About Your Newborn Photography Session:

A session with a newborn photographer is quite an intimate experience as you are entrusting someone to handle, soothe and pose your precious newborn and you spend about 3-4 hours with them. I try to make the newborn photography session as comforting and relaxing as possible by planning out everything to the very last detail.

Newborns are tiny humans that already have their own big personalities and each newborn is different! I always say that during a session the baby is the boss as I like to go with the flow and allow baby to tell me how he/she feels. We work with the mood of baby and modify our session for this.

Our newborn photography session starts with your arrival to my home studio in North – West London. Upon arrival we check if baby needs a feed or needs to be changed. When you first arrive there is time to feed and change baby if needed and then we start the session!  I always listen to baby’s needs and take breaks whenever is needed as the session is entirely baby-led.  I’m very experienced with newborns so all you need to do during the session is relax and watch your adorable baby. During the session we get a wide variety of natural and prop images of your newborn baby and also beautiful family portraits.

How old should a newborn be for their newborn photography session?

Newborn photography sessions are best done when baby is 5-16 days old (but I do them up to a month old). Ideally it is best to do them at this time as newborns of this age are very sleepy and sleep very deeply. This means that most sessions done at this time are easier and smoother for baby as we want baby as happy as possible during our newborn photography sessions.

How to prepare to newborn session

At first if you are breastfeeding please refer to our “Foods you should avoid” list below , this is very important as food you eat make major impact on babies condition and mood, please avoid listed foods at least one day before the photoshoot, you might find avoiding certain foods helping your baby sleep much better at night and find it useful every day.

We will need you to bring supply of milk and nappies, dummy even if your baby normally doesn’t use one, we will also need you to try not to feed your baby for 2-3h before the photoshoot, you will feed once you arrive, for the family shots we will need everyone to wear white tops and mom wearing white vest. Due to high temperature required to work with newborns (24°-28°) Mom might like to bring her makeup products.

At the photoshoot water will be served, but you might like to bring a snack or lunch.

During the photoshoot our clients are responsible for siblings and other children that came with them and are walking or crawling,

Also recording videos and taking photos with phones/cameras is prohibited unless agreed with us,

A short guide on what foods to avoid when you are breastfeeding.

1. Coffee

When you drink coffee (or soda or tea), some of the caffeine ends up in your breast milk. Because babies aren’t able to excrete caffeine as quickly or efficiently as adults, too much in their systems may lead to irritation, crankiness, and sleeplessness. The solution? Cut back on coffee. As tired as you are, a fussy baby who won’t sleep just

2. Chocolate

Proceed with caution if chocolate is your sweet indulgence of choice. Just like coffee and soda, chocolate contains caffeine. (Though not as much—a 1-ounce serving of dark chocolate contains between 5 and 35 mg of caffeine; a cup of coffee generally contains up to 135 mg of caffeine). If you suspect chocolate is the culprit behind your, it can also cause constipation.

3. Citrus Fruits

Certain compounds found in citrus fruits and juices may irritate a still-immature GI tract, leading to fussiness, spitting up, and even nappy rash in some babies. If cutting down on citrus seems like a good idea for Baby’s sake, compensate by adding other vitamin C-rich foods to the menu, including papaya and mango.

4. Broccoli

Lactation consultants may tell you that it’s just an old wives’ tale that eating broccoli, cauliflower, and other “gassy vegetables” leads to irritable, gassy babies. But ask any nursing mom about broccoli’s ability to create misery in breastfed infants and you will probably hear a very different tale. Is your broccoli-loaded lunchtime salad the culprit? Possibly!

5. Spicy Foods

Some nursing moms can add extra jalapenos to everything and still have completely content babies. But you might find that just a dash of pepper is enough to make your baby irritated and fussy for hours. How to spice it up food without causing Baby discomfort? Look for flavors that add zest without the heat.

6. Garlic

That wonderfully warm slice of garlic bread you just inhaled might not taste so wonderful to your baby. Eating garlicky foods often leads to breast milk taking on the slight flavor of garlic (garlic odor can enter milk up to two hours after a meal). Some babies may grimace or fuss at the breast if they detect garlic’s telltale aroma.

Thank You

Anna Wiecek Photography