# Getting my baby into modeling -- Oh, I swore I'd never be THAT mother! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 17, 2011, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044 "2011-08-17T16:25:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044/21 "2011-08-17T21:19:09Z")
> [@Rhiannon8404](#): > > When the **Ledzepkid** was preschool aged we went to one of those “bring you kid down and find out if they should be modeling” events. We got a call back and went to another event where we were told two agencies were interested. It turns out it was just going to be too much work. Both of us were working full time and we just weren’t going to be able to do casting calls and that sort of thing. My wife was ramping up working from home, so had the freedom of taking our daughter into NY. I did it when I could get off work early enough. For legit/commercial/industrial auditions my daughter average one job in 18 tries which was considered good, so it takes a lot of time. It would have been a lot easier if we lived in the city. When we moved to the Bay Area she had an agent in Hollywood, and went to one or two series auditions, but it was just not practical. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044/22 "2011-08-17T21:23:25Z")
> [@smaje1](#): > > Thank you for your comments! > > I have my own prejudices against beauty pageants and can guarantee that I will never enter my child into one. > > But modeling seems different to me. It sounds like my best best is to find an agent in the Seattle area and submit photos. I’m very lucky in that a close relative is a semi-professional photographer, and we could turn to her for updated photos. > > Baby Smaje is very friendly and personable, so I don’t think she’d cry her head off at a photo shoot. If anything, she’d try to eat the camera. But I think she’d be very good working with photographers and/or directors. > > And for the next hour or so, I’m going to make available a photo of Baby Smaje on Flickr (but I’m going to change the settings back to private after that): > > [http://www.flickr.com/photos/66571184@N08/6053588239/](http://www.flickr.com/photos/66571184@N08/6053588239/) A cute baby, for sure, but nothing that screams Gerber baby to me. The hair is incredible. Not incredible in a good or bad way. More of a, “that’s gotta be photoshopped, right?” kind of way. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044/23 "2011-08-17T21:28:29Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Second: your baby is cute. Almost all babies are cute. Directors don’t care about cute. Directors care about bringing in their ad/shoot whatever under budget. That means that a baby who can be separated from its parent without crying is going to beat out a cuter looking kid. That’s how the Olsen twins got chosen, and their cuteness is very much open to debate. > [@smaje1](#): > > [http://www.flickr.com/photos/66571184@N08/6053588239/](http://www.flickr.com/photos/66571184@N08/6053588239/) Looks like a baby. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044/24 "2011-08-17T21:30:41Z")
> [@neuroman](#): > > No experience, but just wanted to say hell yeah, go for it, and put all the money you earn into her college fund! A lot of folk would say the opposite, put everything you might put into her college fund into head shots, makeup and glam clothing. Don’t forget the tiara. 🙂 Like everything else, if you want to do this, you’ll have to start spending money. A good professional photographer to take pics to show to agencies would be a start. ---
**Author:** ![smaje1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@smaje1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaje1)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044/25 "2011-08-17T21:32:00Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > That’s how the Olsen twins got chosen, and their cuteness is very much open to debate. > > Looks like a baby. Woulda felt weird to give birth to an adult. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044/26 "2011-08-17T21:32:02Z")
A lot of the kids in the local market (Twin Cities) have ins - i.e. the photographer or the marketing manager uses their niece or neighbor. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044/27 "2011-08-17T21:41:36Z")
> [@smaje1](#): > > Woulda felt weird to give birth to an adult. 😛 Adults are generally easier to potty train. ---
**Author:** ![smaje1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@smaje1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smaje1)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044/28 "2011-08-17T22:36:25Z")
> [@treis](#): > > A cute baby, for sure, but nothing that screams Gerber baby to me. > > The hair is incredible. Not incredible in a good or bad way. More of a, “that’s gotta be photoshopped, right?” kind of way. I think the hair is what shocks most people, and I think that would be her “selling point,” if you will. We’ve been told to take “that wig” off our baby! ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044/29 "2011-08-17T23:50:46Z")
FWIW, my family’s experience (not necessarily typical as it occurred in Indonesia, but it seems to be consistent with the remarks upthread): When my son was around 2, we were approached in a mall by the owner of a clothing manufacturer who wanted to know if our son would model for his brand. We thought “what the heck” and went to a scheduled shoot but it wasn’t a huge success. They called us the day before to ask his clothing size and, thanks to the fact his grandmother had gone insane when he was born and bought a huge wardrobe for him from ages 0 to 3, we didn’t really know. I took a guess which turned out to be wrong - the clothes were too big on him. Now, you’d think they’d be smart and bring the outfits in a range of sizes just in case, but no, they only had the size we had told them on the phone. Also, it was really hot and there were a lot of kids milling around. Although my son was calm, he wasn’t overly thrilled. So he had kind of a grin-and-bear-it look on his face while wearing clothes that were definitely too big for him. Ultimately, one shot of him was used in departments stores, and it was kind of cool to go to the store with him and see a giant photo of him! But the pic was not that great, and they never asked us to come back and model again. Payment was a certificate for clothing - good for a LOT of clothing. We went to their outlet store and selected large sizes he would eventually grow into, and he wore that stuff for years. I think he finally outgrew his last pair of shorts from that collection when he was 8 or 9. ---
**Author:** ![Elret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Elret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elret)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044/30 "2011-08-18T02:23:35Z")
Oh I am so sad to have missed out on the pic! Would you consider putting it back up? I love, love, love baby pictures and I am just dying to see that hair! We stuck our toes in the water briefly. My 5 year old has been interested in “being on tv” for a few years now, and finally, after many conversations explaining what it really entails, she was still interested enough that we tried out one agency. We took our 2 year old as well, because he’s just really beautiful (my daughter is, too, of course!). And, well, they wanted him and not her. This would have been fine by us but for the fact that he didn’t really enjoy the experience much and frankly, it really is a lot of work. So plan ditched, drama camp for my drama queen, everyone happy (though not Olsen-twin-rich, sadly). ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044/31 "2011-08-18T07:14:27Z")
> [@smaje1](#): > > I do not want to invest in baby head shots, or pay money to sign her up for some sort of talent agency. Then your baby will probably never get any work. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044/32 "2011-08-18T14:40:17Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Then your baby will probably never get any work. I hope Obama addresses this with his jobs plan. We have too many unemployed baby models! ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044/33 "2011-08-18T17:26:03Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > We have too many unemployed baby models! That’s for damn sure. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044/34 "2011-08-18T17:36:08Z")
That baby looks like I have to sign up for a yahoo account. ---
**Author:** ![Scubaqueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@Scubaqueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scubaqueen)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044/35 "2011-08-18T17:56:46Z")
> [@Ogre](#): > > Please don’t. Baby modeling is a soul-eating pastime. i came thiiiis close to becoming the gerber baby - so sayeth my mother. she got scoped by a rep who spotted me somewhere and wanted me to become the new model. this would have been in the mid-1950s. the parents honestly considered it, then turned it down for the exact reason \*\*ogre \*\*quoted above. :::sigh::: if she’d taken the gig, i’d never have had to work an honest day in my life, soul or no soul. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044/36 "2011-08-18T21:57:58Z")
> [@Scubaqueen](#): > > :::sigh::: if she’d taken the gig, i’d never have had to work an honest day in my life, soul or no soul. 😃 Considering the original Gerber Baby model, Ann Turner Cook, didn’t really get rich off of the gig, I doubt you would have either. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/getting-my-baby-into-modeling-oh-i-swore-id-never-be-that-mother/593044.md?page=1)