How to prepare for a successful newborn session. You’re in a new and exciting time in your life. You’ve now got this adorable, precious little soul and are ready to document his/her first memories in photographs. I want to make this a joyous experience for you and your family.
We know how nerve-racking picture day can be, especially when you’re running on little-to-no sleep. To help you out with this process, I’ve compiled a list of preparation Tips for Preparing for Your Newborn Session to ease some of your stress. Of course, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me, and I will help you with any questions or concerns you may have.
What to Bring to Prepare for your Newborn session
If we are doing a session in your home, you don’t have to bring anything., However, we suggest that you look at this list and have these items readily available if needed during your session. Please follow this checklist for packing your diaper bag for your session.
We try to keep our sessions pretty basic and focused on your new little bundle of joy. And therefore take I take a minimalistic approach in my prop usage. Especially if we are traveling to you, we do not bring a lot of props with us. We will take care of the backdrops and headbands, etc., but we tend to pack light prop-wise.
I am always happy to include sentimental items in your session, whether it be a particular outfit, a blanket, heirlooms &, etc. You can find more ideas here on adding more personal items we use in your session; the more unique these photos will be to your child and your family’s personality.
To ensure that your baby is happy and calm during the session, we suggest bringing a blanket that we can swaddle him/her in, as well as a pacifier. Also, be sure to have fresh bottles (if your child is not breastfed) and diapers ready to go.
What to Wear
Newborns are not very patient when it comes to outfit changes. We suggest dressing your child in an outfit you’d like for him/her to wear for the photos before your session, covering the outfit with a bib or burp rag in case of little accidents. After taking a few photos in this outfit, we prefer to take the rest of the images in just the diaper –, or completely in the nude. In our opinion, babies photograph best this way, and they will also cooperate longer if we are not constantly changing their outfits. If you are not comfortable with this, we can stick with one to two outfits for the session.
If you are going to be in photos with your child, we suggest bringing a backup shirt, just in case. We also suggest that you wear a white or black shirt in case we need to photograph parts of you with your child on the backdrop (f (for example, just your hands holding the baby) so you don’t stand out. Finally, we suggest keeping jewelry to a minimum for mommies, as babies like to grab ahold of these items.

Tricks to keeping your newborn happy during your session.
In the post above, we discussed what to bring and wear to your session. Now it’s time to talk about ensuring your baby is happy and cooperative once you are at your session.
- Make sure your child is well fed before the session. Try to schedule the photos around feeding time. If your baby has a full belly, that usually equals a happy baby.
- In addition to that, you should also be sure your baby has a fresh, clean diaper. Nobody No child is going to be cooperative if they are sitting in a dirty diaper. This may seem like an obvious tip, but sometimes we forget the most basic of answers in the rush of everything.
- We mentioned this before, but it is essential, so I’m repeating it “bring a pacifier to your session”. Even if you are not allowing your child to use one regularly, it will be suitable for a short time to help him/her calm down during this time of potential stress. If your baby starts to fuss and we cannot stop the crying by other means, this will typically help ease the baby’s nerves.
- Keep your baby warm. Newborns are used to being in a small, warm place. That’s where they’ve been the past 9 nine months, and they are uncomfortable when cold. We like to keep our studio warm on session days for this reason. If we are doing a session at your house, we suggest bumping the heat up as well. We will also have plenty of blankets handy for in-between photos.
- We suggest playing soft music or white noise to create a soothing environment for your newborn.
- This is probably the most essential thing to note: be OK with being a part of the photos. . This is perhaps the most important thing to note. If your child is not cooperating with the session, the best way to soothe him/her is to hold him/her and rock him/her to let them know everything is OK. Sometimes babies need to be held. Many new moms are uncomfortable in front of the camera during the first weeks after birth, and we completely understand. If you do not want to be in photos, we can work around this, but we may need to borrow your arms. You have to make sure not to tense up when you get in front of the camera. Babies sense these things and will, in turn, think they need to tense up as well because something must be wrong. If you’re absolutely against being in photos at all, we could cover you with a backdrop and rest the baby on you. This will help your baby feel secure and hide from the camera while keeping you—off-camera.
If you have any wardrobe questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with me. We’d be more than happy to help. Thanks for reading and we look forward to your session!
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