What to Expect During Your Newborn Session

In case you missed it, yesterday I talked about when you should schedule your newborn session. Today, I’ll be focusing on what to expect during your newborn session.

On the morning of your session, I’ll ask that you stimulate the baby about an hour or so before we meet. Take a bath, have some playtime, anything that might keep the baby up for a little bit so they are nice and sleepy when I arrive. If you can time it so that you feed the baby upon my arrival, that would be great too! This way he or she will have a full belly and they’ll be much happier. We may even need to stop and feed during the session if the baby gets a little fussy.

Babies like it warm and heat is the key to keeping them sleepy and relaxed during the session. Please turn up the heat before I arrive. If you have a space heater, I might ask to borrow that too!

One more trick I’ll use to keep your newborn sleepy is white noise. I use an app on my IPhone that plays ocean sounds and that helps to keep the baby sleeping soundly too. It might even lull you to sleep!

Worried because your house is a mess? Don’t even stress! You just had a BABY! I may ask to move a few things around though. I promise to help move it back when we’re done 🙂

Because I shoot with natural light, I would love for you to open all of the blinds and curtains in your home before I get there. This will help me see where the best light is coming from.

I love to do family shots in the master bedroom. Let’s face it, you spend a lot of time there (sleeping or not!). As long as you have good light, I will ask you to get up on the bed and snuggle up with your new baby. White or light cream colored bedding works best to keep things light and natural. It also helps to bounce light back up onto your faces.

My intention is to capture beautiful, natural images of you and your newborn in your home. This is such a special time for you and your little one. And so fleeting. I want you to have images that capture this amazing time and that means all the in between moments too.

I hope this helps to give you a better idea of what to expect during your newborn session. They are only this little once and time really does fly by. Before you know it, they’ll be celebrating their first birthday. Enjoy every moment!