The Difference a Month Makes

Some moms desire to have their baby's sessions scheduled to. the. day. of the 3, 6, 9 or 12 month mark and others are flexible according to weather (if they want outdoor photos) or they're going for a particular "look" for their images. These two sessions I'm about to showcase are perfect examples. Allow me to explain...

Gerard's cousin, Cindy, and her husband Dan have an adorable 3 month old, who is working on his Tummy Time skills but not quite enjoying it yet. But, as timing would have it, we were together for a family gathering last weekend and since they live in Missouri, it'd be the only time I see them to photograph their baby at this stage. Regardless of what we captured that day, we wanted to document the stage he was in at that moment in time. And Cindy was totally fine with whatever we were able to get (thank you for your flexibility, Cindy!).

At a Tummy Time session, I gather images of Baby laying on their back for some face-up and smiley shots, then go for the ab workout...

Now, obviously every baby develops at a different pace (Laidy didn't enjoy Tummy Time until she was 5 months--I have a hunch she was such a light weight in comparison to her head size, it just wasn't a pleasant experience!) so perhaps your child will be happy as a clam at 3 months doing Tummy Time. Here, he was a very focused little man on keeping that head up-so much so, that we weren't able to get any smiles while he was in that position. 

Now, contrast that with another cutie pie at 4 months who's had more time to practice and get his smile on...

I'm not saying that we can't do a Tummy Time session at the 3 month mark, (Cindy didn't have a choice because of the distance between us and their desire to have photos taken) but I will say that sometimes 3 months won't give you the optimal images for the milestone we want to document. Growing from a newborn to a 3 or 4 month old, babies are smiling, making faces, and holding their head up better--it'd be awesome if we could get both abilities in one shot. You know your baby best and how they're doing with this exercise and every milestone after this (sitting up, standing, walking). I know my camera best; and together, we'll capture where your baby is in their development with a fantastic outcome! 

Main take-away: consider how consistently your baby is able to achieve the desired milestone (be it tummy time, sitting, standing or walking) and if they're able to be content while doing it when you are scheduling your next photo session for optimal results! :)