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Tips on getting the perfect hand/foot print from your newborn.
My girls were older by the time I’d designed this book so I enlisted a local new mom to help me experiment. Even with a super calm parent and the sweetest newborn a practice run was well worth it. I quickly remembered that newborn hands just don't want to open. We inked up a little hand and in a flash it was back into a fist. We'd pry one finger up, move on to the next, and already the first was back to the little fist. OMG! Babies are persistent, but so were we. This is what we learned:
1. Open a few fingers and put the hand down, you can straighten the rest of the fingers on the book. Gently press each finger and palm (and rock gently side to side) and then lift STRAIGHT up. Our first one dragged a bit and didn't leave a neat outline.
2. Make sure you are pressing onto a solid surface (bring the baby to the book, not the book to the baby). Since our baby helper was 4 months old we had her sit (assisted) and I put the box under the book to bring it up to the level of her hand.
3. Feet are infinitely easier than the hands. After we had the ink on the baby's foot, mom held her and we just guided her foot to the page and gently pressed. DONE!
4. Have the wipes handy so when you're done you can clean up before ink is all over.
5. Finally, this is definitely a job for two (not including the baby).
Recommended ink Baby’s Touch.