Newborn photography, even though it has only been around for a few years in the UK, has captured the hearts of many with images of sleepy, dreamy babies during that all too fleeting newborn stage.
The strength and drawback of this type of photography are the same. It really has to take place before your baby is two weeks old and ideally when they are between five and ten days old. Of course, this is not the ideal time for a new mum to be out and about but then also, it’s the fact that the window for it is so short that makes it so precious. By the time that your baby reaches the ripe old age of one month old, they will have lost their newborn appearance and characteristics and, although they are obviously still tiny, they will be a baby. So capturing those very early days is extra precious.
A newborn baby will sleep for a lot of the day (though it doesn’t feel like they sleep for a lot of the night that’s for sure) and when they are in their deepest sleep, they are pliable and easy to move around. They still adopt that gorgeous furled or tummy tucked position that they were used to in the womb and they are comfortable snoozing that way. After just a few short weeks, although will still sleep for a lot of the time if they are left undisturbed, they have already begun to be interested in the people and world around them, so their sleep isn’t often as deep. When you move them, they will naturally stir to see what is going on.
In terms of photography then, it’s not that you can get beautiful images of a four week old baby – you definitely can. However, it’s not a newborn photo anymore. Those sleepy, poseable little beings have moved on. For that reason, if you know you want newborn photography, it is really important to book while you’re still pregnant. Otherwise, it’s super easy to get home from the hospital and by the time you’ve looked up for long enough from the newborn bubble, the time has gone by and you’ve missed the window. Obviously, unless you have a C-section date, you can’t really tell when your baby will arrive but when you book a newborn photoshoot while you are still pregnant, we schedule a photo shoot for your due date plus seven days and then add me to the list of people you tell when your baby arrives (a quick email is fine obviously) and then we simply adjust the appointment to suit.
The times that this window can move a little bit is when babies arrive early or late. If a baby is significantly premature (so more than three weeks) then we have a little bit longer to capture them while they’re still beautifully dozy. It’s still a good idea to get into the studio as soon as you can but sometimes these babies require a little extra hospital time to make sure that everything is fine and if this means that you’re not home until after that magic two week point, don’t worry, you haven’t missed the newborn window. We can do it a bit later. However, when babies are late then we need to make sure we definitely hit the window and the earlier the better – the clock kind of starts when they get to their due date if you see what I mean. I don’t ever take babies into the studio at under five days but after this, we’re good to go.
Sometimes when people get in touch for newborn photography when their baby is already six weeks old, I get the impression that they might think that I’m being lazy or difficult when I say that the time has passed. Honestly, if I could make newborn photography work at that age, I’d do it but it’s not me that makes the rules, it’s nature. Capturing those sleepy early days requires a little bit of planning in advance to make sure you get to the studio in those first two weeks but honestly, I genuinely think you’ll be glad that you did.