5 Easy Tips To Prepare For Your Newborn Session At Enamay Photography

I am going to try make this short and sweet as I know that time is precious and life is, well, it’s just busy.

So if you can grab a cuppa and take 5 minutes to read through this.

Easy to read, top tips on how to prepare for your newborn session with me...

Let’s go!

Tip One - Schedule your session ahead of time.

Most newborn photographers only photograph newborns between 5 and 14 days of age. The reason behind this is babies tend to be more awake and alert after these two weeks. After 14 days their bones begin to fuse together, making them less squishable and it is tricky to wrap them up into a womb like poses, they may also be cluster feeding.

All that said, babies can be photographed when they are over 14 days. They will be more awake and involve a hands on approach.

If you want to book in with me best thing to do is email me as soon as possible.

Planning your session ahead of time will make it less likely that I will be fully booked. I only take on a limited number of sessions each month so book in to avoid disappointment. A good time to start the booking process is around the second trimester of pregnancy. You can reach me via my contact form, email or though my socials.

Tip Two - Keep you babe awake.

It is a well-known fact that newborns sleep a lot, sometimes their sleep habits don’t play the game in regards to photoshoots. New smells, noises and even quietness makes babies more aware and awake. We can get great pictures with their eyes open, but they are easier to wrap when they are fed, settled and asleep.

If you can keep your baby awake for longer periods in the morning this will help with ensuring your baby will be tired and ready to sleep long and deep when you arrive. 

Keeping baby awake might seem a bit of a task. But it works

Tip Three - Feed your baby, sounds obvious, no?

Giving your baby a good feed one hour before you are to leave to come to me should help baby be more settled when you arrive.

 Depending on you baby some babies like to snack or they are in those few days of cluster feeding which can result in a stop start process until they are full which can take 3 - 4 feeds. No matter how you feed bring a bottle of milk (formula or expressed breast milk) it always help speed up the process and means that we know they have had plenty of milk, they will sleep deeply and happily for a good 90 minutes at least. 

 Dummy, if you have one, please bring it. We may not need to use it and if I do use it you one, you may never want to use it ever again - that is totally fine, but to get babe settled, we may just need to use it once.

Tip Four - Me in the photos, erm - NO thanks!?

Be prepared to see yourself in the picture. You may not feel like a supermodel just yet, but taking a picture with your baby will create memories that are dear to both of you. It’s not about looking at the camera, looking at me and cheesing, it’s about me photographing you in you newborn bubble, capturing the connection between you all in you new life. These moments are easily forgotten about as time move forward and it is so easy to say ‘I wished we had got some photos done at the time.’

For your portraits please wear neutral colours such as creams, soft tones, denims. I do have dresses available for you to wear, if you choose.

Please remove bulky jewellery and watches are best avoided as they are distracting and can look dated over the years. Aim for timeless photos that will remain part of your home for decades to come. Please also note that your nail varnish isn’t chipped  and dads that work with their hands please ensure that your nails are clean. Working hards are great, dirty nails, not so.

I also recommend getting the whole family involved, it’s a great time to get some up-to-date pictures of older siblings and all of you together, let’s be honest, when was the last time you had a professional family portrait taken?
If you did want grandparents then please ask ahead of the session and we can arrange a time for them to come by at the end.

Tip Five - Sit back and watch, snooze  or just soak it all up.

My sessions are very much an experience for new parents, relaxed and chilled. I am a firm believer that if you are happy and relaxed, baby will be as well.
I do asks mums to not get involved too much, a funny thing to write but you beautiful mummies smell really strongly of milk and as soon as you come with in a certain distance to the beanbag then babe can start to stir and all they can think of is feeding time.

Please don’t worry if the blankets get poo’d on, or I get pee’d on, we have accidents, it is part of the territory of taking nappies off. Have numerous cloths, nappies, it is all part of the process and it happens.

I hope these tips help you ahead of your session with me, good luck when the time comes!

Oh, you know I do Birth Photography, right?!

;)