I have had a lot of parents ask me how I get the babies to sleep so well during the sessions. I thought I would share my top three tips on how to settle your baby when they won’t sleep. Maybe this will help with some of the late nights for new parents. 🙂
White Noise
You should always have some kind of white noise for the room they are sleeping in. I use a sound machine in my studio. It really helps them settle down when they won’t settle. There are tons of noises but I find the ones that work best are vacuums, rain, shushing if you can stand the noise, and just straight static. There is also an app that I use if I am not in my studio that I love that would be great if you were out and at a restaurant or visiting family. Here is a link to the one I use. (Sound Sleeper)
Keep them warm/swaddled
Everyone buys receiving blankets but they do not keep babies arms in! There is no stretch to them so you can get them tight enough unless you are super good at it. (Not Easy) Newborns just came out of a very small space and when they have no pressure on them they startle very easy. If you want to save yourself some headache go to the fabric store and buy like 12-16 inches of a jersey knit fabric. Something that stretches in both directions. It will cost you like 2.00! I have tons in my studio and the babies love it.
Movement
Babies are use to being jiggled around before they are born. They do not want to sit still! Why do you think there is so many moving newborn things. Swings, bouncing seat, vibrating seat, gliders, rockers….. the list just goes on and on. Bouncing while you are sitting still will wear you out! I speak from experience! A lot of parents will walk around the house for an hour and that will work if you want to have noodle arms. My suggestion is get a yoga ball. It is cheap, takes up very little space and it’s almost no effort to bounce. Babies usually go to sleep in less than a minute. It’s my go to in the studio for awake babies.
If you are interested in Newborn photography session and you want to see me put your baby to sleep like magic, find out more here.
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