The dream: a sweet, loving picture of your child/children with their new baby sibling. The reality is that you’re dealing with toddlers with unpredictable moods, preschoolers who are stressed by the changes in their lives, and older kids who have other things they’d rather be doing. So, having a few go-to newborn and sibling poses can make life much easier. Here are my favorites, along with a few tips that can make getting that perfect sibling image possible so you can fulfill the dream!
preparing the sibling
When I first meet the family, I pay much more attention to the siblings than the baby. I consider my first job to get them on my side! I play up their big brother or big sister status and work on building a rapport with them. Once I’m set up, I photograph one of their toys, and if they are comfortable with me by then, I let them push a camera button and I photograph a toy they choose for me. That usually does the trick to get them ready to be in front of the camera.
I’m careful not to move too quickly with slow-to-warm-up kids. Make haste slowly, as they say!
go-to newborn and sibling pose #1: basket
Once kids are comfortable, I put the baby in a basket. I then let the parent pose the sibling somewhere near the basket. This works well for kids who aren’t totally happy with the baby, and kids who aren’t ready to hold the baby yet. ( I did have one toddler who didn’t want to be anywhere near his sister..as in, not even in the same room : ). I first took her picture in the basket, then replaced her with an IPad. The resulting merged picture showed brother looking happily down at a movie, uh, sister!)
tried and true newborn and older sibling pose: criss cross applesauce
This is great with older preschoolers and up. Have the child sit criss cross applesauce, and their lap becomes a secure spot for the baby. If there’s another sibling, tuck them in close and have them help hold the baby’s head. This helps to keep the sibling in place and helps the older child! You can photograph the siblings looking at the baby and looking at the camera for variety.
As you can see, you can keep adding siblings around the basic pose to make room for everyone!
go-to newborn and sibling pose #3: grounded
Everyone’s on the ground for this one, and it’s a parent favorite. Lay the older child on his or her back with a small pillow under the backdrop to support their head. Tilt them slightly onto the shoulder that’s closest to the light. Then put the baby on the shoulder and arm that are close to the light. They are then the baby’s pillow. If there’s another sibling, the baby can lay right in between them, on both their shoulders. Stand above the kids looking down (always have your camera strap around your neck for this), and get one with them looking up at you and one with them kissing the baby or snuggling in, looking at the baby. It’s so cute to see all their heads close together!
The beauty of this pose is that you can expand it to include even more siblings- here it is with two sisters and a new baby and 3 brothers with their new sister.
sibling and new baby pose #4: on the beanbag
These poses are great for kids on a bean bag or an ottoman. Here, the baby is lying on its tummy and the older child is standing or lying behind him. Have the sibling put a hand on the baby’s head and body, and that will keep a connection between them and help to keep the older child in place. You can also have the older child lying on his or her back, and then place the baby on their chest. It works best with non-wiggly preschoolers, since toddlers don’t always like the weight of the baby on them and you don’t want them to suddenly get up. Use a parent as a spotter, even if you think they won’t go anywhere.
These are just four basic go-to poses for newborns and siblings, but you can get many variations with these as your starting point. May they help you to get the sibling picture of your dreams!
