Behind the Scenes at a Parents Magazine Cover Shoot

Name: Trevor Fowler

Age: 1 year old

Hometown: Okay, Oklahoma
See how Trevor transformed from a small-town cutie to a national cover model at our finalists' photo shoot.

We checked in on the shoot to see how cover kid Trevor and finalists Trey, Lauryn, Camden, and Hailey spent their day in the spotlight.

Getting one kid at a time to stay in the shot can be challenging. Getting five kids to stay in place? Five times as challenging.

Sharon Elcock, Parents Sittings Editor, described the cover model's on-set style: "Trevor's our silent star.... He's really laidback, just taking it all in. He models like he does it every day."

Here's Trevor in his first outfit of the day, which he also wears on the November cover—a brown-and-blue striped onesie by Oeuf.

Hair and makeup groomer Thora Gudmundsdottir applies some finishing touches to Trevor's look. "No groomer is going to use visible [hair and makeup] product," Gudmundsdottir explains. "It's more about making their skin yummy. I'll put on some lotion, like Kiehl's, just to make their skin look very soft and fresh. The great thing about kids is that they have great skin, so it's more hair than makeup...for kids from 4 on, I can do their hair, maybe use a curling iron, but younger than that I'll usually stick to spritzing with water."

"It was so much easier when I took him to get pictures last time," Trevor's mom, Amanda, says, "He was 6 months old, and he couldn't go anywhere!" For this shoot, everyone pitches in as "baby wranglers," waving puppets, clapping, and joking to keep Trevor happy and in place while the photographer snaps away.

After a long day on set, Trevor's back in his own clothes and ready for a nap on his mom's lap. "I'd read in the magazine that it's almost impossible to get your child into modeling if you aren't in a major city," says Amanda. "So when I saw the contest I figured this could be his one chance—but I never really thought it would go this far!"

Name: Trey Giddens

Age: 18 months

Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia

What Elcock had to say: "Trey's our man-about-town. He's very flirty and his dimples are to-die-for."

Name: Lauryn Joppru

Age: 1 year old

Hometown: Champlin, Minnesota

What Elcock had to say: "Lauryn is super-friendly and easygoing ... she has a really easy smile, and I can see her having longevity in this business."

Name: Camden Bates

Age: 1 year old

Hometown: Plant City, Florida

The experts on Camden's look: "He has classic looks—very cute, very boyish. You can easily see him doing an ad campaign."

"I still haven't really told people why we're here," says Camden's mom, Brittany. "I told my 4-year-old daughter we were going to 'a meeting,' because I didn't want her to be jealous that we were going to New York on an airplane."

Name: Hailey Nurry

Age: 4 years old

Hometown: Avondale, Pennsylvania

Hailey is pictured here with her mom, Sarah, and 3-month-old baby brother, Brennan.

Here's Hailey getting her makeup done by Gudmundsdottir.

"The only thing I was nervous about was that she wouldn't come out of her shell," says Hailey's dad, Jonathan, as he watches Hailey in the makeup chair for the fourth time that day. "But she's really warmed up now...She loves hair, makeup, and nails. She and her mom have their nails done every week, and have since she was 1.

Elcock says that the magazine's models aren't chosen for looks alone. "You can have a really cute kid who just doesn't like the camera and doesn't like to sit still...then you'll see a kid who's not the most gorgeous, but is extremely cover-worthy because of their personality."

Camden (and mom Brittany) and Hailey (and dad Jonathan) relax between takes. Camden's in his favorite outfit from the day: his diaper.

Five hours, 14 outfits, and several dozen diapers later, the shoot is ready to wrap.