We have our newborn photos at our house tomorrow morning. I'd really like M to be nice and sleepy when the photog gets here. She sleeps a lot throughout the day, but she's only a week old so obviously her schedule is pretty unpredictable. Is there anything you did that helped your baby sleep through his/her newborn photos? Did you start feeding a certain amount of time before your session? Any other tips would be appreciated, too!
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My photographer turned off the a/c so it was unbelievably hot in the house. The warmth kept him asleep the entire time. Just prepare yourself for some serious boob sweat.
ETA: It helped for me to keep my distance and stay quiet so he couldn't hear me or smell my milk.
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I fed her about 30 minutes before the shoot started, as the photog was setting up. She told us to turn off the AC and fans, and she brought a little space heater. It was disgustingly hot! It took LO a few minutes to relax, but once she was out, she was OUT!
Can't wait to see how they turn out!! -
@rahlyrah: yeah, our photog suggested we turn our thermostat to 80-85. Not looking forward to that! Did you take the pics of you with him first? We're wanting to take some of her by herself and some with me and DH. I am worried we will look a hot mess if we wait and take the family ones at the end!
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I recommend a space heater instead of cranking up the heat. We tried to make sure she was full before her shoot. Honestly, nothing really worked. The photographer tried everything but DD didn't want to sleep. (as soon as we put the diaper back on her, she went right to sleep LOL)
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@lawbee11: Yes! We started with family photos. It was so hot that my hair started curling (I'd straightened it) before family pics were over. I was a sweaty mess at the end of the session.
B was ZONKED the entire time.
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I think at that age it's hard to control things. My photographer was very understanding and took her time, allowed for feeding breaks, etc.
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Just don't eat broccoli the night before. I learned my lesson she had horrible gas the whole time.
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My photographer brought a space heater and a white noise machine. I fed her about 20 minutes before she was scheduled to arrive. We did do our family photos first. Our photographer was awesome...she was the baby whisperer. She encouraged feeding breaks and took care of all diaper changes. I think if they're used to shooting with babies/newborns most photographers have patience and tricks :-).
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@Smurfette: LOL--good to know!
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My rec is to go with the flow and be prepared to be peed on! Our son was a little older than recommended and he slept for about a half an hour of our four hour session. It was a lot of work! And pee. But the photog was awesome and so are the shots we eventually got.
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definitely be prepared for anything. ours took 4 hours for maybe 20-25 photos (final product, that is). she also pooped on the prop and had to nurse 3 times, and wouldn't go to sleep for awhile. we just winged it! my photog brought a heating pad to heat up the space the baby would be before we put her there. We also had the heat up, but it was beginning of october, so wasn't as horrible!
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Get LO milk drunk! Works like a charm
Good luck, just go with the flow and be ready for anything.
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Did your photographer send you a to do list? I always send one to clients (I've been doing newborn photography for a couple years)-you want the house to 85 degrees, you want to keep them awake for a couple hours before the session, and keep the diaper on loosely so you don't wake the baby up when removing it plus it keeps the lines away. And feed the baby right before so she's drunk and passed out.
The baby will also smell you and be more alert if you are nearby, so if you can step into the next room, it's very helpful.
I use a space heater and white noise machine also!
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Lol I wish I had seen these tips before our session; LO was awake the whole time for ours, despite being fed continuously and up all morning! They turned out super adorable anyways
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@blackbird: thank you! These are very helpful
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@lawbee11: our photographer had a lot of great tips! I blogged about them here: http://www.hellobee.com/2012/12/05/behind-the-scenes-at-a-newborn-photo-shoot/
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@Mrs. Tricycle: Awesome--thank you!!
Good luck, just go with the flow and be ready for anything.
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