As a newborn Photographer the main thing that parents say when talking to them before their session or when they get to their session is how to you get them to sleep through the posing? and my baby doesn’t like being naked! This doesn’t scare or worry me at all because I know that once the session begins I can work my magic.
Although all babies are different there is a general rule that I work to so that I can get the babies to sleep before I begin posing. Although some of the image can be done with eyes open most of the poses need to be done while baby is asleep for safety. I start off with striping the baby down to their nappy and wrapping them in a warm blanket then ask mum to give baby a full feed. I have got the temperature of the room high to make sure that the baby doesn’t get cold and to also give them that contented feeling once their tummy is full. Remember that your newborn baby has come from a very warm place inside mummy!! Our core temperature is 37 degrees and this is what your baby is used to so that is why they don’t like being naked in a room we think is warm at 20 degrees. My studio is usually set to 28 degrees so very warm for us and not too cold for your baby. The main thing to keep in mind at this stage is relax and don’t rush as the more you worry if they will go to sleep the longer they stay awake!!
Once the newborn is fully feed had a nappy change (if needed) and is lovely and warm then cuddles are given after winding to make sure that as well as contented the baby feels safe. Usually this is all I need to do to get the little one to drift off but sometimes we need to do more rocking or soft bouncing to create the desired affect of the sleepy baby. Another thing to remember is that your newborn baby is not used to the quiet!! It has been listening to mummy’s heart beat and the shushing noise of the blood going round mummy’s body as well as the ambient noises of everyday life too. I have music on in the background in my studio but also have the noise of my blow heater which settles baby but if all else fails I also have my baby shusher which I love and has has different white noise settings to help settle baby. I use the heart beat sounds or the waves mostly but I have used other sounds like the tumble dryer sound which is on a downloadable app.
The truth is there is no single way to get your baby to sleep but there is a way to get them to sleep and I will find what works for your baby so I can capture gorgeous images for you to treasure. I hope this blog post helps you understand a little about how I work with the newborns by not rushing them and keeping them relaxed so that there is just a content feeling not a stressed out tired feeling in my studio.
Kay x