Whether you’re booking a Newborn Session with KKP or another photographer, it’s always a good idea to schedule within the first 14 days of the baby’s birth. The true sweet spot is within day 5-10 + there’s plenty of reason behind this!
The age of your newborn can make a difference in your entire session experience. Don’t get me wrong, newborns can be photographed whenever, there truly is no bad time to photograph your babies! In fact, I always suggest booking the session or grabbing your camera whenever you can because you will never regret the photos you take!
All babies are different + this information isn’t to say that one baby will do better than the other, but the age of the baby will determine how the session will run! My goal is to create a flawless as possible experience for the families I work with + encouraging them to get their session done sooner than later is incredibly intentional. This is why…
Your baby is used to being curled up in the womb + will reenact this pose during your session.
Within the first few days of their life earthside, they are incredibly sleepy + curled up, mimicking the behavior of when they lived in momma’s belly. This will be beneficial + can make all the difference when it comes time to pose the baby. I enjoy guided posing during my sessions, which means it’s a natural position — a typical way a parent would actually hold their little one. I want to ensure that I not only provide a variety of photos in the end but tell a story through the images I take, so I will move from pose to pose which means the baby is being moved around a lot! When the baby is brand new they don’t realize they can stretch + move around as they do when they’re one to three months into their life! The more curled up + snuggling the newborn the better!
2. Baby acne.
Momma’s hormones can impact their baby more than you’d think, mostly speaking to the nursing ladies!! A new mother’s hormones are going to fluctuate a LOT postpartum + when nursing, their hormones can be passed through to their baby resulting in tiny baby acne. Not all nursing mommas + their littles will experience this, but it is a possibility. Of course, it goes away, but perhaps not in time for your baby’s photoshoot! Some photographers may not worry about this + that’s wonderful! But that’s a lot of photoshop touch-ups for your photographer, which may result in longer turnaround times or additional costs for their time making edits!
3. Sleep. They will sleep for longer stretches, which is beneficial for a number of reasons.
They aren’t on a schedule yet. Newborns that are only a few days new are likely to sleep longer. Have you ever noticed when you’re trying to feed your newborn + they just fall asleep on you? They haven’t created a “schedule” yet, so not only are they oblivious of a feeding schedule, but they are also unaware that a photographer is trying to pose them during a session! Additionally, nursing mommas should really schedule for a few days after their milk has fully come in! Sometimes it can take up to five days for a mother’s milk to increase in volume. Babies will eat more often during the first couple of days because they aren’t fully satisfied, so if you’re breastfeeding try to plan for anywhere between day 5-15 for your session! This same timeline should be considered for baby boys who may have had a circumcision. This procedure typically happens right after birth before leaving the hospital + it can take five to seven days for healing. To ensure your baby boy is as comfortable as possible during the session, plan for anything after day five.
They don’t mind being unclothed. One of my favorite things to photograph is the little details — toes, fingers, lips, lashes + nose. It’s easiest to do this when my tiny subject is wrapped in a swaddle to access these features. If they are knocked out real good, undoing the swaddle to get to their piggies won’t be a big deal!
They can be swaddled tight for the hands of a toddler. Oftentimes my sessions consist of an older sibling or two + in order to get those sweet shots, it’s easiest if your newborn is (ideally) in a deep sleep. We all know the chaos a toddler can bring, now hand them a newborn + it can get kind of tricky!! The more exhausted + sleepy the newborn, the easier it will be when incorporating the wiggly toddler who wants to only hold their baby sister/brother for a quick second!
After the two-week mark + older, your baby is more awake + personable. Most certainly not a bad thing, but if they are awake they are subject to a few poses because they know someone is messing around with them. Some parents aren’t concerned about getting the early, curly poses + that’s just fine! It just means that the photographer will focus more of the images on the baby being dressed + primarily being held by the parents.
All this to say, you’ll never go wrong documenting your family whenever you can, but! the sweet spot for getting your Newborn Session done is between day 5-15!! Now, time to get scrolling to view this beautiful Newborn Session on film!!
