Can anyone tell me the realities of baby modeling

[FloweryBoots]

A few people have suggested my DS might make a good child model as he's cute (well whoes baby isn't!) and a very happy chilled out little lad who will smile for anyone and everyone. At first I felt that I'd maybe being exploiting him but then started thinking if he enjoys it and we can use the money to put on one side for when he's older, like for a musical instrument, a first car etc. or even if it means when I go back to work at the end of my maternity leave we could afoard for me to reduce my hours so have more time with him then maybe it could be a good thing.

So, can anyone who has a child modle tell me about the realities of what it entails? I'd definately not do it if he didn't enjoy it. At this stage I'm more interested in what the actual work involves, then recomendations of agencies etc. to see if it is something we could feasibly do if it even got to the stage of him being accepted by an angency and getting work (which I of course realise is far from garunteed).

Well, he (and you) might not enjoy waiting around at castings for hours with hundreds of other babies.

Some bookings would be direct, I guess.

Do not go with any agency that asks you to pay for photos etc.

Most of the jobs for babies don't pay that well, afaik.

Find a rewputable agency (elizabeth smoith, bizzykids, kids london) and see what they say.

Castings can takes ages, and no guarentee of work. Dd3 did some modelling, loads of castings for vtech, dove, asked to attend one for asda nappy but couldn't get there. But no actual woork. I enjoyed it but did get tiring at times.

How old is he?
my ds are both with agencies, and only done one proper job so far but have not been signed up long. that job was a straight job (ie no castings) modelling clothes for a v well known baby shop (for my 2 yr old), tbh i wasn't too sure of the atmosphere and didnt enjoy it that much as ds didnt seem to be in a great mood with it.
i felt they do expect quite a lot from them eg rather than encouraging them and showing a friendly side to the children to get the pictures taken it came across quite business like - they expect them to just get in there, follow the directions and have pics done. basically got the impression the children are there "to do the job" and i felt not much allowance was given for them being only 2 or 3 yrs old. but i think you get variation depending what the client is of how the atmosphere is? and probably depends on your child's mood on the day whether it goes smoothly or not. mine ended up having a tantrum over a guitar which was supposed to be used as a prop
and then also after all this you have to wait around to see if the pics end up being used or not, as they may have 2 children modelling the same outfit incase of one child not going to plan
still if another job comes up we will give it another go but first experience i found a bit disappointing, not sure exactly what i was expecting though
i do know a lot of mums whos children had a lot of success with it and really enjoy it. i think possibly toddlers is a bit of an awkward age for it cos the mood can be temperamental.
also my younger one im not finding to cope well with photoshoots @ the moment either, due to teething the last 2 he has done not been able to get good pics as he's been too miserable or too dribbly, shoving whole hand in mouth etc
i think it may work better for the slightly older children who are enthusiastic themselves about doing it like 4-8 kind of age get a lot of work? or small immobile babies good for it too. ages 1 and 2 although there is work out there its not as much of an in demand age and also they are hard to work with i think.

Ds did a bit when hecwas a toddler. If I remember rightly he got £30 per hour so although good money, not exactly get rich quick, when you consider you might have to attend 4 or 5 castings for every one job that you get.

Agree that it was a very formal atmosphere, in a studio with lots of cables, lights and breakable things. Very hot, and had to do 5+ outfit changes

Looking back it was nice to say it's something that he has done, but to be honest it was more hassle than it was worth.