How to prepare for a newborn session
After you’ve had a baby the list of things to worry about is about a mile long, factoring in a newborn session can sometimes be overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be I promise! Getting newborn pictures done may seem pretty low on the totem pole of things that are important when your baby is brand new, but for those who miss out on that when their babies are young, (myself included) the regret of not making it a priority is something you may live with for a long time. So here is my bit of advice “DO IT”, yep I promise you wont regret it, but if you miss out you definitely may regret that.
So lets fast foreword, you’ve scheduled your session and think, “now what?” That’s a great question, so here’s what will go down and what you will need to do to prepare. The good thing is, you don’t have to do much! The day of your session pack up your diaper bag with a few extra diapers and wipes, and be prepared to feed baby multiple times throughout the session, if baby is using formula make sure to bring enough and extra bottles, and if baby is breastfed, just bring yourself (and your boobs)! Throw a pacifier in the bag, even if baby doesn’t use one, it will be helpful for the session, and try to keep baby awake for an hour or two before the session (if you can) and that’s it!
It’s really that easy, and the whole process is designed to be as painless as possible especially for the new parents and of course baby. When you arrive you will be offered coffee, or water and a snack and can get comfy on my squishy couch and let me get to work. Lots of parents are happy to hand over their baby and relax for a bit, and some even doze off for a bit (can we say sleep deprivation?) and I definitely encourage that. It feels great that parents trust me enough to take care of the most precious thing in their lives, and it brings me so much joy as well.
If you have siblings to be part of the session, for young siblings we will do those shots first since young kids have a very small attention span as you already know. Once the sibling and parent shots are done, I ask that you make arrangements for dad to take the siblings home or have someone pick them up, that way all mom has to worry about is relaxing. Sessions can typically take from 2 - 4 hours so siblings would get restless quickly. The whole process sounds pretty painless right? Maybe even enjoyable!? It truly is, i strive to make each session a positive and stress free experience, since we all know us moms and dads have enough to worry about, and getting newborn photos should not be one.
