Newborn Photography... Does Age Matter?
You may well have visited lots of newborn websites and be left wondering why most newborn photographers want your baby to be aged 7-10 days old for their photography session? You might also be wondering what happens if your baby is already 10 days old. Is it too late?!
Well the age of the baby can make a difference to the type of photographs and poses that you will get from your session. The reason for the 7 – 10 day window is because the baby is still very flexible, tiny and super sleepy. There are more bones in a baby’s body at birth than later on in life because those additional bones are still soft and have not fused with other bones yet. They need to be like that so they can fit snuggly and comfortably in the womb and travel safely down the birth canal without harm. When the baby is still only a few days old, they are able to get into those curly, womb like positions which make for a gorgeous photo. That said, it really does depend on the baby, not all babies care to be posed in a womb like position, but as a rule of thumb, younger babies don’t mind so much. They will sleep a lot more and be less concerned about being naked - so long as they are kept cosy and warm.
I would say that scheduling a baby less than 5 days old might just be a little bit too soon. The baby may not have established a firm feeding routine – especially if they are breast fed. In the early days of breast feeding, the volume of milk coming though may not be high enough to keep baby satisfied for longer than an hour or so, which means that the baby is not very restful during a shoot.
However, what if your baby is 2 weeks old already and you are desperate for a newborn session? Fear not, that’s OK. I will not turn you away! There is a good chance that you are not too concerned about having your baby posed in a womb like position, you just want a beautiful keep sake in the form of a photograph. I will talk you through the session and make sure you’re aware that there may be no shots of the baby sleeping, baby may want to be held a little more or be comforted a little more, but as my shoots are based around the baby’s needs we just go with what makes them happy. By the time babies 2-5 weeks old, they may start to experience digestive problems like reflux, if this is the case, I would make sure that the baby is posed with their head higher than their stomach and I’d avoid photos with them lying flat on their back. It might be that I suggest to you to wait until the baby is around 6 weeks old as they are still gorgeously small, but more settled and any digestive problems may have eased or are being managed more effectively. It really all depends on the baby.
When I book my newborn sessions I schedule my clients in one week after the due date. Then once the baby is born we will reschedule it if necessary. If the baby is late then I would recommend that we aim to be nearer the 7 day mark and if baby is early then, you guessed it, I’d look to book nearer to 10 days. Of course all this great planning may go out of the window if the baby has jaundice and hospital appointments get thrown into the mix. I will just work around you, I promise not to make things any more complicated than it needs be!!
The bottom line is, do not worry too much about the actual age of your baby. If you are pregnant when you make the booking then yes, I will aim for that 7-10 age day window. If for reasons unknown things turn out to be a lot later than we planned then that’s fine, you will still get some beautiful portraits. Baby might not be as curly as a 7 day old baby and they may be awake a lot more. It just means that the photographs you receive will be a little bit different, but no less beautiful.
