How to Keep Baby Awake During a Feeding

Before coming to your newborn session you are asked to give baby a good, full feeding, but sometimes baby wants to sleep. This is the one time we want baby to stay awake and get that good full belly, so I've gathered a few tips on how to keep baby awake while breastfeeding or bottle feeding.

• Stop in the middle of the feeding and Burp Baby
• Try keeping baby in a more upright position
• Gently touching baby
• Dance your fingers on the crown of baby's head
• Undress baby
• Massage baby's palms in a circle with your thumbs
• Stop and and change baby's diaper during the feeding
• Feed baby in a bright environment
• Stroke baby's cheeks and lips
• Bicycle baby's arms and legs
• Blow gently into baby's face
• Listen to quick tempo music
• Talk to baby
• Walk fingers up and down baby's spine
• Rub ear or jawline
• Place a fan on mama and baby

These are just a few tips to help you keep baby awake whilst feeding. We want to work together to have the best newborn creative session possible. So you can go home after your session with images like these:

Newborn Girl Lennon Dawn, 9 days new!

Meet Lennon Dawn, 9 days new! It's not often that we get a newborn with red hair, so Lennon with her sweet strawberry red hair was a treat!

Thank you for sharing your beautiful little red headed girl with us Crystal and Toby!

Here are just a few of my favorites from Lennon's newborn creative portrait session.

Crew's Baby Plan Portrait Session

Crew is back for his baby plan session with his adorable grins and expressions! Oh, and look at the way he grabs those toes! Baby toes, so much fun!

Capture the entire story

REMEMBER THIS MOMENT.

CHERISH THIS STORY.

CELEBRATE THIS LIFE.

Capture the entire story with Maternity, Birth, and Newborn photography. Contact Jenny Lee's Photography today! www.jennyleesphotography.com

Newborn Photography: Safety First!

Newborns! They are little miracles, bundles of joy, delicate, and precious little beings. I feel so honored to be someone's newborn photographer, but along with that honor I realize the great responsibility that comes along with it. I am not only a newborn photographer, but I am a trained and educated newborn photographer with the knowledge and skills to properly and safely pose babies in the cutest poses imaginable.

So as mom and dad hand over their fresh, new baby to me I'm confident that I can and will treat their baby just as if that baby was my own. I will use my training, knowledge, and skills to keep baby soothed, comforted, and most importantly SAFE! This proper training is EXTREMELY important and I just want to create some awareness that NOT all photographers that are calling themselves "newborn photographers" have had this proper training. It scares me to think that they are trying poses that are not safe without the understanding and education of how those poses are done properly and safely.

I constantly get asked, "How did you get baby to do that?" Well, many of the poses that my assistant and I do together are what you call composite images. Composite images are where two images are taken and combined in photoshop to make one image. These images take extra editing work and it is important for one to know that baby is not doing these poses without assistance.

It's also important to understand that all babies are different, just as each adult or child is different and each deserves respect. Some like to be cuddled up and some like to be sprawled out. Some like their hands by their face, while others don't. As my assistant and I work together to pose baby we go with what may seem more natural to baby. We want to respect baby and how they are feeling. You may find us talking to baby and trying to get to know your little ones cues so that we can read the cries and little noises your little one makes. So if a particular pose we are going for doesn't work for baby, we change it to make it right for that baby.

In my studio safety is first!

Maternity and Newborn Albums Make a Great Combo

Oh, I'm just so excited for this couple and their new baby to get their maternity and newborn albums. Having heirloom albums to pass down from generation to generation is really something special and something that will be treasured for generations to come! 

Are you ready to book your maternity and newborn creative session with Jenny Lee's Photography? It is recommended to book early in your second trimester. Contact Jenny Lee today www.jennyleesphotography.com

Ella's Fall Portrait Session

Children are amazing and such a blessing. My daughter, Ella, at almost 7-years-old was a joy to take out for her fall portrait session. She has the most beautiful big brown eyes and her suede jacket was perfect for a fall setting. Here are just a few of my favorite photographs from her creative session.

Are you looking to book a special session for your child? Jenny Lee's Photography is now booking for 2016. Call today to book your child's portrait session.

Why Swaddle Baby

The question is why swaddle your baby? Swaddling is done in the studio in between sets or even for a particular set up, but whether you are in the studio for your newborn's creative portrait session or at home trying to get baby to sleep, swaddling can be a great tool and technique to learn to soothe your newborn.  Here are just a few reasons to swaddle your newborn:

1) Swaddling reminds baby of being in the womb. Therefore making baby feel soothed, calm, safe, and warm.

2) Babies sleep better and longer

3) There will be less crying

4) Prevents baby from being startled and disturbed by it's own reflexes.

5) Some studies show it reduces SIDS and improves neuromuscular development and can be especially important for premature babies.

Don't know how to swaddle your baby? Take a look at this video: http://www.babycenter.com/2_how-to-swaddle-a-baby_10347122.bc

The relationship between you and a photographer

As you go through the process of custom photography, you spend a great deal of time with your photographer and their staff. As you come back for additional sessions, it is wonderful for the photographer to see how the children are growing and everyone is changing! You might even look back at their sample in the studio and see your portrait from a few years ago. You are sharing a part of your life with your photographer, building a relationship. The result of that relationship is personalized, thoughtful portraits of your family, produced by a trusted family friend.

Custom Photography Advantages

One of the biggest advantages of going with a custom photographer is time. You are not rushed to make a decision to purchase. You are well educated through the process to learn about what the photographer offers and what you might need. Photographers often keep your portraits for a longer time than the chain stores, so you can reorder if you would need to. This does not guarantee that all photographers do this and that your photos will be available forever. With technology changing so rapidly, photographers really don't know how long they can keep your portraits. They have to invest in the software and storage space to keep your portraits so there may be a fee to reorder at a later date or they may require a minimum re-order amount.

What about all the time and investment that your photographer has placed on providing props, clothing, hats, materials, etc. for your portrait session. We spend thousands of dollars per year to keep our studio fully stocked and updated so that you don't have to worry about bringing anything for a newborn or baby plan session. This is HUGE for you as you can come and not need to worry about what your little one will wear or what props to include. 

Another great perk is seeing your family portrait around town or receiving it in the mail. Most custom photographers will ask you to sign a model release. This is to let them use your images as marketing for their studio. You might see your portrait on a billboard, emails, postcards, in business displays or at local events! Imagine your children's faces when they see their photo on a billboard or display! A lot of times, the photographer may gift you the studio sample once the photographer is finished with it!

Next week: The relationship between you and a photographer