Being a Specialist newborn photographer, over the years I’ve learnt all the tips & tricks for getting babies off to sleep. In every newborn session I do I need baby fast a sleep to be able to photograph then in the lovely curled up poses. Parents are often amazed at just how well and how quickly I can achieve this.
I always make sure my parents know all these tips before the leave. Its then amazing to hear that they have been using these techniques with great success.
Im now going to share with you my top 4 tips.
1, Swaddling,
In the last few weeks of gestation, there is very little room for baby to move about, swaddling will give the baby a sense of comfit as it reminds them of being in the womb. In the studio I will often wrap babies if they won’t sleep, this not only keeps them from throwing their arms and legs about but helps them to settle and gives them the sense of security.
Swaddling is now not recommend by the Health professionals as it can cause overheating which can lead to death. If you are going to swaddle please seek advice from your health visitor.
2, White noise
I love white noise, this is one of my essential tools when photographing newborns. When babies are in the womb, they can here all the blood rushing round mamma’s body, they can also hear her talk, eat and even when she puts the hoover round. So a baby’s word is full of noise. When they are born and we automatically assume we need to be very quite and this is one of the things babies hate.
White noise is brilliant to solve this problem, the best bit is you become so use to it that you will be able to sleep while its playing in the background. You can download a free white noise app from the iTunes store or there is even Ewen the sheep (pictured above). Give it a try 🙂
3, Getting baby to sleep
One of the reasons I’m called the baby whisper amongst my clients is my ability to get babies to sleep. I’ve even had parents ask if I would like a job as a night nanny lol.
Heres how i do it:
Face baby into the light, this makes baby automatically want to close their eyes.
Rock baby gently in my arms or pat baby on bum or back, it differed from baby to baby so you will need to figure out which ones works best for your baby.
Stroke down bridge of baby’s nose, this helps baby to close their eyes, its also very comforting to them. My son still like this when he’s poorly (he’s now 3).
4, Stopping babies from crying
Heres a great tip to help calm your baby down to get them to sleep. Shushing. Yep its that simple. Long loud shush’s the louder you baby cry’s the louder you shush. When your baby’s crying starts to quieten down, so you do with your shushes. And while you are shushing also use the above techniques to help.
Heres a little audio clip of me shushing:
I would love to know if this has worked for you, please comment below.
Good luck and happy sleeping.
You can view more of my work at www.wingsphotography.co.uk
