Night nanny 12hr shifts

[Anonymous]

I will be staring a night nanny job for 24 weeks. It will be 9pm-9am 5,days a week. I've done overnights with families before but nothing where I was "up" through the night. Also the mother is exclusively breast feeding so I am unsure as to how I will actually be helpful.

I plan on cooking breakfast, laundry, sterilizing pump parts, packing lunches for the 2 older siblings, ect ....

Any tips on how to be helpful?
How to handle the night shift?
How to sleep during the day and still have a life?

[Anonymous]

Um...you say you'll be sterilizing pump parts. That means the mom will have breast milk available for you to use in the fridge or freezer. Have you never used expressed breast milk before? Obviously the mom will be sleeping; they're not hiring you just to bring the baby to her and wake her up! You prepare the bottles of breast milk, you feed the baby, mom sleeps. This is the purpose of a night nanny.

[Anonymous]

Pp like I said she is exclusively breast feeding for the first few weeks. She is pumping when she can for future use.

So no the mother won't be sleeping.


If you're so rude just don't say anything at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Um...you say you'll be sterilizing pump parts. That means the mom will have breast milk available for you to use in the fridge or freezer. Have you never used expressed breast milk before? Obviously the mom will be sleeping; they're not hiring you just to bring the baby to her and wake her up! You prepare the bottles of breast milk, you feed the baby, mom sleeps. This is the purpose of a night nanny.

How ignorant and condescending. Go do some more yoga.

[Anonymous]

We had a night nanny for the first two weeks.

Here's what she did:
1) Fed one bottle during the night so I could get 4 or 5 hours of sleep during one stretch. The other times she brought the baby to me, I nursed, and then she took baby back, changed her, and settled her back to sleep.

2) Did some basic nursery cleanup and organizing like emptying the diaper pail and stocking supplies.

3) Basic teaching - we were first time parents and she was an experienced newborn nanny! So she went over her swaddling, settling, bathing etc techniques.

4) infant laundry.

[Anonymous]

Oh, PP once again! I also work night shifts.

To sleep during the day:

1) get off caffeine if you use it

2) make your room as dark and quiet as possible.

3) pick an 8 hour sleep time. For the 30 minutes before, no tv or using any device with backlight.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Um...you say you'll be sterilizing pump parts. That means the mom will have breast milk available for you to use in the fridge or freezer. Have you never used expressed breast milk before? Obviously the mom will be sleeping; they're not hiring you just to bring the baby to her and wake her up! You prepare the bottles of breast milk, you feed the baby, mom sleeps. This is the purpose of a night nanny.

Actually there are a lot of people who are exclusively breast feeding and hire night coverage. I'm an NCS and I am doing this right now with a client. She sleeps between feedings, but I bring babies to her in the night to eat. She feeds them and then I take them to change and settle back to sleep. We will likely switch to doing a bottle feed of breast milk during the night in a bit, but right now want to make sure we establish a good supply.

[Anonymous]

I'm not a nanny, but I have worked night shift before in a different occupation.

People are going to say to you, "Oh, you work nights? That's great that you have your days free!" and assume that you are just "available" all day (to do social things, to run errands, to help them with favors, etc.)
You have to keep in mind (and let them know) that you do not "have your days free" any more than they "have their nights free" (as in 10 pm-6am)--that is your time to sleep!
Keep to a schedule of when you sleep during the day and stick with it.
Learn to say "no" to requests to meet during your regular sleep time (they wouldn't expect someone who worked normal "day hours" to do social things at 2 am!)

[Anonymous]

You stay with the baby until it wakes up, then you bring it to the mom to breasfeed. You hang out for 20-30 minutes while baby eats. When baby is done, you take the baby back, burp it, change it, hold it upright and put it back to sleep. repeat a few times a night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You stay with the baby until it wakes up, then you bring it to the mom to breasfeed. You hang out for 20-30 minutes while baby eats. When baby is done, you take the baby back, burp it, change it, hold it upright and put it back to sleep. repeat a few times a night.

You make it sound so mechanical. Do you love this work?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You stay with the baby until it wakes up, then you bring it to the mom to breasfeed. You hang out for 20-30 minutes while baby eats. When baby is done, you take the baby back, burp it, change it, hold it upright and put it back to sleep. repeat a few times a night.

You make it sound so mechanical. Do you love this work?

It's a job. Even parents don't want to be up with a fussing baby in the middle of the night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You stay with the baby until it wakes up, then you bring it to the mom to breasfeed. You hang out for 20-30 minutes while baby eats. When baby is done, you take the baby back, burp it, change it, hold it upright and put it back to sleep. repeat a few times a night.

You make it sound so mechanical. Do you love this work?

It's a job. Even parents don't want to be up with a fussing baby in the middle of the night.

I loved every single waking moment with my child.

You need different work if you don't love these children. Seriously.

~Professional Nanny

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You stay with the baby until it wakes up, then you bring it to the mom to breasfeed. You hang out for 20-30 minutes while baby eats. When baby is done, you take the baby back, burp it, change it, hold it upright and put it back to sleep. repeat a few times a night.

You make it sound so mechanical. Do you love this work?

It's a job. Even parents don't want to be up with a fussing baby in the middle of the night.

I loved every single waking moment with my child.

You need different work if you don't love these children. Seriously.

~Professional Nanny

Oh my god, get off your high horse. OP asked what she'd be doing; the appropriate answer IS a mechanical one. This job as a night nanny to a newborn is fairly mechanical - of course you'll enjoy having them fall asleep on you and hold your finger, but that doesn't change the expectations of this position. You don't have to gush about your charges in every conversation to love them and love your work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You stay with the baby until it wakes up, then you bring it to the mom to breasfeed. You hang out for 20-30 minutes while baby eats. When baby is done, you take the baby back, burp it, change it, hold it upright and put it back to sleep. repeat a few times a night.

You make it sound so mechanical. Do you love this work?

It's a job. Even parents don't want to be up with a fussing baby in the middle of the night.

I loved every single waking moment with my child.

You need different work if you don't love these children. Seriously.

~Professional Nanny

Oh my god, get off your high horse. OP asked what she'd be doing; the appropriate answer IS a mechanical one. This job as a night nanny to a newborn is fairly mechanical - of course you'll enjoy having them fall asleep on you and hold your finger, but that doesn't change the expectations of this position. You don't have to gush about your charges in every conversation to love them and love your work.

"It's a job" is not a person I'd hire for my child.

[Anonymous]

It...is a job. What else is it?