3 Tips for including Older Siblings in a Newborn Photoshoot - Even if they’re wild!
Are you worried about how your older children will behave in your family's newborn photoshoot? Is that stopping you from booking a session because you think they are just too wild, too loud, or just don't listen well?
I want to alleviate that worry by saying that my studio is a kid friendly studio. Kids are free to be themselves and with patience, kind words and a lot of love, your kids will feel totally comfortable in the studio and will want to take pictures with their new sibling.
1) Using Age Appropriate Poses
Depending on their age, we'll try different pose set ups that work best for them. We may get them to start sitting 'criss cross apple sauce' but they are free to move around and get their wiggles out before we place baby in an older child’s arms, like we show in some of the pictures below. It’s all about patience and kindness. It has to seem like a fun time for very little ones to WANT to participate.
If you have an older child, we may try to get them to hold their new sibling. But ONLY if they are comfortable with the idea of doing it and in the safest way possible. That usually means sitting on the ground with a parent right by them as a spotter. (Parent spotters happen with every pose no matter the age). When they feel like they are done holding the baby we explain to them that they need to tell their parent and their parent will take baby before they can stand up. Parents are always an arms length away and are edited out of the picture.
If you have a young older child between the ages of 1-4ish, we'll put your new baby in a position where the older sibling doesn't have to hold the baby at all but can be right near them. This could mean they lye on their backs beside each other, the baby is in front of them while they lye on their belly's behind them or putting baby in a basket so your older child can hug the basket.
If you have a young older child between the ages of 1-4ish, we'll put your new baby in a position where the older sibling doesn't have to hold the baby at all but can be right near them. This could mean they lye on their backs beside each other, the baby is in front of them while they lye on their belly's behind them or putting baby in a basket so your older child can hug the basket.
2) COOL AS A CUCUMBER - STAYING CALM IN THE MIDST OF CHAOS
We always stay calm, happy and cool like a cucumber as parents during the session. We want the experience to be a happy and exciting one for your older children and something they want to do because we've made it fun. Always, always, with safety minded care. If you stay calm and happy, your kids will stay calm and happy.
We definitely do not want to say anything like ‘you’re being bad’ … I’ve had parents accidentally say that and the defeat in their kids eyes, no matter the age was heartbreaking. It’s very hard to come back from that because you can see the sadness in your child’s eyes and it comes across clearly in a photograph.
If you feel like during your session you need to step away because your older kids are just acting too silly, that’s totally okay! We will take any breaks needed for both you and your child! Sometimes your child may feel overwhelmed - it’s hard becoming a big sibling and not having 100% of their parents attention. It’s a big adjustment as I’m sure you’ll see and older siblings just want to feel special too. They want to feel important and often the siblings older than 5 will have their own great posing ideas that we always try (sometimes that means their parent holding them upside down next to the baby in a basket lol) …. so yes, they are full of ideas and are a part of the whole experience from the start.
The benefit of only booking in one session a day is that there is no rush, there's no clients coming to the studio right after yours, so you can come prepared to truly relax while I help create beautiful portraits you will fall in love with!
I also will dance like a fool or make a funny noise to get those genuine smiles and if we approach it in a relaxed manner, the kids will feel relaxed too.
3) THERE ARE NO BAD KIDS HERE
You can definitely practice with your older child at home before the session on a bed or couch. Actually I highly recommend it! This allows them to see what we may expect of them while they are at the studio. You can explain what we are going to do. You can even practice taking pictures of them so they know what it will be like, but I want you to know that there are no bad kids in our studio.
All kids are loved for who they are and I know what to expect from each age group so there is no need to apologize if your child isn't cooperating or it's taking longer than you think it’s supposed to. It will take as long as it takes and we’ll take breaks as needed. When a parent accidentally tells a big sibling that they are acting bad you can automatically see the light dim from their eyes and sadness take over their face. The feeling of being defeated isn’t one we can easily overcome once it happens. Kids have a hard time bouncing back from that to express the joy in their eyes and face that we want to capture. So if you are feeling like you are reaching that critical level just signal to me. It doesn’t happen often to be honest. And we’re all just parents trying to do our best. But I want you to know that whatever images we end up with are going to be perfect for your family - even the funny ones!
Like this family below that were blessed expectantly with 4 kids under 4 when they came into my studio and among the chaos we created portraits that felt like real life for them and they loved every one of them! Because when you embrace the chaos sometimes it can make you appreciate your family even more! Family life is supposed to be messy and fun and wonderful.
This family is truly blessed and I thought the kids were amazing even in the wildness especially since they drove almost 2 hours to come see me! Between the twins being awake and frisky at opposite times so we never actually got one image of both asleep at the same time (one was always peeping their eyes at me not wanting to miss a thing lol), to the girls just living their best lives, it was all amazingness and I loved every minute of it - plus I’ve been photographing them since their oldest was young so it’s been such a joy to watch this family grow over the years. They are always so happy to be here and I love that!
We do start with all the family/sibling/parent portraits with baby as you’ve prepared them the morning of the session for their pictures being taken and this gives them the opportunity to be picked up by a grandparent/guardian or to leave with one parent to go back home or back to school. It’s different for each family so the kids don’t have to wait around while I pose their new baby brother or sister by themselves as that can take a lot of time and patience as well.
Posed newborn portraits are different then lifestyle portraits as for the most part we are trying to get baby to fall asleep for the pictures to pose them and are not just lying them down in a simple basket while they are wide awake and moving around. So the session can be 1-3 hours long and we recommend older siblings go to the park a block away if the weather is nice while one parent stays behind with baby and me. I’ll work with you to see what is best for your family.
You're going to want to remember this moment in your family's story and I don't want having 'wild' children to deter you from booking a session with me.
I have two of those 'wild' children myself 😘 and I've heard I'm quite hilarious so you're in good hands!
So contact me today and we'll start planning your session and if you have any questions about your older children or about anything else please don't be scared to ask. I'm here to answer any questions!