You just had a baby. The laundry is piling up, the dishes may or may not be done, and someone… probably you… hasn’t slept properly in days. And now there’s a photographer coming to your home.

Take a breath. I promise you, this is going to be okay. More than okay, actually.

In-home newborn sessions are some of my absolute favourites, not because everything is perfect and tidy, but because they are real. Your home, your light, your tiny new human wrapped in the smell of everything that is yours. That is exactly what I am here to capture.

So let me walk you through how to prepare, gently, honestly, and without adding anything to your already very full plate.

The Truth About What Your Home Needs to Look Like

Here is my honest confession: I do not care how big your home is, how small it is, or whether there are burp cloths on the sofa. I genuinely do not.

What I do care about is light, warmth, and the real life happening inside your four walls.

Before every session I have a call with the family to look at the spaces together and figure out where the best light lives in your home. (And here is a little clue, it is almost always close to the windows.) We look at what feels natural, what feels like you, and we build the session from there.

You do not need to renovate. You just need to let me in.

What Actually Matters Before I Arrive

Here are the things that genuinely make a difference – and none of them involve deep cleaning your entire home.

1. The Room Temperature: Newborns need to be warm, especially during any unclothed or lightly wrapped moments. Make sure the room where we will be shooting is comfortably warm before I arrive. It makes a huge difference for how settled and relaxed your baby feels throughout the session.

2. What Baby Is Wearing Beforehand: This is a small but mighty detail. Try to avoid dressing your newborn in anything with tight elastic or ribbing for a couple of hours before the session. Those little marks on their skin can take a while to fade, and soft, unmarked skin photographs so beautifully.

3. Your Joy Journal: This is something I love to ask every family to prepare, and it might be my favourite part of the whole process.

Before I arrive, I ask you to write down just three small things, everyday moments of joy that have already appeared in this new chapter of your life. It could be the way your partner sings a lullaby and the baby visibly melts. It could be the ritual of drinking a hot cup of tea (finally) while watching your partner feed the baby. It could be something so small you almost didn’t notice it.

Keep that journal somewhere I can see it when I walk in. Because those are not small things. Those are the moments I am here to capture. That little journal sets the tone for everything that follows, and honestly, it brings me so much happiness.

4. Feed, Settle, Then Let’s Go: A fed and sleepy baby is a happy baby during a session. If you can time a feed before I arrive, or have one ready to go as we start, that tends to set us up beautifully. We will always work around your baby’s rhythm, not against it.

Tidy Enough Is Enough

Put away anything that feels visually distracting to you, but please do not spend the days before our session in a cleaning spiral. A lived-in home is a loved-in home, and that is exactly the kind of backdrop that makes these images feel timeless rather than staged.

My Approach on the Day: We Go With the Flow

Here is what I want you to know, above everything else.

I know what I am doing, and my whole job is to make you, your partner, and your baby feel relaxed, comfortable, and genuinely present in the experience. We will move through your home gently, follow your baby’s lead, and embrace every imperfection we find along the way, because that is exactly where the beauty lives.

New parents often tell me afterwards that they were surprised by how much they enjoyed the session. Not just the photos, but the actual experience of watching their little one feel completely loved and held. That is what I am aiming for every single time.

Why This All Matters

The early days of your baby’s life are going to blur. I say this as a mother myself, the details fade faster than you expect, and “mummy brain” (or parent brain, let’s be fair) is very real.

These images are not just photographs. They are the proof that this exact version of your family existed… the hot tea, the lullabies, the exhausted and overwhelmed and completely in love version of you. That is worth preserving. That is worth a little bit of preparation, even when life feels chaotic.

Get in touch here and let’s start planning your session together. Because the mess, the love, and all the imperfect beauty of these early days? That is exactly what deserves to be remembered.

Keep capturing magic,

Ayelen