Is my baby too old for newborn photos?
Plans change. Babies arrive earlier or later than planned. Newborns or parents have medical complications. The entire world shuts down because of a highly contagious virus. And now you're wondering if you'll still be able to get newborn portraits of your amazing new little one - how old is too old?
I decided to do monthly portraits for both of my sons. It's a little excessive for most parents, but it does make for a handy way to show you how babies change over their first few months of life, and how those changes affect the kind of photos we can create. I’ve also added in some other client photos that are a little more recent. As your baby gets older, you'll be able to get different kinds of poses, so your baby is never too old for beautiful portraits.
1 week old baby
For the most part, those sleepy swaddled poses do work best with newborns who are between about 5 and 14 days old. They're very flexible at this point, and they sleep a lot of their day.
4 week old baby
After that, it depends a lot on your particular baby. Johnny, on the left, slept through all of his one month session. Henry was ready to party. If your baby is feeling sleepy, we can often still get those more typical newborn poses (also with preemies, you want to go by their adjusted age). If they aren't, we can get some awesome lifestyle photos. Personally, I like photos with baby's eyes open just as much as cuddly sleepy ones.
8 week old baby
Still looking pretty tiny, but a bit more awake. Babies at this age can be a little more resistant to curling up, but we may still get some swaddled photos of them napping.
3 month old baby
This is about where I feel like they look less like newborns, and more like babies. It's a fun time to get portraits, though, because they're often pushing up onto their elbows, and showing more personality.
4-6 month old baby
I don’t usually do milestone sessions by age, but by when they hit the milestone. So anywhere in this range, babies might be pushing up on their bellies, and may be able to sit a little if they’re propped up well enough (we always ALWAYS have a spotter for this, as they still tend to unpredictably fall over at this stage.)
7-9 month old baby
They’re likely sitting on their own by this age, and might be pulling themselves up on your furniture. They have a ton of personality.
10-12 month old baby
It’s birthday time!
So there you have it! I think any time is great to document the newest member of your family, but I hope this helps to give you a better idea of what you can expect at different ages.
