If you’re in the final weeks of your pregnancy, you might be wondering how you can best prepare for your at-home lifestyle newborn photos! Taken during the first 6-10 days of your baby’s life, these images serve to document your first week with your newest family member and the abundance of love that fills your home! Taking these images in your home will reflect the true life that is to come over the sleepless nights, joyous milestones and happy memories.

The only downfall of welcoming a photographer into your home just days or weeks after the birth of your new baby is that it can feel a bit overwhelming. But it shouldn’t be! I have some tips, links and examples to help you make this session feel easier. Everything from how to prepare your home to what your baby should wear is covered below!

Preparing The Parents

As parents, you are obviously an integral part of a lifestyle newborn session. Capturing the connection between you and your new babe is such a beautiful experience and creates images that will be cherished for generations. Welcoming a photographer into your home after you’ve just given birth can be nerve-wracking and stressful but I am to make it a calm and easy experience - especially if you can spare a few minutes to read through this blog post!

Mamas, any time I’m photographing you during this session, I’m going to be extra careful to use angles and poses that are flattering to any and all post-baby body types. So while I know that you may not feel like your normal self, please know that I will do my very best to help you feel supported and beautiful!

When choosing your outfits, I recommend light neutrals (light grey, tan, cream and whites) and pastels. If you’re comfortable wearing a flowing dress, it can photograph the best. Otherwise I recommend soft, flowing clothing like modal or pima cottons. A lounge or athleisure style is totally appropriate and leggings or joggers are more than acceptable for these images if you’re not up for a dress. If you need outfit inspiration, check out this Pinterest board to see what I’m talking about!

I do recommend trying to carve out some time to do your hair and makeup - you’ll thank me later!

Preparing the Siblings

Documenting the addition of a new sibling is very important but could also be… yep… stressful! One of the biggest things I recommend, depending on the ages of your other children, is taking time to talk to them about the importance of the session, what they can expect to take place and setting some expectations for them. Kids often just need to be warned, prepared and informed.

Their clothing too should be light neutrals, free of characters and sayings and well-fitting. Truly, that well-fitting part is most important. If you put your child into a pair of pants that they have “room to grow into”, it will look baggy and sloppy on camera.

Age depending, it can be helpful to also have children set up with a snack and maybe one of their favorite activities or movies waiting for after their role in our session is over with. Giving them something immediate to work towards is handy! Having bribes for smaller children is totally okay too. No judgement whatsoever.

Preparing The Home

First off and most importantly, I am NOT judging your home. Whether it’s in the city, in the woods, large, small, filled with dogs, filled with art, filled with children… it’s yours and it is special.

Your home does not have to be perfect or clutter free. It’s your home and you just welcomed home a new child. It would not be fair for me to ask you to clean every ounce of your house.

If you are able, focus on de-cluttering two of the rooms with the most natural light. This might be your living room and your master bedroom. It’s completely optional for us to shoot in the nursery. Spend your time putting things like your breast pump, extra burp cloths, toys and other distracting things away (throwing them into a closet or tossing them into a basket is more than fine with me)!

When I arrive, I’ll spend some time preparing the areas where we’ll be shooting. I may move some furniture or clean off surfaces. Please don’t be alarmed or offended! I see things that you may not and a home that’s well lived in doesn’t always equal a home instantly ready for photography - that’s a part of my job. Anything I move will not go far, I promise, and I’m happy to move any furniture back where it was when I arrived.

I’ll also open up your curtains and turn off lamps and artificial overhead lighting. It might seem dark but artificial lighting can both be unflattering and ruin an image with orange or yellow color casts.

If your nursery is ready and you’d like to spend some of our time shooting in that room, please consider putting on a white crib sheet as colored crib sheets can cast an unnatural color onto your baby’s face.

Please also turn up your heat to 75-78 degrees about 30 minutes prior to our session. The warmer temperatures help baby relax and keep them sleepy during our time together.

And finally, if you haven’t already set up a diaper changing station in a warm, common space, do yourself a favor and set one up for our session! Have a few diapers, burp cloths and wipes ready to go because needing to change one is unavoidable during most sessions. Plus, explosions do happen. Make it easier on yourself by not having to go to the nursery each time.

Preparing The Baby

This part might seem completely overwhelming. You’re just trying to keep them alive and happy - how can you possibly prepare a newborn for a photo session?!

It will all be worth it. These will be images that you adore for a lifetime. Your baby is going to grow and change so very fast that it’s absolutely worth it to have this session!

Please have a solid, light-colored, well-fitting outfit ready for your baby. There are some examples on this Pinterest board! It’s very important that your baby’s clothes fit as well as possible so this isn’t the time for baby jeans and a big sweater. We need to see your little one’s face and features. My favorite newborn outfit for these sessions is a simple long sleeve, tie bottom gown.

My favorite outfit for baby girls and baby boys alike is the knotted gown from Lou Lou and Company! If you shop using THIS LINK, you’ll receive $5 off your first order of $30 or more!

Please put any hats, headbands or other props that you’d like to use out in a prominent place where we won’t forget about them (the kitchen table is always a great “home base”).

I bring several non-patterened neutral/muted swaddles (usually blush, ivory, apricot, a dark teal, and a white backdrop for photos of just babe on their own but if you’d like to provide your own swaddles, the jersey knit stretch ones (from Lou Lou, Copper Pearl or Milkmaid Goods ) are best for photos! Again, don’t miss out on that link above to save $5 with Lou Lou!

Make sure you have backups on hand for both you, your partner and the baby! Unexpected blowouts or a big spit up might happen - that’s totally normal!

Why not a normal cute outfit like pants or a dress for baby? Well, newborns don’t often fit well into clothes. Even if they are the correct size, they quickly bunch up blocking baby’s face or making them uncomfortable. Seeing your baby’s face is almost the ENTIRE point of this session.

Aside from prepping outfits, preparing your baby for a peaceful state of sleepiness is very important. It’s the ultimate goal here but it does involve a little bit of work from you. A sleepy baby is very critical to the success of our time together. Keeping your baby awake in the several hours before my arrival is helpful. Try things like a bath, simple playtime together and singing to keep babe awake! We need them to save that sleepiness for our session time together.

Plan to give your baby a full feeding right before my arrival. Do whatever you need to do during this feed to ensure that baby isn’t just “snacking” because a baby with a full tummy is a sleepy baby. Be prepared to nurse or feed them other times as needed during our session for relaxation. If you are bottle feeding, it’s helpful to have a few bottles already prepped and ready to be warmed for when we might need them.

Other Helpful Tidbits

If you have a sound machine, please have it handy for me!
If you plan to use a pacifier, having it close by can help the session go more smoothly.
Please be relaxed and comfy, wear your pajamas if you want! Seriously! If you’re not feeling all that great, skip the flowing dress and go for some cute loungewear.
Please avoid any visitors for your session day. One big thing per day is stressful enough.
Please avoid making any appointments on your session day.

What You Can Expect

The session will usually take about 60-90 minutes depending on baby and any siblings
When I arrive, I’ll spend probably 5-10 minutes just setting up and getting acquainted with the light in your home.
The temperature should be a nice and warm to help baby be sleepy so keep that in mind while planning your outfits!
We will capture lots of poses and combinations with the family and also your baby alone starting with the family, transitioning into baby on their own and finishing with baby and each parent separately.
Remember, this is a lifestyle newborn session not a studio session so while I love capturing your baby solo, we won’t be spending time doing 30 set-ups and different backdrops. My goal is to focus on your sweet darling child’s natural beauty so the set-ups and poses will be simple but they still take time.
We can take as many breaks as you and your baby need.

Preparing Your Family and Your Home for your Lifestyle Newborn Session