You look at beautiful photos of sleeping newborns, and then look at your newborn who never seems to sleep for very long.
So it’s completely understandable that you might be worried about whether or not your baby will sleep during a newborn photo shoot.
But please don’t. I have a lot of experience of working with sleepy newborn babies, and not-so-sleepy newborn babies, and this guide explains how I’ll approach a session with a baby who likes to be awake.
First of all, almost all babies will spend part of their newborn photo shoot awake….and that this is a good thing.
This is a perfect opportunity to take some photographs of your baby with their eyes open. These photographs often feature as parents' favorites after the session.
While your baby is awake I keep them wrapped so that they are warm, comfortable and less likely to startle.
My approach to newborn photography is baby-led and part of this is about creating an environment that helps your baby to sleep. I use a mixture of controlling the room temperature, white noise and lots of cuddling and shushing to help your baby sleep.
If your baby is still feeling unsettled, we’ll work together to figure out what they need.
Because of this baby-led approach each session is tailored to each baby and family. I never want your baby to be distressed so I do my best to keep them comfortable and relaxed.
Finally, the last thing to remember is that nobody is watching the clock – I only photograph two newborn sessions per day and make sure they're spaced apart to give me as much time as we need for your baby to settle. And all babies will fall asleep eventually – we just have to follow their lead. In the very rare circumstances that a baby just won’t settle I’ll discuss other options with you. Perhaps that’s rescheduling to a different day or trying a lifestyle approach. Whatever happens my main priority is to capture gorgeous photographs of you and your new baby in those precious first days of their life.
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