What if my Newborn Baby Doesn’t Sleep During The Newborn Photo Shoot?
You look at beautiful photos of sleeping newborn babies, and then look at your newborn baby who never seems to sleep for more than half an hour at a time.
So it’s completely understandable that you might be worried about whether or not your baby will sleep during a newborn photo shoot.
But please don’t. I have a lot of experience of working with sleepy newborn babies, and not-so-sleepy newborn babies, and this guide explains how I’ll approach a session with a baby who likes to be awake.
Taking photographs of newborn babies awake
First of all, you may be reassured to know that almost all babies will spend part of their newborn photo shoot awake….and that this is a good thing.
This is a perfect opportunity to take some photographs of your baby with their eyes open. These photographs often feature as parents’ favourites after the session and so I always try to include a few of baby awake in each family’s gallery.
Whilst your baby is awake I will keep them wrapped so that they are warm, comfortable and less likely to startle.
A baby led approach to newborn photography
My approach to newborn photography is baby-led and part of this is about creating an environment that helps your baby to sleep. I’ll use a mixture of controlling the room temperature, white noise and lots of cuddling and shushing to help your baby sleep.
If your baby is still feeling unsettled we’ll work together to figure out what they need – perhaps it’s gas, hunger or they don’t like being unwrapped.
Because of this baby-led approach each session is tailored to each baby and family. I never want your baby to be distressed so we’ll tailor the session to keep them comfortable and relaxed.
Nobody is watching the clock
Finally, the last thing to remember is that nobody is watching the clock – I only photograph one newborn session per day so we have as much time as we need for your baby to settle. And all babies will fall asleep eventually – we just have to follow their lead.
In the very rare circumstances that a baby just won’t settle I’ll discuss other options with you. Perhaps that’s rescheduling to a different day, or trying a lifestyle approach. Whatever happens my main priority is to capture gorgeous photographs of you and your new baby in those precious first days of their life.
