a brand new mother you may not really know yet how often or how much your baby eats, so bring extra just in case. Always better to have too much than not enough!
What else would you add to this list? Find me on social media and let me know!
www.Facebook.com/ListsForLittles
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