When Is The Best Time To Take Newborn Photos?

Are you unsure as to what’s the best age for a newborn photo shoot? Perhaps you’d like to book a newborn photo shoot but have no idea how long the official ‘newborn’ stage lasts exactly?! I’m here to help!

Some newborn photographers will put a two week or 10 day age ‘limit’ on newborn photo sessions. I say there’s no reason why you can’t have baby’s newborn photo shoot up to around three or four weeks old or beyond. It’s never too late! The best age for a newborn photo shoot is as soon as whenever suits you and your family.

Plus, life gets in the way. You may have had a bit of a stay in hospital after birth, and having a new baby at home is exhausting. Inviting a photographer round to take photos may be the last thing you feel like doing (although if the idea of a super relaxed newborn photo shoot with lots of cups of tea and zero stress sounds good, then I could well be the newborn photographer for you).

Read on for my tips on the best age for a newborn photo shoot. Plus how to book one when you have no idea what date baby will actually arrive! Let me put your mind at rest at how easy it is to have beautiful new family memories captured, to treasure for a lifetime. Most parents really enjoy the experience, and it’s much more relaxing and stress-free than you might think!

{To book your newborn shoot with me, or for more info on how it all works, Request A Call here:

Request A Call About Newborn Photography}

Babies Younger Than Two Weeks Old  (Where Possible!)

A a London family photographer with nearly 10 years experience, I’ve photographed hundreds of newborn babies! Speaking from experience, I would recommend scheduling your newborn baby photo shoot for around two weeks after your due date if possible. The absolute best age for a newborn photo shoot, for this newborn photographer at least, is between 7 and 10 days old. Babies at this age still tend to be pretty chilled, curled up and sleepy. And you really will want to remember what your gorgeous new baby looked like at their absolute teeniest!

This is the best age for a newborn photo shoot that will document all that gorgeous curled-up sleepiness, baby’s snuggles with parents, photos of baby feeding (if you want them) and scrummy close up shots of baby’s eyelashes, lips and feet. This is also a great time to capture some beautiful photos of baby with their siblings. Baby won’t be consciously smiling yet, but at even the earliest newborn photo shoots I’ve been known to capture at least one or two windy smiles!

A conversation on Mumsnet (font of all knowledge) suggests that only 5% of babies arrive on their due date. Around a third of the rest are likely to be early, and about two thirds arrive late. So it’s a pretty safe bet, with a first baby at least, that your little one won’t be in any huge rush to come out on time. So two weeks after your due date tends to work pretty well as a provisional date for your newborn photo shoot booking.

A quick note..

If you’re looking for the best age for a newborn photo shoot in a photography studio, the ideal age is more like 5-12 days and rarely older. Studio newborn photography tends to be more about posed shots of baby. Think curled up in a basket/hammock/bucket or posed like a little frog… these poses can only be achieved before baby’s tiny bones fuse together and they’re still really curled up and ‘malleable’! This is a completely different style of newborn photography to what you see here and on the rest of my website. Click for more info on when to have a posed newborn photo session.

*That’s not me – I come to your own home for your family photo shoot and don’t take those types of posed shots of baby, so I’m totally happy to do newborn photo shoots with babies of any age!

My daughter Olivia and her newborn cousin Oliver, at just 5 days new! Awake throughout our quick half hour session. Check out all that hair.. <3

Such a chilled baby girl, she slept for most of her 2 hour session! 6 days old

Cute baby Beatrice at 10 days old, plenty of sleeping and wide awake shots from her 1.5 hour session

Baby Grayson at 13 days old – wide awake until we swaddled him and put the white noise on!

{To book your newborn shoot with me, or for more info on the best age for a newborn photo shoot, get in touch here:

Contact London Newborn Photographer.}

Older Babies

Babies older than two weeks are not quite so curled up and weeny any more! They also start to lose some of that gorgeous wrinkly skin and downy hair. Baby acne can appear from around two to three weeks old and cradle cap is common from a month or two old. Yet none of these are reasons not to have your baby photographed, of course! (A very small amount of subtle retouching can work wonders on the odd bit of flaky skin or those little red spots).

Every baby is different and it is more than possible for an experienced newborn photographer to get amazing shots of your new baby at three or four weeks old. In fact, no matter how late you get round to it, a photo session with baby is always a super idea, but if you can it’s so lovely to get a few shots of your little one captured before they grow (super fast – you’ve been warned!) and are not so teeny any more.

Slightly older babies are likely to be more alert and aware of their surroundings. So photo sessions with older babies can result in more ‘eyes open’ shots than sleepy ones. Super cute! We’re also a bit more likely to be able to capture a few proper smiles at this stage. So the best age for a newborn photo shoot where a bit more of baby’s personality shines through may be that little bit older.

Eye contact from baby Toby at 18 days old

Baby Max – super alert at 5 and a half weeks old. He slept for some of the photo session, once he was swaddled!

Caesarean Births

If you know you’re  going to be having a caesarean (or end up having one), you may be worried that your photographer will have you moving around lots, lifting baby, or standing/sitting in awkward, uncomfortable or downright painful positions. My newborn photo shoots however are totally parent- and baby-led. I can capture beautiful shots of you with your baby in whatever position is comfortable for you, whether sitting, propped up on pillows or standing.

Most parents are happy for me to move baby around for photos myself, meaning that for shots of baby on their own you can just sit back with a cup of tea and watch the magic happen! I’ve photographed over a hundred newborn babies and am a mum (of 1) and auntie (of 3!) myself, so your baby is in very safe and experienced hands.

If you’ve had a caesarean and are experiencing a particularly difficult recovery, then do of course think about delaying your photo session for a couple of weeks. It can wait. The best age for a newborn photo shoot is always dependent on when YOU are feeling well enough yourself.

{To book your newborn shoot with me, or for more info on how it all works, get in touch here:

Contact London Family Photographer.}

Premature Births

For premature babies, the best age for a newborn photo shoot is around your baby’s adjusted age (that’s the age they would have been if born on their due date). So you’ll book baby’s photo shoot for around then, or a few weeks later. I allow up to 3 rather than 2 hours for photo shoots with premature babies, as they often suffer more with reflux and other issues, and can take longer to settle than other newborns.

Gorgeous baby boy Teddy at 16 weeks old (3 weeks adjusted age).

Cute little Jaxon at 20 weeks old (born 12 weeks premature).

Best Age for a Newborn Photo Shoot

So what’s the best age for a newborn photo shoot? Where possible I recommend scheduling your newborn photo shoot before baby is two weeks old, to capture him or her in all their wrinkly and scrunched-up newness! I’d also recommend ideally also scheduling a session for around 4 months, again at 8 months and perhaps at a year old too. Your baby will never again change at quite such a rapid rate as they do in that magical (and exhausting!) first year. It makes a wonderful keepsake to have all that development and growth captured in beautiful photographs.

Lots of my baby photography clients have Fine Art Albums made with a selection of photos from baby’s first year. Get in touch if you’d like more details on how to preserve your photos for future generations in this way!

I offer a great value First Year package for baby photography – the Hey Baby! Newborn Photo Shoot package costs £495 for two photo shoots (choose from a Maternity Shoot, Newborn Shoot, 4-8 Months Shoot and 1st Birthday Shoot), plus £150 print credit to spend on your favourite photos of your baby.

Get in the photos yourselves!

Whenever you decide is the best age for a newborn photo shoot with your baby, it’s really important to me to capture photos of the parent(s) with baby, along with any siblings or pets too where possible! You may not feel particularly photogenic so soon after giving birth, but believe me it would be such a shame to miss out on capturing those all-important shots of you with your baby – these photos grow so much i value over time, and your little one will just love to look back on them in years to come.

Book Your Newborn Photo Shoot

To book your newborn photo shoot with me, or for more info on the best age for a newborn photo shoot, get in touch here:

Contact London Newborn Photographer.

I’m based in the South East and shoots are available in London, Kent and UK-wide. I also travel internationally a fair bit and like to photograph families as I go! Get in touch to check my availability. My shoot fees are inclusive of travel throughout the South East of England and beyond.

Alternatively you can call me on 07841 457799 or email helen@schryverphoto.com.

View more info on my newborn photography: London Newborn Photo Shoot Info.

Schedule A No-Obligation Call Or WhatsApp Message Chat here Contact London Newborn Photographer.