Newborn Prep Guide

Session Location:

6948 Orion Ave, Lake Balboa, CA 91406

Please text 818-388-8406  once you arrive and we will meet you out front.

At Home Prep

⦁ Awake/Alert Time prior to arriving to your session: please be sure to keep baby AWAKE and ALERT at home for about 1.5 hours in the morning the day of your session. This is VERY important and might not be easy, but if you can accomplish this, baby will sleep deeper and longer during their session and
enable us to get in the number of “looks” with baby that we like to deliver to our clients. I tell parents to give baby a bath in the morning, as well, as this keeps them awake for longer periods.
⦁ Feeding: please feed baby right before you leave your house to come to the session.
⦁ If you are breast feeding, please NO spicy foods and NO caffeine for at least 24 hours prior to the session.
⦁ The idea is for baby to have alert/awake time at home, then feed, then get in the car so they can (hopefully) get into a deeper sleep on the car ride over. We want baby to fall asleep in the car ride over.
⦁ Be sure to wipe down baby’s eyes and face as best as you can before you leave the house……pay special attention to any flaky skin or dry skin around the eyes, corner of eyes, and any crusty
eyelashes.
⦁ Please do not use any kind of skin lotion or moisturizer on baby the morning of the session. Lotion
can add shine to baby’s skin that the camera will pick up.

What to Bring

⦁ Diaper bag with diapers, wipes, etc.
⦁ Pumped breast milk or formula in bottle. Remember nipples, too. Babies usually don’t keep to their exact feeding schedule during a newborn session, so we ask to have pumped milk/formula on hand. If you prefer to breast feed that works as well.
⦁ Pacifier.
⦁ Change of clothes.

What to Wear

⦁ For baby: please dress baby that morning in LOOSE, one piece snap or zip closure clothing only- nothing that comes
off over the head.
⦁ For you, if family photos are being done : please dress in solid
coordinating colors. No logos, but subtle patterns are ok.

What to Expect

⦁ Temperature: studio is going to be warm…..we keep the heat up as well as use a space heater in the room we will be working
in. This is to keep baby nice and toasty and comfortable while being photographed.
⦁ We have a couch for feedings and breaks.
⦁ We have a lot of props, blankets, hats, fabric, etc.- we provide everything in this department!

Please Note

**We kindly ask that parents refrain from taking any cell phone pictures during the session.
**We ask that mom and dad and baby only attend the session . No grandparents, extended family, night nurses, nannies, etc.
**We recommend that you do not schedule anything else the day of your session.
**When you arrive, please bring baby into the studio inside the car seat- do not take baby out of the car seat.

Final Thoughts

Finally, most all of our clients tell us to “do our thing” and style the session according to our artistic aesthetic. We really prefer this and it allows us to create a well-balanced and beautiful session for you.
However, if there’s something specific that you’ve seen on our website that you’d like us to try for, this includes color themes, please let us know at least 3 days prior to the session, as there will not be any time during the session to decide this.
Thanks so much for your understanding on that. Also, we remind parents that every baby is different and what worked for one baby may not necessarily work for another.

Contact

info@RhysMcArthurPhotography.com
Tel: 818-388-8406
Lake Balboa, CA 91406