What exactly is a night nurse?
Those first few weeks with a new baby are far from easy.
I felt like I was running on empty for the first while as I was getting hardly any sleep.
Earlier today Caroline Foran posted on her Instagram stories about using a night nurse to help her get a full night’s sleep and it made me realise that I don’t actually know all that much about night nurses at all.
I spent the day looking into night nurses and what it is that they do and now I’m wishing I’d known about them when I was a new parent.
A night nurse or baby nurse is an expert in newborn care who helps new parents during the first few weeks of life at home.
Also called “newborn care specialists,” they typically work at night, feeding and changing the baby so the parents can get some much-needed rest.
Seriously why did I not know about this when my babies were little? Why wasn’t this mentioned in the ante-natal classes? This is the information that I really needed.
Unlike a live-in nanny or au pair, who may be off the clock at a certain time, Newborn Care Specialists come in to help during the overnight hours so new parents can get more sleep.
A skilled NCS (newborn care specialist) will be able to create good routines for the baby and work toward sleeping through the night, usually by 12 weeks of age.
According to Irish website Nanny Options;
“The candidates arrive at about 9pm – they will get an update on baby’s day, answer any questions parents may have or give advice if needed. Normally the baby is taken into a separate room and the maternity nurse will look after the night feeds, change baby if necessary and if requested prepare feeds for the following day.”
I honestly think that most parents aren’t informed enough about options like maternity nurses or newborn care specialists that can help see them through the first couple of months.
Sleep is so important for new parents, especially new mums as a lack of sleep can contribute to post natal depression.
What do you think? Would you have liked to have known more about night nurses while you were an expectant or new parent?
