If you have been following me for any length of time, you know that I am a baby lover.  Babies are just about my favorite thing in the whole world and I have been called the baby whisperer on more than one occassion.  Most of the time when I leave a newborn session the parents remark that they wish they could get their baby to sleep like I do.  It isn’t that I have a magic potion, but there are a few tricks that I use to help make babies sleep for newborn sessions.  As you look at these ADORABLE pictures of little Luke I am going to give you a few hints.

Trick number one:

Keep the room REALLY warm.  Like 75-80 degrees with a heater lightly blowing on the baby warm.  Most people don’t keep their houses that warm on a normal basis.  Our family lovingly refers to it as “nursing home” warm.

Trick number two:

Place them in a fluffy cloud of blankets or bean bag (disclaimer….this is only for pictures.  It could be dangerous for your baby to be in these situations).

Trick number three:

Have lots of experience and be completely at ease around babies.  I have been a mom for 15 years, I have 3 kids and 7 nieces and nephews.  I have also been doing newborn photography for 8 years so I have snuggled a lot of babies.  If there is a baby in the room, it is safe to say that I will make a run at grabbing that baby for a little snuggle time.  Baby Hog might also be a term that has been attributed to me and I am okay with that.  I can even get them to smile in their sleep (if I am lucky).

Trick number four:

Enjoy the hour or two with the baby and give them back to their parents so you can get a full night’s sleep.  Sleep deprivation is a huge weapon that babies use against their parents and since I am just coming to snuggle for a few hours I don’t have to worry about being woken up in the middle of the night by a crying baby.

As you can see….these might just be LiLo tricks, but feel free to use them as needed.  However, here is a bonus trick that has saved me TONS of times and also took me years to learn but it is genius.

Bonus Tip: (meaning a tip you can actually use in real life).

If the baby is fussy and you know they are tired and they just won’t go to sleep….cover their eyes with a blanket or use the shade to cover their face if they are in the car seat.  Sometimes babies get overstimulated and just can’t stop looking around.  If you cover their eyes, or block out the distractions….they go to sleep almost immediately.  Seriously new moms….this trick will save your life.

Sorry for the silliness.  Now down to business.  Have you loved these sweet pictures of Luke?  He was a perfect little angel and he had me wrapped around his little finger!

Look at this sweet little profile!

Going into people’s home to capture the first few days of life is such an honor and privilege.

Seeing a new mom and dad loving on their baby is one of the biggest perks of my job.

Thanks for letting me snuggle Luke and for allowing me the honor of capturing these precious memories for you Salvuccis.

Want more newborn goodness?  Then check out sweet little Eleanor or Miss Harper.