Before I was a newborn photographer I was a mom, overwhelmed and new to babies since my babysitting days ended. If you had told me after I had my first son that the exhausting newborn days would be gone in what feels like a blink, I’d look at you like you were nuts. My son awoke every 1.5-2 hours at night and I didn’t get a 4 hour stretch of sleep until he was 3 months old. Which is why I was very unprepared for the idea of newborn photos at the time. I wish I had come across information, while I was still pregnant, telling me that the first weeks of my son’s life would be a blur, and how he looked as a newborn would be the shortest time he would ever appear that way. That way I could have prepared with a photographer, since I was in no condition to do it myself. I had an unplanned cesarean and was double feeding, which is nursing and pumping – we were in survival mode all the time. It wouldn’t be until 5 months had passed that I realized I had only cellphone pictures and picked up my camera to document him.
Those who haven’t been around newborns in a while would think “he’s still little, why does this matter?”. I get that! Depending on what you’d like to do, a matter of weeks is important. I’m here to explain what the differences are and what’s possible at the various newborn stages so you can make an informed decision on when the best time to book your newborn session actually is. Of course, if you didn’t know you wanted portraits until your baby is 3 weeks old, then skip to that section to know what to expect! I’ll be following this post up with another on how to prepare for your newborn session as well as what to bring, so stay tuned. If you want in-depth information on where your newborn session should be, check out my blog post on in-home versus in-studio newborn sessions.
The Best Time to Schedule Newborn Photos
Newborns are technically defined as such through 3 months of age. Within this I consider there to be two age ranges with different upsides and challenges to consider. We’ll start with the earliest age range.
9 to 18 Days Old
Newborns at this age tend to be sleepier, with a natural curliness still present from the their time in-utero. This curl makes several things more possible the younger the baby is. They are easier to pose and sleep for longer periods than they are awake, and for newborns being awake often means crying. They still enjoy being swaddled and will fit reliably in the dedicated newborn props I have in the studio. Since baby acne and colic typically develop after 2 weeks of age, babies before this point generally don’t have many blemishes and we can safely assume they won’t be crying the whole session. Plus babies change dramatically from day 1 to even day 14 and for those parents for whom documenting their newborn as a true squish, the younger they are, the closer they are in appearance to that of their birth day.
Like most things, there’s a flip side of all of this. Typically babies have a limited number of shots they’ve received in those first two weeks. Parents who are very conservative about letting folks see and hold the baby in that time may opt to wait to the second window. Babies in this 9-18 day old range who like alert, open eyes may also not fit in this earlier timing, since the newborn is still so sleepy from their entrance into the world. I can often get a spontaneous smile during a session but getting a baby to open their eyes is tricky.
Lastly, parents who opt to wait for a bit tell me that they are themselves still recovering from the birth – maybe they needed a lot of fluids that are still bloating them, or standing for a while post partum is hard, etc. Don’t forget your own recovery too!
3-8 Week Old Newborns
I know plenty of photographers who would tell you these babies are “too old”. They are more alert, less sleepy and have started to uncurl as they grow and adjust to life on the outside. I would never say this. What I will say is this newborn age comes with it’s own lovely aspects to be excited about but also things to be aware of. The latter range of newborns have filled out more, with some great chunk coming in, making for great rolls. You’ll see their eyes more, they’re starting to smile with intention as opposed to from gassiness. They may even be able to focus on you for a tiny bit! The older newborns who have had their 1 month appointment might have gotten an additional shot or two, making leaving the home feel a little less daunting. You’ve also had practice leaving your home, and with experience comes greater confidence. When it comes to considerations, with this timing, you may not get that curled up baby you remember from the first two weeks. So some poses may pose a challenge – but if you don’t care about them then neither do I. The increased alertness of the 3-8 week old may mean more time spend soothing or feeding them, depending on what they want, so a ton of different set ups or poses might not be as possible.
Because we are not trying to tuck these babies into props, a lifestyle in home portrait session is great for them! You’ve had a chance to adjust to life with a new human and maybe tiding up your home doesn’t seem like as much of an impossibility as it did when you first came home with them.
Lifestyle sessions mean capturing your life as it is, with direction as needed from me (you’re so very tired). The age of the baby for this type of session isn’t as important – documenting your new life and these new special moments is.
What about 3 Month Old Newborns?
Totally doable! Your baby is starting to smile at you, starting to be able to hold their head up for short periods, and maybe 2 months passed while you made this huge life adjustment (referring back to my experience in this article’s first paragraph). That said, I tend to steer parents with baby at this age to a 6 month portrait session, if it doesn’t make a huge difference to them. Babies at 3 months are awake for much longer periods, so you get beautiful portraits of their face, but they no longer want to be swaddled sweetly, and definitely don’t fit in a chunk of my newborn props. Their head control is still developing so we may not get sweet cuddly photos, as they have a tendency to throw their heads around. Lastly, they have lost their initial newborn squish and wiggle a lot more which makes them a little bit skinnier. Perhaps this only applied to my skinny children but I’ve seen it with other babies too. In a few short months you’ll have a baby showing his or her personality, sitting up, and engaging with you and my camera. I think that lends itself to ideal portraits. For more on 6 month sessions, check out this post to learn why I love them.
When Should I Actually Book My Newborn Session?
Speaking of timing, this is another question I get from my clients. About a quarter of my clients didn’t really know they wanted a newborn session until after the baby arrived. Maybe they were so busy with baby prep beforehand that it was just a to-do list item that just didn’t get done, or maybe they didn’t really think about it. It worked out anyway. That said, to avoid additional stress in your life when it’s already become overwhelming enough, I recommend booking during pregnancy. That way you have time to meet the photographer that is about to handle the most precious thing you’ve ever had in your life, as well as read through the prep guide materials on how to get baby ready, what to expect and what to wear. I’ll get to that last one in a moment. It’s a lot easier to absorb these lists when you are (theoretically) sleeping through the night and not trying to keep a small person alive and happy. So, the ideal timing for booking is around 28-34 weeks. That way you aren’t in the home stretch of pregnancy when baby could arrive at any time, but you also aren’t in those early weeks where you can’t keep your eyes open.
We will book your actual due date as the tentative session date, with the understanding that babies arrive on their timetable as opposed to ours. I take a fixed number of newborns a month so sometimes my availability is limited if I have a lot of due dates in one month. The dates are always booked with the expectation that some babies will come earlier than their due date and some later.
