St. Louis Newborn Photography | What if my baby won’t go to sleep?
As a lifestyle newborn photographer, one of the number one questions I get is “What if my newborn won’t go to sleep during our session?. My answer is usually something along the lines of “don’t worry, we let the baby lead the session”. When I started out as a newborn photographer, I spent so much time trying to get babies to sleep soundly or lay exactly where and how I wanted them. This process only lead to stress from the baby, me, and the parents. It felt SO unnatural to me as mother and photographer. Soon after that, I moved towards more of a baby led session style. I now capture newborns exactly how I love. This means if the baby wants to be held, you hold them. If he wants to nurse, you nurse. Of course, I still try swaddles, white noise, and pacifier to calm. The biggest difference is I no longer spend hours trying to make a baby sleep when they just don’t want to. As a newborn photographer, I personally swoon over awake babies.. I love how they gaze into the camera or become mesmerized by the site of their mother’s face. The goal of a newborn session for me is to capture that beautiful new love connection. Why would I keep a sweet babe away from you to do that? So mamas, don’t stress if you don’t want to put your baby down or your baby wants to nurse constantly. I will still give you beautiful, connected images that will tell the story of those first weeks with your new baby.
