Tips for a stress free Newborn Session with a toddler

Congratulations! You just added a new little one to your family and you want to successfully get new family photos taken with your baby but you’re apprehensive because big brother or sister is an unpredictable toddler. Let me share with you some tip and tricks I tell my clients when I have their Lifestyle Newborn scheduled.

Most of this can be used for family sessions in general, not just newborn sessions but I will share a few tricks at the end that are newborn session specific.

I think the key to getting any toddler to cooperate is to keep it low pressure and go with the flow. When talking to your toddler about the session make it sound like a fun playdate. Tell them your friend Ashley (me!) is coming over to meet them and the baby. Tell them I will take some pictures and how cool would it be to hang a new family photo on the wall?

Let them feel empowered. Toddlers thrive when they feel like they are in control. You can start by giving them a choice in their outfit. If you have two shirts or dresses that would work with the family’s look let them decide which one they want to wear. I will often ask the big sibling about their preferences (example: do they want to sit on the left or the right of mom? Should we start in the living room or mom and dad’s room?)

Often an older sibling can be uninterested in the baby and it can be difficult to get them to interact. To encourage a toddler to engage with baby I have had success with hiding gummy snacks or puffs in baby’s swaddle (that is how we got big brother loving on baby sister in these photos). But sometimes it is as simple as asking them to smell baby’s head or feet, point out baby’s features like their nose, eyes or fingers.

Please, and I cannot stress this enough, let big sibling TAKE BREAKS! Nothing will get a toddler to throw a fit faster than to make them do something they don’t want to. If they are excited to participate in photos when I first arrive I will ride that wave of their attention span until it dies out and let them take a break (while I get solo shots of each parent with baby, or baby on their own) and wait for the next wave of participation from the toddler. If the toddler is hesitant when I first arrive I will keep it low pressure and invite them to watch me take photos of mom and dad with baby or play near by. In either case, most of the time the toddler will come to see what the grown ups are doing and I will inevitably be in some photos with them.