4babybooks

If you’re reading this article, chances are likely that someone has told you recently that your baby is cute enough to model, and they weren’t saying it just to be polite. With all the commercials, magazines, and advertisements you see featuring children that don’t hold a candle to your Samantha or Alex, then it surely there must be a way to get that adorable freckle face in front of the camera for all the world to see.

Luckily for you, there is.

Although baby modeling isn’t for everyone, it may very well be the beginning of a college tuition fund for your child or another way to pay those hospital bills after your latest C-section. And the following steps may point you in the right direction.

What You Need to Know

1. It isn’t Easy : Just because you simply point and shoot with your camera whenever the opportunity arises doesn’t mean that a professional photographer will do the same. Clients are often looking for a specific shot whenever they hire an agency, and sometimes this requires extensive setup and careful preparation. Keeping your baby smiling and cooperative for hours on end can be a difficult task, and if you child is sick or fussy, then your whole trip may turn into a waste.

Additionally, finding a good agent, scheduling yours and your child’s time, and finding a good way to every schedule photo shoot takes a lot of work in addition to the baby wrangling you’re already doing on a regular basis. A child’s success depends primarily on the parent’s ability to cope with the stress rather than how adorable the child actually is.

2. Your Child Should Have a Little Extra Something : It’s a fact of life: beautiful babies are born every day. However, photographers aren’t just looking for a beautiful child, they’re looking for a child with a “little extra something.” Whether it’s a devilish grin, a gorgeous lock of red hair, or a smattering of freckles, these little extra somethings can help your baby stand out from the crowd of happy toddlers. It’s the little differences that photographers like to play up and design their shots with.

3. You’ll need Connections: A good agency can make or break your child’s career as a model, and finding a right agent can be difficult if you don’t know where to look. Be cautious of scammers claiming to help you get in a commercial only to have you pay for additional photos or lessons. A good majority of these agencies are in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Miami, and though you might get lucky and find one close to home, most child models live closer to these four cities.

Start by looking in the yellow pages and investigating what kinds of photos are needed to qualify your child. Many agencies require a closeup of the child’s face, a full body shot, and picture of the child in a pose but without props such as toys or hats or sunglasses.

4. A Portfolio Should be Current: Children grow up fast, especially infants. A photo you took last summer will be outdated, so it would be a good idea to keep your child’s portfolio current by taking new photos every 3 to 6 months. Although not all of these photos have to be taken by a professional top-notch photographer, the higher quality the photo, the more likely your child will be accepted by a client.

5. Remember the Rewards: Baby Modeling can be a rewarding career financially, and depending on the client, your child could be making anywhere from $30 to $75 dollars an hour (and some photoshoots last all day). Some advertisements dish out as much as $600 to $1200 for a full day, and some commercial contracts can pay out up to $8,000.

However, the financial rewards may not be as wonderful as you might think. Baby modeling can put a lot of extra pressure on both the parents and the child, and the constant criticism may be more than your child can handle during this important stage of their development. Just because you have the cutest kid on the planet doesn’t mean you should expose him or her to world simply to make some extra money. Be aware of your child’s needs and wants, and if they align with yours then it can be a rewarding experience. If not, then Baby Modeling might not be right for you.

I know, it’s exciting, your first baby and you literally want to have everything. You have never had to deal with this before, and the stores literally make it seem like you have to spend thousands of dollars before the baby is born, and we’re not even counting hospital bills, especially if you don’t have insurance. However, there are a few things that you can take off your shopping lists, and I’m not just talking about baby tiaras.

1. A Designer Nursery
Unless you’re J-Lo, can you really afford to do a designer nursery once, let alone for future babies? After all, while the first baby is definitely more exciting, your kids will have every right to resent you for not giving them the same perks. The truth is that you don’t need to have personalized monograms on everything, you don’t need Tommy Hilfiger or any of the other designers. Just go to Target or even Walmart.

2. Bedding
As cute as they may be and as basic as bedding may seem, bedding is actually completely unnecessary. Bedding can cost up to $200 if not more, and bumpers, matching quilts, and other added perks are actually choking and suffocation hazards. Just get a tight fitting sheet which will probably run you about $20 to $30.

3. Changing Tables
I wouldn’t recommend changing your baby on the kitchen table, because food…baby diapers….no. However, you don’t need a specialized changing table to change a diaper for a few months or however long it takes to get the baby potty trained. A cheap card table or frankly speaking just about any normal tablet hat you might already have suffices just fine.

4. Bassinet
Every movie and every movie star has a bassinet, but you can literally use a bassinet for all of a few months….total, and they cost thousands of dollars. Yes, bassinets are attractive, but are you really getting the bang for your buck? No. Playpens are much more useful for longer periods of time, and playpens cost a fraction of that.

5. Designer Newborn Clothing
Scratch that. You don’t need designer baby clothing in general. They literally grow out of every size in most cases in a matter of weeks, and you spent $40 on what? Newborns, babies, and toddlers all get dirty fast, grow out of clothes fast, and don’t need designer clothing.

6. Video Monitor
You may lay awake at night listening for your baby’s cry, or you may be half asleep ready to wake up at any moment. However, chances are you aren’t going to sit there all night watching the dark picture you get or sit there watching the video when you are supposed to be talking to friends or family. A basic monitor costs a lot less, and it is not lacking in what you need.

7. A wipe warmer
I actually thought that this was a joke when I first saw it, but there is such thing as a wipe warmer…..babies have survived just fine for years with room temperature wipes on their bottoms. Enough said.

8. A Diaper Genie
There are plenty of people who say that the diaper genie has saved their life. Whatever happened to just wrapping up a diaper and walking a few feet out to the garbage can? It’s a $40 diaper pail that has “specialized” bags that cost you even more over time. A set of just 3 refill bags costs $19.99. Really? Diapers aren’t that toxic, and it’s a few feet to get outside!

Books Books Books

There are fantastic books out there that we’d all like to have the benefit of reading and letting our children read. Unfortunately, money doesn’t grow on trees, and not all of us are able or willing to buy all the books that we’d like. So what are we to do about getting our books?

There are alternative ways to get the benefits of books. Here are a few tips to keep yourself and your children entrapped by lovely literature.

Go the the Library

Most cities and towns have public libraries. Getting a library card is free. You may spend an afternoon at the library reading, or you may check out your resources for a few weeks with your library card. You do have to return your library books on time, or else you must pay a fine. The great thing about libraries is that you can get whatever you want that they have! This is literally books for free. Public libraries have books for babies, children, young adults, and adults alike. You can also check out musical CDs and audio books at most libraries.

Alternate Used Book Sources

If you’re looking to build your own home library, but funds are short, you don’t have to go to the bookstore to buy a brand new copy. A lot of used books are available out there to purchase at places such as second-hand stores, and yard sales. This isn’t as reliable as buying a new book, because you never know what’s going to be available, or what condition it’s going to be in, but you can get lucky buying used books.

Online Sources

Websites near and far sell books new and used. These online listing prices are also usually less expensive than buying the book at a store (depending on how much you buy and how much shipping costs). The internet is your friend. Use it to maximize your book buying dollar. Compare prices at different stores and websites. Get the best deal you can on the books you want.

Anyone who has ever watched over a child has probably read a book lower than their natural reading level. But you know what? Reading childrens’ books to a child can benefit you in more ways than one.

Benefits of Reading to Children

1) You can become a better speaker.
Reading out loud is easier said than done. Reading in your head is naturally a faster and more efficient way to read. Unfortunately, your small child can’t read yet. Reading out loud with difference voices and inflections than your more natural ones, helps a child understand tone. Using voices and different cadences and inflections can help you in your own life to understand the world. When you are reading to a child, you are a performer on a stage. Reading out loud can help you be more confident and more fluid when you are speaking to others.

2) You can build your imagination.
Reading a book is like opening your mind to a whole new world. Though most childrens’ books are illustrated and have story lines written out, that doesn’t mean that you can’t tell the story a little bit differently every time. Asking who, what, when, where, why, and how as you read, can lead you to think about a common story in a new and exciting way. The sharing of ideas is one of the greatest things that parents can do with their children. It enriches you both with wider horizons.

3) You can gain perspective.
This one sounds cheesy, but hear me out. First off, if you are reading to your children, you know exactly what cultural references they are being exposed to. This also applies to watching television or movies with your kids. When you do this, you know exactly what’s going into their brains. Childrens’ books (especially baby books) can be plot-less and sort of tedious to read. There are a great deal of fascinatingly interesting and even inspiring books too, made for children, that can really get you thinking, and can open your mind to other worlds. The easy language these books are written in make concepts easier to understand, which helps you grow mentally.