Shhhhh, we sleeping beauties are trying to get some shut eye! The amazing pictures of snoozing newborns

By Laura Powell
Last updated at 10:20 PM on 17th February 2010

With their snowy skin, plump cheeks, teeny fingers and toes, and pouty rosebud lips, these newborn babies really do deserve their Sleeping Beauties nickname.
It was coined by sisters Tracy Raver and Kelley Ryden, who took most of the photographs at their studio in Nebraska - which can be seen in a new book - when the babies were fewer than 10 days old.

A budding Buddah: I'm taking 40 winks on the path to enlightenment

Meet my silent partner, we like to get our heads together

Some are swaddled in knitted scarves, others are snuggled up in hammocks, snoozing on a fluffy rug or curled up in a wicker basket - but they all have in common their unique, gently-contorted poses.
To curl the babies into these positions, Tracy, Kelley and a third Canadian photographer, Stephanie Robin, have a simple trick: they photograph the babies when they are between five and 10 days old.

Crib sheet - and this hatbox beats my cradle any day

Frown in the mouth: My afternoon nap is a serious business

At that age, they sleep soundly and they are malleable to be moved into 'curly' poses, as Kelley calls them.
It also helps that Stephanie is a physiotherapist, which helps her understand their joints and reflexes.

Out on the floor: It's no struggle to snuggle up to a warm rug

Getting back to nature: Who says caterpillars can't hibernate?

The photo shoots usually last between three and four hours at a studio (with nice natural light, a good temperature gauge and lots of props). The babies either wear white clothes or nothing at all.
It takes around a fortnight for the photographs to be processed before they're presented to the besotted parents.

It's a wrap: Lulled to sleep with a swaddling song

Prize guys: They came first in the bonnet baby contest

What's their first reaction when they first see the snaps of their snuggled-up baby, all fuzzy-haired with scrunched-up eyes?
Surprise, surprise, many of them burst into tears.
As Stephanie says: 'How could they not love these adorable little subjects?'