Newborn Photos with Awake Babies

Newborn photos with baby awake is not only totally fine, but also absolutely amazing! There are things we suggest doing to help make baby sleepy before their session that we will always suggest. What’s more important than being asleep though, is that baby is well fed and comfortable. Ensuring a happy and full newborn baby can be tricky at times. But when the stars align the resulting photos are gorgeous!

Some babies are older than the typical two- to three-week-old newborn when they come for their session and no longer sleep as deeply. Other newborns are born alert and were never keen to miss out on the excitement around them. If you’re worried your baby might not sleep, read on for five benefits of babies being awake for newborn photos:

Open eye photos

Those first few weeks after baby is born they spend so many hours asleep. It sometimes seems that entire days go by without even catching a glimpse of their eyes. It’s easy to understand why parents are concerned they might not remember what their little one’s eyes looked like. The newborn stage goes by so quickly and in a bit of a blur. If baby is awake (and calm) at their newborn session, I always use this opportunity to capture wide-eyed photos of baby so that their parents can remember forever the way their eyes looked. Babies’ eyes often change colour in the first few weeks. This makes the time we have to photograph them as they were at birth very fleeting.

Awake newborn baby photos capture lots of facial expressions

When babies are sweetly sleeping, I often catch a couple of different reflexive facial expressions on camera. But when a baby is awake, the amount of facial expressions they share with the camera is so much more. An alert and awake baby’s face is constantly changing in expression as they look around. It’s incredible to see and photograph all of the different expressions they can make soon after birth. And parents love having them beautifully captured on camera so they can remember their little looks forever.

Connection with siblings

It can be easier for a sibling to sit and hold their baby brother or sister if they’re sleeping. But there are perks to baby being awake for those special sibling photos too. I have found older siblings more connected with their baby sibling when they’re awake. Siblings seem to be much more interested in baby when their eyes are open. I’ve found awake periods an amazing time to capture on camera the sibling connection with each other. Photos of a sibling and baby looking into each other’s eyes are incredibly special for parents. The looks they share are a glimpse into their future relationship and an amazing perk of baby being awake.

Parent photos with newborn baby awake are magical

When posing a newborn with mom or dad I often have baby face their parent. Awake or asleep, these photos are always so special and a beautiful way to capture a parent’s love for their baby. When baby is awake though, mom or dad’s face inevitably lights up with love and happiness. And no mattern how little baby is, their eyes go straight to their parent’s face. This favourite parent pose of mine is only made more sweet with baby being awake.

Not to worry if you were hoping for sleepy newborn photos!

Even the most alert newborn babies are typically soothed to sleep by the tricks that I’ve developed from over a decade of experience. But even for the rare baby that is not at all interested in sleep I have a special strategy to capture sleepy photos for their parents. Even wide awake babies will always blink and if baby truly won’t nap, I am ready to capture that moment. An awake newborn and my fast camera reflexes gives a family the best of both worlds. Wide awake photos to capture those beautiful bright eyes and photos of briefly closed lids to capture what your baby looks like asleep. I promise that you cannot tell from the photo whether baby is asleep or not. It’s the perfect way to have sleepy newborn photos when your baby would prefer to stay awake!