You just had a baby. You’re probably not sleeping. And it’s time for a photo session…! What?

I know, it can be a lot when life is already a chaotic blur. But you want to capture that newborn sweetness before it’s just a memory.

Here are some tips on how to prepare and make everything go as smoothly as possible!

1. Raise the temperature in your home a few degrees

The goal is to get the baby asleep and naked, so a warm environment is very conducive to getting those sleepy newborn photos! We might be sweating it out a bit, but it’s worth it to get baby relaxed and comfortable.

2. Time a feeding right before I come

We'll want the baby to be nice and sleepy, so if you can try timing a feeding before I come, that will hopefully induce a nice milk coma!

3. Wrap the baby in just a swaddle or simple blanket

Keep the baby in a diaper and just swaddled in a blanket is great to get started. As we get the baby relaxed and sleepy, the less we have to pull off to get to naked the better. It’s much easier to slowly unwrap a swaddle then finagle arm holes and getting things over their heads!

4. Props- I’ve got you covered

I'll be bringing a lot of stuff for setup and various blankets, hats etc to choose from. If you have anything special you'd like to use, feel free to have it available.

5. Setup Location

I'll want to setup in a place that has a lot of natural light. No need to have your whole home home perfect and straightened. Large windows, sky lights or glass doors work really well. I can do a lot in a small space, so if you don’t mind me rearranging some furniture as necessary once I get there and see the light, I can pretty much make anything work! If you have a nursery setup, have that space straightened and ready as that's also a great spot for photos.

6. What to wear?

If mom and dad have dark, solid shirts, that always photographs well against bare baby skin! But the most important thing is that you are comfortable with what you are wearing, so please wear what you feel good in! I get that you just had a baby and not everything may be fitting just right!

7. Bring your patience and flexibility

This is all about patience. The baby will rule the session and if they are awake, we’ll get some awake family photos. If they are ready to sleep, we’ll start with the sleepy photos. If we need to take a break to feed or change, we’ll do that. But as you know we can’t force anything, so going with the flow is essential. We'll do our best to get the sleepy, naked newborn shots, but also understand these are not guaranteed as it will all depend on how the baby is feeling.