Over the holidays I got to see a picture of a four month old photographed with a three year old by another photographer. Basically, the pose consisted of placing the infant between the legs of the older child and having the older child hold on. It did not go well. Love can hurt.
The pose is one that can start a fight between the two children. Yes, a four month old can get into a fight with an older sister. I am certain the photographer did not mean to start a wrestling match. They just didn’t know any better.
I have seen this same pose done many times. If done well it can be kind of cute. But it is a high risk pose and should never be done as the first or only pose. I say high risk because it is less likely to turn out well.
Posing a younger infant with an older child can be done quickly, safely and with greater comfort for the infant. Either of the poses shown above is more likely to work. They are not hard to learn but it does take a little more training to do them well. Here’s how to do them.
Sit the older child on the table with the infant either sitting next to them or propped up next to them. This is the most basic pose for two children. It looks good and it is a good way to warm up.
Only have the older child hold the younger one after you get a few safe shots using low risk poses such as this.
The first shot in the pictures with this post have the older child not even touching the baby. This was the only shot we took in this clothing. The baby was about done and she was ready for a break. It shows in the picture. We had done a lot of pictures of her by herself before the older sister was ready.
The middle pose started off with more separation between the girls. I then had the older child lean in behind the baby. Mom was actually propping up the baby with her hand under the blanket at the beginning.
The last pose has the baby on her tummy. With the older child leaning over her.
I did not do a pose similar to the one the other photographer did, with the older child holding the baby between her legs. Parents frequently request this pose when they can’t think of anything else and they don’t realize that I know a lot of ways to pose the children.
If a parent requests that pose, I don’t do it first. Having an older child hold a younger child is more likely to lead to conflict than some other poses. I consider it a high risk pose and I do other poses first.
Always start with the simple, easy poses and work up to poses that are less likely to work, the high risk poses.