Preparing for your
Mini Newborn Session
Tips and ideas in preparing for your mini newborn session…
In addition to my full newborn photography sessions in the studio, I have been offering mini sessions for a few months now, and they have been a hit! In case you’re wondering what a mini newborn session is, it’s a very shortened, condensed version of my full newborn session. Our session is one hour long, and we focus on making the most of our time, capturing your newborn baby in approximately three different setups. Because many parents wonder about planning for this type of session, I’m happy to share a few tips and suggestions in preparing for your mini newborn session in the studio.
My main goal during our session is to make your little one as comfortable and happy as possible. Awake or asleep, it is important to me to get baby happy and relaxed. I have my own techniques to help your baby get to a happy place, which include providing a comfortable studio temperature for baby, background noise (I love the Hawaiian station on Pandora), and experience in how to handle newborns. Some of the things you may see me do with your little one throughout our session is to lightly jiggle, provide a shhhhhushing sound (I love using The Baby Shusher), swaddle, and apply a gentle yet firm pressure to the body. All of these things help your baby get comfy, but it is important to thoroughly follow the preparation instructions I provide prior to our session so that we can work together to get your newborn content and relaxed during our short time together.
My first tip is a really, really, really important one… Make sure you have calculated driving time to the studio, so that you can be sure to feed baby fully before departing from your home and in time to arrive at the studio 15-20 minutes prior to our scheduled session time. Arriving 15 minutes early will allow you to get baby undressed (diaper and light blanket during this period) and to get acclimated to the temperature in the studio. This is also an important time to feed your newborn again. As you have just fed your baby before leaving, your little one should be content, but ‘topping off’ is a great idea so that baby won’t be hungry again during our session. 10-15 minutes of final feedings is usually plenty to get baby into a (usually) snoozy place. If your newborn is going through a growth spurt or you notice a lot of eating going on the day before or the morning of our session, please make sure to account for any additional time you might need for feeding.
I also ask that you bring a pacifier along. I recommend the Soothie 0-3 Month pacifier. I find that some babies don’t like the traditional ‘baby’ shaped pacifiers that have more of a platypus style nipple. Pacifiers can help a newborn that needs just that extra bit of comfort through sucking. It is a natural and common need for a newborn, and while we are working on getting your little one comfortably posed, this can help greatly! I don’t recommend parent fingers instead of pacifiers. Personally, I worry about germs that might be hiding under your nail bed, but professionally, well… your hand gets in the way of posing!
Relax! Your baby can sense your nervousness. I find that when parents of newborns that are very anxious about the the session and how their newborn will do, the feeling rubs off on baby and causes a bit of restlessness. My job is to keep baby happy and content, so I encourage you to relax and enjoy our session. Sit back and take a moment to hang out, relax and let me take over for the next hour. I’ve got that Hawaiian station on Pandora playing…. feel free to imagine we’re baby posing on a beach in Maui!
Being awake is not a bad thing! I know, you have dreams of your baby sleeping soundly while I get all of those detailed poses. That is my goal too, but more importantly, I want your baby to be happy. Despite all of our preparations and in-studio techniques, sometimes newborns just don’t want to miss a beat! They sense they are in a new environment and want to take it all in. That’s totally fine! I love capturing wide-eyed newborns! Don’t stress if your newborn is not sleeping right at the start of our session. I will spend the next hour getting him or her so comfy while I get some good eye contact, that your little one might just fall asleep during the session, and we can quickly move onto those sleepy poses!
Here is our little model for this blog post – newborn baby, Fisher! Welcome to the world, little buddy!
Interested in booking your mini or full newborn session with Sophie Crew Photography? Check out the San Diego Newborn Photography website for info and to send me an inquiry!