Little Crosby’s momma rang my phone on a lazy Sunday afternoon, just after the busy Thanksgiving weekend. Her little bundle had arrived 3 weeks early, but in all the busyness after his birth, she was just then thinking about his newborn photo session! While I do have most of my clients book their newborn photography sessions in advance of their baby’s birth, it’s not uncommon to receive many calls from frantic moms and dads in the weeks after their bundle has arrived. While I’m not always able to accommodate a session for babies that aren’t on my calendar, (and it breaks my heart when I have to turn wonderfully kind and sometimes desperate potential clients away), I will usually try my absolute hardest to make it work! Since Crosby was already 16 days, if I was able to make a session work, I wanted to try to squeeze him in as soon as possible; especially since his mom reported that he was definitely starting to be more alert, spend more time awake, and sleep much less than he had when first born. It wasn’t a surprise to hear, because it’s usually in the 3rd week that babies start to grow out of their extra sleepy newborn phase. Fortunately, after looking over my schedule, I was able to find room for a session that same week! Not long after speaking, as I was thinking about him and the ideas we’d chatted about, it dawned on me that I actually had a totally free afternoon! Since little Crosby was getting more alert as each day passed, I knew the sooner we photographed him the better! After a quick call back, his momma agreed, so we planned the session that same day!
I immediately started getting my studio prepared for him, and about 204 minutes after first talking, Crosby arrived ready for his newborn photo session! He’d had a nice big meal before leaving home, but he was still a little hungry, so after a quick snack, we started his session. Crosby was feeling extra alert and super squirmy at first, but it wasn’t too long until he finally drifted off into a nice deep sleep. His session went quite smoothly after that, though he still gave me a few grunts and groans here and there.
While I was happy with how well Crosby ended up sleeping for me that day, it’s usually so apparent to me when babies are well into their 3rd week. All babies are different, and sometimes regardless of their age, they can either be light or deep sleepers. But it’s definetly true that once they near their 14 day mark, they become more alert, less sleepy, and much less tolerable of posing. When possible, I ALWAYS recommend planning for your baby’s session as soon as possible, preferably well before they arrive!
Either way, I am so glad it worked out and I got to meet and photograph little Crosby on his 16th day!
