Milestone sessions are the perfect way to capture the innocence and magic of your baby at whatever stage they are in.  However, things don’t always go as planned, and that’s okay!  There are often scenarios where the sessions don’t go as planned, but there are some things you can do to prepare and still make the most out of the situation.

• Always try to schedule during your baby’s happiest time.  This is often first thing in the morning or right after their morning nap.  I always try to encourage parents to book their baby milestone sessions in the morning!
• If there is any indication that your baby isn’t feeling well, reschedule.  I NEVER mind rescheduling, even if it’s at the last minute.  I would rather try again on a day when your baby is feeling 100% themselves!
• Even then, sometimes, the baby is just not in the mood.  Just like adults, babies have their own personalities and sometimes just don’t want to cooperate.  Sometimes they are hungry, tired, or just not in the mood.  I very rarely book more than one session on the same day, so we will have time to be patient and try lots of things to help soothe your baby.  You can try giving them a bottle or a pacifier.  We can take a little break and give them some time to warm up and get used to their surroundings.  If possible, I’ll just try capturing some of the more candid moments like cute frowns or silly faces.  It’s always a good idea to bring snacks (if your baby is old enough) or a bottle, just in case!
• Finally, if we’ve tried everything we can think of, I’ll offer for you to come back another day.  Again, I never mind rescheduling for a day when your baby is happier!   I’ve had to do this a handful of times and it always works out better the second time around!
• It’s important to just stay flexible and relaxed, not getting stressed out because your baby will sense your mood!

More often than not, with a little patience and persistence, we can still capture some precious images of your baby at this moment in time.   Take a look at Beckett’s 9-month session below.  You can see that this sweet boy wasn’t quite feeling his best at the beginning of the session.  He just wanted his mama and it took some work to get him to warm up and give us some sweet smiles.   During the session, I know his mama felt like things just weren’t working out.   But as you can see, we persisted and wound up getting some precious images of him anyway, especially his newest trick of sticking out his tongue!  And, as usual, some of his more serious looks turned out to be my favorite images.   Such a sweet, precious boy – I can’t wait to see him again in a few months for his first birthday session!

Oh, and I just had to mention that the little LSU jacket he is wearing belonged to his daddy as a baby!