What is the ideal time for newborn portraits?
What Age for Newborn Photographs?
One of the questions every new parent asks me while making their initial enquires about our newborn portrait sessions is “how old should my baby be for the photos?”
My answer is always the same, the ‘ideal’ time to photograph your newborn baby is 5 to 14 days old. But why is that? and what if that doesn’t work for you?
1. The cutest of poses are ‘squishy’?
Have you ever looked at a newborn and wondered how on earth did they fit in their mothers belly? An unborn baby is snuggled up in a tight curly little ball and after they are born they gradually get used to being nicely stretched out. For the best newborn shots we want ‘squishy’ poses, and between the 5 and 14 day old mark, those ‘squishy’ positions are still very natural for them.
2. Perfected poses come from the sleepiest of babies
Newborn babies don’t have a lot of control over their limbs, a sleeping baby rests naturally into position allowing me to gently move their arms, legs and fingers to place. Between 5 and 14 days your baby is still very sleepy, the older a baby gets the less sleep they will have and the more sensitive they get to touch making some poses impossible. None of the poses we use are dangerous or uncomfortable – but some of the most gorgeous positions can’t be achieved with a wriggly or awake baby.
3. A full tummy makes for a settled baby
Feeding a new baby can take a few days to get settled into, if your baby is formula fed we could photograph them before the 5 day mark, however, a breast fed baby may be unsettled because typically a mothers milk does not ‘come in’ until the forth day. A breast fed baby on day four can often be unsettled and want to spend what will certainly seem like all day feeding, I’d rather you spend the day with your baby at home than worrying that they won’t sleep through their photographs. A settled Mum & a baby with full tummy makes for the happiest, deepest sleep.
What if We missed that window?
Occasionally things don’t go entirely to plan, you or your baby might spend some time in hospital, perhaps you didn’t already know to book your newborn session in advance, or maybe you only just decided you wanted portraits at all! Truly, we can photograph your newborn baby at anytime – we just need to be a little more patient and adapt to suit them on the day.
What if I am practising confinement?
There are a few options if you are practising confinement:
Some clients will decide to come in during the ideal 5-14 day window, the studio is clean, warm and relaxing just like your lounge room.
Some clients will wait until confinement is completed and we adjust the session to suit a slightly older baby.
Other clients will send baby in with Dad and/or Grandparents, note that this will only work if baby is bottle or mixed feeding.
Let me know what your preference is and we will work to your needs.
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If you’re looking for a photographer and you connect with my work, I would love to hear from you!
