Worried about doing a newborn photo shoot with toddler sibling? Balham, South West London, SW12

Don't be! This is sometimes when the magic can happen.

Toddler's affection for newborn baby sister

Toddlers are often excited and very affectionate towards their new sibling... sometimes a little over affectionate! This excitement is magical to capture. Yes, their lives may feel like they have been turned upside down and they are no longer the only child in the house and the new addition to the family can be loud and takes up a lot of time, especially mummy if the baby is being breastfed.

The key to getting photos of toddlers with their newborn sibling is keeping the session fun for the toddler. That means not focussing on getting cheesy photos of everyone smiling at the camera, but let the natural energy of the toddler direct the shoot. OK, this does take a careful eye to ensure that both the newborn baby and toddler stay safe and you know your toddler and whether they are likely to get quickly over-excited or simply lose interest.

I always start these sessions with the sibling and family shots first. Then once we have enough of these photos, the toddler can be moved to a quieter activity or off to nursery and we then focus the photo shoot on the newborn baby.

The session in this blog was for a family in Balham recently. I had taken the newborn photos of their son a couple of years ago and he recently had a new baby sister. She was about six weeks at the time of the photo shoot, the same age as her brother's newborn session. It was great to capture those special moments with the energy and fun of the toddler and his affection for his little sister.

The toddler was then taken off to nursery and we were then able to focus on the photos of the baby.

Family Photo Shoot, Balham, South West London, SW12