Baby DS-160 photos: eyes can be shut. Your hand cannot be in the frame.

What relaxes for an infant. What does not.

Eyes may be closed or half-open on a newborn. A slight head tilt is tolerated when that is the best likeness you can reasonably get. Crying is a problem for a toddler who can sit; it is not a reason to put a parent in the frame for a baby who cannot.

The digital file rules do not relax. CEAC still wants a square JPEG, 600×600 to 1200×1200, 240 kB or less, sRGB, white to off-white background. Head height is still 50–69% of the frame, chin to crown. That range is hard on a tiny face. Measure it. Do not guess from the phone screen.

How to shoot without a hand in the photo

Lay a white sheet, or drape a car seat in white so the cloth fills the background. Shoot from above for a flat-lay newborn — camera parallel to the face, not from the side. Keep bottles, bibs over the chin, hats, and a second person out of the frame. A supporting hand under the sheet still fails if the hand shows.

Toddlers are closer to adult rules: eyes open, mouth closed if you can get it, not mid-cry. Sit them against a blank wall, light in front, a metre off the wall so the background does not pick up shadow.

Why the 50–69% rule fights you

A newborn head is small. Crop too loose and you drop under 50%. Crop too tight and you lose shoulders or clip the crown. After you have a clean capture, crop to a square, then check chin-to-crown as a percentage of the frame. We report that number. We do not judge whether the baby “looks like” the one who will appear at the window.

Questions

Can the baby wear a hat or a bow?

No. Same rule as adults: no hats or head coverings except for religious purposes, with the face fully visible. Decorative bows sit on the head and fail the same way.

The baby will not keep eyes open.

For a newborn, closed or half-open eyes are accepted when that is the best likeness reasonably obtained. For a sitting toddler, keep trying for open eyes.

Can I hold the baby just out of frame?

Yes, if no part of you appears — no fingers, no shoulder, no face in a mirror. If it shows, it fails.