This is something I get asked all the time for baby milestone sessions: what should I bring to the photoshoot? Aside from your baby and a few simple outfits, you should definitely spend a few minutes thinking about any items that are meaningful in your baby’s life. Below, I outline a few of the most common objects which should give you some great ideas…

Baby Blanket

Very often, a baby will receive a monogrammed blanket for her birth or one that has been passed down from parents/grandparents. Sometimes it’s a blanket that’s been especially made for the baby, like the pink crocheted one in the image above. The blanket itself doesn’t have to look stylish or be a certain color (as you know, styling is a big part of any of my sessions!) because this is more about documenting a family heirloom and having it as part of your baby’s legacy.

A Favorite Book

I remember reading the same book over and over to my babies when they were little. Goodnight Moon was my oldest son’s favorite (and it was extra special because it was a gift from his grandma before he was born). My husband grew up reading Richard Scary’s Busy Busy World, to the point where he tracked down the original version and bought it from eBay for his own children. Books stick with us and remind us of all those shared evenings repeating the same words over and over. Your baby might not know the book when she’s just a few months old, but as she grows up, she will reach for that familiar cover again and again. Children learn through repetition after all!.

So even in the beginning, you probably already have that special book for your baby. Whether it’s something from your own childhood that you enjoy reading to your little one—or a new book that your child can’t get enough of—bring that book to the photo session to have a record of how special it is in your lives!

Stuffed Animal

Lovies or comfort security blankets/animals are a staple in most households. My boys didn’t attach to any particular stuffed animal when they were little, but I’ve met many babies and children who grew up hugging their little lovie to sleep every night. That stuffed toy is often very special and cherished, but it doesn’t last forever. Despite that, you can capture it for all eternity in photographs! If it’s a gift from someone special, if your child for some reason got really attached to it (even if the toy itself is garish), or if you simply want this one object in particular to be important to your child.. bring it to the session so we can get a few priceless shot of the item and your baby together.

A Special Outfit

There are baby clothes that are passed down from parent to child for several generations. I’ve photographed more than one baby wearing the same outfit as their parent did many years ago (and as their sibling, too). Grandparents are the best to ask when it comes to uncovering if something like this exists in your family. They will often keep both the photographs and the clothing from when their own children were little, so we can replicate the same look. If there is a history, a specific culture, or a memory in your family that you would like to keep alive, this is a wonderful way to do it! And be sure to show me an example image too, so we can match it to Dad’s baby picture properly.

Anything your child is interested in!

Babies tend to have different interests. That unique quirk that only your child exhibits is exactly the type of thing you’d want to include in their photo session! It doesn’t matter how weird or silly it is, because if your baby is doing it now, he will probably be doing it 20 years from now too. And that is when you pull out his baby pictures and tell him that it’s been part of his personality all along. Imagine how wonderful it would be to have that documented and available for you to enjoy!

My own children both have their own unique personality traits and interests, and sometimes that even goes outside of physical objects. Most prominently, my little one has strabismus, which runs in my husband’s family (his eyes don’t track together and he wears corrective glasses to help with the problem). It didn’t get diagnosed until he was 3 years old, but in his baby pictures, looking back, you can see the starting hints of it. It’s the same with my husband’s baby photos, and he also wore glasses when he was little. Things like this might seem trivial right now, but it’s part of our family lineage. My son’s children will probably have something similar and will be able to look at his childhood photographs and feel at home within the family. We are the record-keepers of our generation.. let’s now forget how important that is!

Baby portraits are not only super cute, but they’re also really stress-free. When your child is young, they are curious about the world but are limited in their mobility. They can sit, crawl, and play with their feet.. things that they will stop doing really quickly as they move on to walking and toddling about. Trust me when I say that things get a lot harder to capture on film once that cute chubby baby starts walking.