How to cope if your newborn photo session isn't going to plan

We’ve all seen those adorable photos of new, little babies looking so peaceful and relaxed with not a care in the world.  As new parents, we want similar photos of our children to send out to grandparents, make into screensavers, and blast out to our social media pages to show off our amazing baby. But then session day comes around and BAM! – your baby does not want anything to do with it.

You’re thinking, “Why won’t you stop crying? I’ve literally done everything I can think of, but you’re still not happy. Don’t you know I’m paying good money for this session? My friend's baby cooperated in her session, why can’t you just go to sleep and let us get some nice photos?!”  If this happens during your session, I want you to stop, breathe and remember one thing: all newborns cry. 

This is perfectly natural and not abnormal. There is nothing wrong with your baby for doing it. It is nothing to be ashamed of. Unfortunately babies pick up on our stress and get even more distressed. I know I certainly did not want to be told to relax when I was a new mum; I got stressed just trying to relax! 

But don’t let the crying upset you. I am not at all distressed and have learned to go with baby's flow. Embrace this moment in time. When you are holding your crying baby in your arms and are soothing him, true emotion shows through and those are often the photographs that you will treasure the most. Your child can look back at these photos once they’re all grown and remember the solace that they found in your arms. These tender moments are just as important, if not more so, than the sleeping, posed photos.

The point of booking a newborn session is to help you preserve the first memories of your child’s life. While posed photos are cute, you’re not going to look back and think, “Remember how cute she was whenever she would lounge around the house in the froggie  pose?” because that didn’t happen. You’ll look back at these photos and remember all the nights you walked your baby around the house or rocked him in a chair and hummed lullabies to try to calm him down. Those times are very stressful, but they also help you form a bond and that’s what makes these photos treasured.

All that being said, you will not just get crying photos if things are not going as planned. I am quite happy to wait for baby to settle and become relaxed and peaceful. I am not at all rushed. Your baby is a little person and as much as we would love him to sleep for three hours solid and pose like a model he most probably won't. She is perfect in every way and even if she is awake I can still take photographs of her little hands, feet, lips and ears. You will get photographs that you will treasure for the rest of your life no matter what happens in the session.

The photos in this post are of babies that did not sleep throughout their session and things did not go according to plan. Not so bad after all.

I hope you have a great day!

The Importance of Maternity Photos

Well, well. I cannot believe that I last blogged a year ago!! That is just insane. Where did the year go? I realised that I have seriously neglected my blog and have now made time to blog each week. I have great articles and topics I am so excited to share and of course plenty of awesome families that I have worked with that I am just bursting to share with you. So without further ado let's get started.

Why take maternity photos. You are most probably not going to put them on your walls in your sitting room but having them on a disc in a drawer somewhere does seem like a waste. So why even take them?

Even though pregnancy comes with a lot of difficult trials, it is an amazing time in your life. It is a time of celebration the of anticipation as you prepare to meet your little bundle of joy. It’s a time where you become strong – stronger than you ever thought you could possibly be. During this time, you create your initial bond with your baby that will continue throughout your entire lives.

There are very few women who actually feel like they are beautiful while they are pregnant – especially during the first pregnancy. However, the miracle of pregnancy is a beautiful thing. Swollen feet, stretch marks, and hormone changes aside – you are growing a real live human being inside of you. All of those side effects come from different things your body has to do to help nourish and protect your baby.

You are beautiful, and you should take the time to celebrate these changes and this amazing moment in your life. These photos will be a great gift to pass down to your child as an heirloom of your first memories with them. This is something they will treasure forever.

My little ones loving seeing maternity photos of me and hearing about how they grew in my tummy, all about their birth and my great excitement while waiting for them. When they have had a tough day and are really out of sorts I pull them onto my lap and tell them all about being pregnant with them. It always calms them and really boosts their confidence.

So if you are not going to put a huge canvas on your sitting room wall what can you do with maternity photos besides leaving them on the disc in a drawer. I have several lovely products perfectly suited to maternity photos. There are framed prints that can stand on baby's night stand, or an album they can page through when they're older or even a book of postcards that you keep as an heirloom.

CLICK HERE to find out more about my maternity photo sessions.

I hope you have a great day!