Couple of Newborn Photos.

I'm literally lost with my technique it seems. I can snap 50 pics and only 5 or so will be in focus. The rest will be so soft they are unusable. And I really have no idea what I'm doing wrong to correct it cause it doesn't feel like I'm doing anything different when the photos turn out sharper. On to the pictures as promised.

#2 looks pretty good. #1 looks hot and that arm in the foreground is a bit in your face.

Do you have the exif on these? Out of focus can be caused by many things but in my experience seldom hardware.

Use a single point AF which YOU select - don't let the camera do it for you.

Both are using Tamron 17-50mm and both are using center focus point only. I do use a focus and recompose method a lot and wondering if that could be it.
First Pic

Make Canon
Model Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi
exposureTime 1/60
FNumber 2.8
ExposureProgram Manual
ISO 400
ExifVersion 0230
DateTimeOriginal 2014:​04:01 17:29:16
CreateDate 2014:04:01 17:29:16
ShutterSpeedValue 1/60
ApertureValue 2.8
ExposureCompensation 0
MaxApertureValue 2.8
MeteringMode Partial
Flash On, Fired
FocalLength 42.0 mm
ColorSpace sRGB
FocalPlaneXResolution ​4433.295325
FocalPlaneYResolution ​4453.608247
FocalPlaneResolutionUn​it inches
CustomRendered Normal
ExposureMode Manual
WhiteBalance Auto

Second
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS DIGITAL REBEL XTi
XResolution 240
YResolution 240
ResolutionUnit inches
Software Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 5.4 (Macintosh)
ModifyDate 2014:05:24 00:54:13
ExposureTime 1/40
FNumber 2.8
ExposureProgram Apertu​re-priority AE
ISO 800
ExifVersion 0230
DateTimeOriginal 2014:​05:15 19:04:06
CreateDate 2014:05:15 19:04:06
ShutterSpeedValue 1/40
ApertureValue 2.8
ExposureCompensation 0
MaxApertureValue 2.8
MeteringMode Partial
Flash On, Fired
FocalLength 42.0 mm
ColorSpace sRGB
FocalPlaneXResolution ​4433.295325
FocalPlaneYResolution ​4453.608247
FocalPlaneResolutionUn​it inches
CustomRendered Normal
ExposureMode Auto
WhiteBalance Auto

Nice photos here.

Your shutter speed is a bit on the slow side, could be camera shake causing your problems. Also focus/recompose can cause focusing problems with the lens wide open but usually only at f2 or wider.

You are close up to the subject and using wide apertures so focus and recompose could be an issue. Manually select the AF point nearest to the eyes in these cases.

Shutter speed is marginal/minimum recommended. Rule of thumb is 1/focal length. Flash should help that a bit but onboard flash will generally not be real flattering. Flash and any mode other than manual on the camera could also be an issue.

Shooting @ 42mm with a crop sensor with an aperture of F/2.8 at a distance of less than 1 M from your subject gives you a depth of field (DOF) of between 3 and 6 cm. So focussing and recomposing easily takes the eyes away from the focal plane.

Shooting with an on camera flash pointing at babies is something I would not like to do - very uncomfortable for the kiddies that are prone to get scared.

Get the flash of camera with a diffuser or reflector.

Get a dedicated backdrop so you don't need to rely on wide aperture to get rid of background distractions.

And keep practicing...

Thanks all for the kind words and advice.