Your baby’s first year moves fast, like really really fast. One minute you have a sleepy newborn curled up on your chest and the next thing you know, you are chasing a mobile baby throughout your home.
Newborn and one year photos tend to get the most attention but honestly so many families don’t realize that there is so much more to capture within their baby’s first year.
If you are wondering when to schedule milestone sessions, here is some helpful information.
3-4 Months: The First Big Changes
Around 3 to 4 months, babies are starting to become more alert and interactive.
This is such a sweet stage and honestly pretty fun.
-Tummy time
-First big smiles
-Eye contact
-Tiny hands and feet
-Baby rolls
-Snuggles with their favorite people
Your baby may not be sitting yet but that is what is so special about this age range.
6-7 Months: The Sitter Stage
6 months is one of my most favorite stages to photograph in the fist year. Many babies are beginning to develop those core muscles to help them sit independently. Now, I will be honest… most babies don’t have sitting completely mastered by now, they tend to need some support and that is perfectly okay.
This stage is all about:
-Sitting
-Grabbing their toes
-Belly laughs
-Gummy smiles or their first teeth
-Chubby legs
-Personality
9 Months: Personality Takes Over
By 9 months, your tiny newborn has grown and it is super obvious. Some babies are sitting completely unassisted or crawling. I have even seen some start cruising furniture.
9 month milestone photos are perfectly for capturing:
-Crawling
-Sitting
-Standing with support
-Clapping and waving
-Big expressions
-Growing independence
Honestly, this is when parents realize that their baby is absolutely not a newborn anymore and is almost 1.
12 Months: One Whole Year
Somehow, your baby is ONE!
It is wild how fast the first year goes.
I love starting one year sessions with simple portraits, parent snuggles and then jump into smashing some cake.
We photograph their expressions, laughter and personality.
I will be honest, some babies absolutely demolish the cake and others barely touch it. Some babies cry and others are super friendly. There is no wrong reaction for how your baby will react.
It all makes beautiful memories.
Do you need every milestone?
Absolutely not.
There isn’t a correct schedule for documenting your baby’s first year.
As a mama myself of a kiddo that will graduate in May 2027, I recommend documenting every milestone. It goes by so fast and there is so much that I wish I would have captured.
Some families choose newborn, six months, and one year while others choose newborn, three, six, nine and 12 months. What matters most is choosing the stages that feel the most important to you.
If you know that you want one milestone session, planning ahead of time can be incredibly helpful. Let’s face it, babies are a lot of work, time goes fast, we forget to make appointments, we get busy. That is entirely normal.
Keep Baby’s First Year Simple
My milestone sessions are intentionally simple, timeless and baby-focused.
You don’t need elaborate props or complicated setups to document these stages. A simple studio backdrop, timeless and beautiful outfits and your baby is more than enough.
My Rio, WI studio has a mini client wardrobe that you are more than welcome to utilize for your baby’s milestone session and honestly, 95% of my clients choose to use it.
Want to document more than one stage?
For the families that already know they want to photograph several stages during their baby’s first year, I offer a Milestone Plan designed to make that easy.
The plan includes 2 milestone sessions plus a One Year Cake Smash with Portraits.
Instead of remembering to book another photographer every few months, your baby’s sessions are already set, we just need to set a date and time. All sessions are already planned with the choice of wardrobe use.
If you are currently expecting and want to document everything from pregnancy to baby’s first birthday, my Baby Plan may be a wonderful fit.
Because their fist year does go so fast.
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