How to take a baby passport photo at home

Updated September 25, 2026 · Rules checked September 25, 2026 against travel.state.gov (last updated March 24, 2026)

What the rules say for babies and children

A baby's passport photo follows the same basic rules as an adult's: 2×2 inches, a plain white or off-white background, a recent photo and no edits. The State Department's passport photo page adds these rules for children:

• The child must face the camera, with a neutral facial expression.
• The child's full face must be visible. The page's examples mark a pacifier blocking part of the face, or hands covering it, as unacceptable.
• It's OK if a baby's eyes aren't entirely open. All other children must have their eyes open.
• No other person can be in the photo, so no hands, arms or shoulders holding the baby.
• For the background, lay your child on a plain white or off-white sheet, or cover a car seat with the sheet and place your child in it.
• There should be no shadows on your child's face.

The full list of adult rules is in US passport photo requirements.

Method 1: lying on a white sheet

This works best for newborns and babies who can't sit up yet.

1. Spread a plain white or off-white sheet on the floor near a window and pull it smooth. The floor is safer than a bed or changing table, because nobody has to keep a hand on the baby during the shot. Wrinkles show up as lines, so tuck the edges under.
2. Lay your baby on their back in the middle of the sheet, with the top of the head toward the window. The light then falls evenly across the face.
3. Stand or kneel over your baby and hold the phone flat, parallel to the floor, directly above the face. Shooting at an angle stretches the face and makes the head size harder to measure.
4. Watch your own shadow. If you lean between the window and the baby, you'll put a dark patch on the face. Move to the side of the sheet until the face is evenly lit.
5. Turn the phone so the top of the screen points toward the top of the baby's head. That way the photo comes out upright, with the head straight.
6. Leave space around the head and shoulders in the frame. The tool will crop to 2×2 later.

Method 2: a car seat covered with a white sheet

For babies who are a little older, or who fuss when laid flat, a car seat keeps the head supported and upright.

1. Put the car seat on the floor facing a window.
2. Drape a plain white or off-white sheet over the seat so it covers everything behind and beside the baby's head. Pull it tight so there are no folds behind the head.
3. Buckle your baby in as usual, then check that the sheet is still smooth behind the head.
4. Hold the camera at the baby's eye level, straight in front of the face, and take several shots.

Timing and teamwork

Pick a time when your baby is usually calm and alert, often shortly after a feed or a nap. A hungry or tired baby cries, and a baby who has just eaten may doze off, which is fine for the eyes rule but can slump the head to one side.

Two adults make this much easier. One holds the camera. The other stands directly behind the camera and gets the baby to look toward the lens with a soft voice, a rattle or a squeaky toy, keeping every hand out of the frame. Swap roles if your baby follows one parent's voice better than the other's.

Dress your baby in a colored top rather than white, so the shoulders don't blend into the sheet. Take off hats and headbands, and take out the pacifier before the shot: the State Department's examples show a pacifier that blocks part of the face as unacceptable.

What Baby photo changes in the checks

Baby photo is already on for this page. For a US passport, it relaxes the eyes-open check, because that's the allowance the State Department makes for babies. A relaxed check shows as relaxed for babies instead of failing, so look at the eyes yourself. Everything else is still checked: one face in the frame, head straight and facing the camera, mouth closed, head size and eye height, a plain light background, even light without shadows on the face, brightness and focus.

Other documents relax different things. UK rules relax the eyes for babies under 1 and the gaze and expression for children under 6. US visa, DV lottery and immigrant visa rules ask children to look at the camera with their eyes open, so Baby photo relaxes nothing for those.

The one-person check looks for faces. It won't flag a parent's fingers at the edge of the frame or an arm holding the car seat, so look for those yourself before you save.

Toddlers and older children

Once a child can sit or stand on their own, take the photo the adult way: in front of a plain wall, with a helper at the camera. The State Department's allowance is for babies. All other children must have their eyes open, so turn Baby photo off and aim for open eyes and a closed mouth. Let a small child sit on a chair, which keeps them in one spot, and save a favorite toy as a reward for after the shot.

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