How to prepare your older child for your newborn session

Remember, if they’ve been the only child up until this point, their world has been completely rocked with the arrival of their sibling. They may act out or want nothing to do with getting the photoshoot so here are a few tips to help.

1. Get them to help out with the baby as much as possible such as getting you the changing for nappy changes, helping hold the bottle when feeding, helping get baby dressed so that they can connect more to the newborn.

2. Practice having your older child lay down on the floor with their arms around baby. Tell them to pretend to go to sleep as well as giving little kisses to their baby.

3. Try to have a stress free morning before the shoot. I know this is hard but toddlers (and also newborns) can feed off of the energy of adults so if you are running around frazzled beforehand, the chances of your toddler acting up will increase.

4. Make sure you child is well rested and fed before coming to the studio. Bring plenty of snacks and toys to keep your child occupied. (I advise bringing along screens such as phones and iPads as we can keep them with your toddler/child when it’s time to have photos).

5. Sometimes, older siblings especially toddlers just do not want to wear what you want them to.  Don’t stress!  If big sister doesn’t want to put on that cream coloured dress, let her pick a solid colored tank top, smock or shirt with no logos or patterns. If big brother does not want to wear a shirt, then keep him in a polo or plain t-shirt. For siblings, I recommend light, neutral and block colours, try and steer away from patterns and small flowers etc. I find sibling photos to be the most timeless images to take, and I love to see neutrals especially.  If you are able to get big sister to put on that dress, may I suggest that she also wear a pair of bike short underneath of the same colour.  Little kids can be super active during the sibling photo portion of the session and may accidentally move their legs into positions that could otherwise be revealing of their undergarments.  As much as I can try to fix wardrobe malfunctions in Photoshop, it’s easiest to have those little shorts on.

6. Have no expectations. This is a tough one as us photographers know how important it is to get that beautiful shot of your children together but we can’t force your child to lay down or sit next to the baby. We can pull out all the tricks in the book but if your older child or children end up screaming then it’s game over.