If your baby is already here and you are searching this, pause and start googling newborn photographers because it's already time. Jokes aside- many of us book up months in advance. We all have a slightly different process, so I can only speak to my own, but here's the gist of it.
Your newborn should be less than two weeks old at the time of their phot session. Why? They'll sleep better. There's no super complex answer here, it's just a matter of their physiology. This is shifted if they are born premature, and can be extended to match their adjusted age. Still, though, if they are not in the NICU or needing any special care, it's a benefit to come in those first two weeks anyways. They have a lot of flexibility in those early days, and combined with their extra sleepiness it makes that time frame the most optimal.
What other factors should you consider? Babies often struggle to sleep soundly in the first few days of life as they wait for mother's milk to fully come in, and as they adjust to life on the outside in general. The perfect time is between 6-12 days of life. In many cases the umbilical cord stub will have fallen off by then, and if a circumcision was done it will no longer be causing discomfort.
Are any of these details really important to know? Nah, not really. We'll advise a day range and suggest a date that falls in the ideal zone. If you aren't available (school aged siblings need to be present, have to wait for a weekend, whatever the situation may be) it's not the end of the world if you fall outside of the recommended range. We have tons of tricks up our sleeves to get babies to sleep calmly through their session.
What if your cultural beliefs prevent you from having a session that early? That's fine too! This is a judgement free zone and you will never be discriminated against for following your beliefs. Others may disagree, but newborn sessions can absolutely be done for babies a month old, or even older. You may need to have more patience, and have reasonable expectations for which poses can be done, but there's no reason you can't have adorable newborn photos too. "Older newborns", for lack of better term, usually just require more swaddling and more time soothing to sleep between poses. It's absolutely still possible :)
If you are planning your newborn photos and your baby hasn't arrived yet, we always just jot down your due date in our schedule and adjust based on when they are actually born. The one thing babies are good at is being predictably unpredictable. They love messing with your plans and coming at the most inconvenient moments! We keep it flexible and pick a solid date when the baby arrives. It's as simple as that.
Although, I will say it's been a fun bit of chaos when I've had several moms deliver late and several also deliver weeks early, ending up giving me a slammed week full of babies instead of a nicely spread out calendar. That's just how it goes, and I love it! We thrive on chaos over here and that's probably why I love this job so much. Every baby is different, every family has different requests, and every work day is unique. I appreciate all of my wonderful clients who keep me in this crazy world.
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