By Prim (Together Nest Photography)
The number 1 question I get asked quite often is how old should a baby be to do a newborn photo session? The short answer is under 14 days old or up to 1 month old if the baby was born before the due date. Why is that? Here are the reasons.
Babies sleep better during the first 2 weeks of their lives. Awake babies get tired very quickly. Newborn babies can only stay awake 15-30 minutes at a time before they become tired. And if they don't fall back to sleep after being awake for too long they will become overtired and cannot fall back to sleep easily. During the session, the baby is being posed and moved so it's already hard to stay asleep, let alone trying to fall asleep. When awake babies are being stimulated too long (Being touched, posed and dressed etc.) They get tired and cried as a result. Nobody wants a photo of their newborn crying, correct? One of our job as a newborn photographer is to be a baby whisperer, literally! That's why a good newborn photographer must have great soothing techniques.
Newborn photo props are designed for tiny babies. As adults, gaining 1-2kgs is no big deal. We still can fit in all our clothes without a problem. But for newborns, there is a huge difference between a 3kg baby and a 5kg baby. So outfits that are made to fit 3-4 kgs babies will unavoidably be too small for over 4kgs babies. This also applies the props like baskets, buckets and beds.
Many newborn poses are only suitable for younger babies. To be able to pose and curl into positions that you see in most newborn photos is exceptionally hard when the babies are older.
All that said, does that mean mums with over 2 weeks old babies will not be able to get their newborn photos done? Of course not! Portrait sessions can be done at any age. However, we need to adjust our expectations of the result and the experience during the session. The result of older baby sessions may look a little different.