Why Is Newborn Photography Best Before Three Weeks?

When you’re planning a newborn photoshoot, it’s easy to think that three, four, or even five weeks old is still “newborn.” And while your baby is still tiny, those first few weeks are a unique stage that passes more quickly than you might expect.

Photographing babies before three weeks old isn’t about me creating rigid business rules about what constitutes a newborn photo shoot — it’s about working with how newborns naturally behave in those early days to capture those soft, sleepy, curled-up images that parents love.

Babies Are Sleepier in the First Few Weeks

Newborns spend most of their time sleeping in the first two weeks and, at this point, they’re pretty oblivious to what’s going on around them (within reason of course).  This means that it is easier to gently pose them while they remain settled and peaceful. After three weeks, they become more wakeful and aware of their surroundings, which can make it trickier to capture those dreamy, snuggled-up shots.  While they’ll still sleep a lot at home, undisturbed in a familiar environment, it becomes increasingly difficult to move them in the studio after this point without them waking up to check out what’s going on.  It always amazes me how quickly curiosity about their environment develops!

The Newborn Curl Naturally Unfolds

In the womb, babies are curled up in a snug position, and in the first few weeks, they still instinctively tuck their legs and arms close to their body. This natural curl is what gives those classic newborn poses their beautiful, womb-like feel. As babies grow, they naturally stretch out or unfurl, and after three weeks, they often lose that curled-up flexibility.  They’ve discovered that there is plenty of space for them to stretch out and they’re fully prepared to take advantage of this new knowledge so those ‘tummy tuck’ positions aren’t ones that they are comfortable in any more.

More Alertness Means Less Stillness

Around the three-week mark, babies start becoming more alert, stretching, and even practicing their first little movements. While awake photos can be adorable, they often come with waving arms and kicking legs, making it more challenging to create those calm, still images that newborn photography is known for.  Now I do have an amazing swaddle base which will allow us to work with them wrapped which keeps them both still and comfortable but of course it does limit the posing opportunities (although there are still quite a wide range of props and backdrops that will still work).

Overwhelm

Here’s the biggest problem with working with a wakeful, but still very tiny, baby and that is the overwhelm factor.  If you can imagine how new everything is to someone so small, each unfamiliar item is magnified and so arriving in a new environment, being with a different person, novel sights and smells plus the added stimulus of a light that keeps flashing, and it doesn’t take very long to overwhelm them.  This will mean that they will start to get agitated and seek the comfort of the best person in the world which is one of their parents and they’re not very likely to settle outside of their arms beyond this point.   So I have a very limited time in which to work with them to create a gallery of images – when it’s a traditional newborn session, none of this matters because they’re asleep and they don’t really care.  It does vary from child to child of course, but I usually calculate that a wakeful tiny baby will only last for 15-20 minutes at best in the studio before they’ve had enough and they need to rest and reset from all the excitement.   It’s not a lot of time to create a full gallery of images even if they’re fully cooperative and certainly not much wiggle room if we’re looking at changing props and setting.

What If My Baby Is Older Than Three Weeks?

If your baby is past the three-week stage, don’t worry—it doesn’t mean you’ve missed out on beautiful portraits, capturing stunning moments, and your baby’s tiny little details but it’s only fair to be totally honest with you so you can adjust your expectations.  It will be a shorter session and we’ll be focusing on more natural, awake images rather than traditional newborn poses.

For those looking to document baby’s early days, I always recommend booking your newborn session as early as possible—ideally before baby arrives—to make sure we can capture those fleeting newborn details while they last.

If you’ve missed the newborn window, then I usually recommend waiting until they’re about 6-8 weeks old before you come to visit the studio as I find we tend to get a little bit longer to work with them once they’ve reached this point and they’re more likely to settle out of hold so we can create your images.  If you’re booking this type of session, it comes under my Baby Portrait service although that doesn’t meant that you’re not welcome to be part of the session.