Oh Baby Baby | Get Ready for Your At Home Newborn Photos

My new mamas + papas always ask me how they should prepare for their newborn session! Have no fear, after seven years of photographing newborns, three newborns of my own later, I’ve got a hang of it, so I’m here with my top tips to prepare for your newborn session.

Booking your session | First things first, my families typically book the newborn session for 10ish days out from their expected due date. Scheduling a date gets you on my books, but I try to remain flexible for newborn sessions as I know babies come when they want to!

Get yourself ready! I know, easier said than done, right! The newborn stage can truly feel like a whirlwind, but this is where I can step in and help if needed. Feed babe, get them content + happy, and you take time to get yourself ready! I typically find that my new moms like flowy dresses and they also photograph so beautifully! They’re great for feeling comfortable post baby and you feeling comfortable and beautiful is so important for your newborn session. Once you have babe’s wardrobe picked out, set it aside (don’t plan to get them dressed too far ahead as spit up is likely to happen lol). Right before the session starts, you can get baby dressed if you haven’t already. Don’t sweat it if baby gets dressed last minute. Pop the boob, bottle, or Paci in and get babe calmed back down + sleepy right when I arrive! This timing typically works out well.

A fed baby is a happy baby! Be sure to feed babe right before or just as your photographer arrives. A full baby is a happy + sleepy baby, which is perfect for newborn sessions! Whether you’re breastfeeding or bottle feeding, documenting that time is sweet + sentimental, as either way you’re feeding baby, it will only last so long. If you are breastfeeding and are pro-breastfeeding photos, definitely be sure your outfit will make nursing easy!

Keep outfit changes for baby minimal - add in bows, bonnets, and blankets! Newborns are quite sensitive to the cold and typically really dislike being changed. If we keep changing to a minimum during the session, it allows for more photo time as well as keeps babe happy and undisturbed even when we’re moving them around. Playing with different blankets - muslin, gauze, knit add texture and warmth without changing too much! Bows and bonnets are also low-manipulation and can change up the look a bit without waking or disturbing babe too much!

About your home: I always say just tidy up like a guest is coming over! With a new babe, it's all craziness and sleepiness, so if ya gotta shove stuff into a closet right before I arrive, that's fine! Don’t worry about the office or the rooms that are pitch black either! We're going to be taking advantage of the most well lit spaces in your home, as well as your favorite spaces - baby's room, your room, the living room, wherever yall like to spend time. We can even step outside or go to your favorite nearby park if the weather is nice.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM ME |I want to bottle up these newborn days as much as possible. I want to capture every single thing about your baby's first days. I try to encourage natural interactions with my families, holding baby in your favorite way, sniffing their baby smell that only lasts so long, and hanging out on the bed like you would any other day. There are certainly some go to poses I have, but I won't make you do anything that doesn't feel natural or comfortable to you. I'm all about connection. When in doubt, love on each other and your sweet babe(s).

Let’s play your favorite music in the background, brew some coffee, and just truly paint the picture of your right now. I must say, I’m pretty great with babies, I’m a swaddling pro and can help get your baby to sleep when needed. I always say, don’t sweat on my behalf - it’s baby’s world now and I’m here to support you. There isn’t a clock ticking down on when I have to leave. So if baby needs extra care, extra diaper changes, extra feedings - let’s do it!

I’m so excited to document this sweet time - it really doesn’t last long. Which means it’s worth treasuring and it also means that you will survive it. Even on the hardest days. You’ve got this <3

Be sure to check out a recent full blog of an in-home newborn session below, and when you’re ready to book, drop me a line!