This delightful little man is Freddie, in to visit with his mum, dad and big sister for his newborn photos a little before Christmas.

While he was pretty settled for the beginning part of his photo shoot, he did go through a bit of a cranky patch in the middle.  As his big sister was there and waiting for pictures with him, we decided to work with him awake rather than keep her hanging on too long so she would hit a cranky patch too.  I always have a backup plan that we can use if we simply can’t get your little one to sleep so you still great photos (it really has only happened to me a couple of times in five years  – normally they sleep just fine after plenty of food, rocking and settling).  The centre pose is one of my favourites for a wakeful baby as it allows you to see how tiny they are in mum and dad’s hands, provides a lovely view of how they are blending into their new family and also it’s a position in which they feel safe and supported and so they stay lovely and relaxed.

As I say, most babies sleep well in their session and a certain amount of being awake, and even crying is expected to be honest.  It certainly doesn’t bother me but here’s three things you can do in order to give us a leg up in terms of easily getting those sleepy and dreamy photos…

1.  Keep your baby awake for an hour before their session – keep them cool, tickle their feet, talk and play.  An hour should do it in terms of getting them ready for a nap without getting them overtired.  They’ll likely fall asleep in the car on the way over and hopefully be tired enough to stay that way for a bit.
2. Don’t dress them in too many layers – just pop them in a simple vest and then layer them up with blankets to keep them warm for the journey.  That way, I don’t have to get them out of too many clothing items and risk unsettling and waking them.
3. Book a morning session – I recommend a start time of 10am is best in terms of getting them at their most settled part of the day.  The time to definitely avoid is late afternoon which leads us into the ‘witching hour’ for babies – you know that time of day when they are grumpy for no discernible reason!

A newborn photo shoot is best when your baby is between 5 and 10 days old as this is when they are at their maximum sleepiness and poseability to capture those dreamy shots.  For this reason, I definitely recommend that you book when you are pregnant as this is one less thing to worry about scheduling when you’ve just got home from the hospital.   We make an appointment for your due date plus 7 days and then adjust it as needed.

My newborn shoots include your three favourite digital images which you select from your online gallery a few weeks after your photo shoot – I don’t make you attend a sales or viewing session.  Sessions take place in my warm and cosy studio in Crawley Down and cost £95.