Booking Overnight Services: Our Most Sought After Service (and why!)
When it come’s to booking overnight infant care with a Newborn Care Specialist, there’s a lot of things to consider. How many nights? How many weeks? What questions should I ask? What do these services look like? At Family Foundations, we know parents appreciate transparency, so we’re here to help guide you through the process of choosing the perfect provider for your growing family!
Why is overnight infant care sooo heavily requested?
#1. Overnight infant care is HARD. We go into parenthood thinking about the fact that its normal for babies to feed every 2.5-3 hours, but what we don’t anticipate is the extra time spent changing the babies diaper (sometimes twice in one feeding!) or the time making and warming the bottle, or the time spent burping, swaddling, and resettling baby back to sleep - and that’s just in an ideal situation! Babies who have reflux or GERD may need to be held upright for 10-20 minutes after their feeding in order to sleep more comfortably. Babies who have spit up or had a blow out may need a whole outfit and bedding change. Feedings are rarely just a 15-20 minute feeding; they are often 45 minutes to 1.5 hours of time spent caring for baby. That means you might have just 90 minutes to 2 hours before the process repeats itself.
#2. For many families who work in demanding career fields, being tired and slow paced is simply not an option. It is essential to their day that they be rested, and on top of their game (imagine a sleepy Airline Pilot or Surgeon coming to work after being up all night with their baby - scary!)
#3. For families with older children, the balancing act of parenthood is already an exhausting task - it would not be manageable to give the rest of your family the attention and time they need if you are in a constant state of exhaustion.
#4. Second time parents may have already experienced Postpartum Depression, Anxiety, or other Perinatal Mood & Anxiety Disorders (PMAD’s) that were amplified by a lack of sleep, and now they know that overnight support is an essential piece of their mental health.
#5. The bottom line is: sleep deprivation sucks. It leaves us feeling groggy, with low energy, low patience, and low tolerance. For many people, they know their body, and know that they need a minimum of 8 hours of sleep per night in order to function.
I am often asked the simple question “how much time should we book?” But, there is no simple answer here —
There is a lot of things to consider when you are choosing a Newborn Care Specialist (NCS) to support your family by taking care of your infant overnight. Some of the questions I’ll ask parents during a consultation are:
Are you anticipating a C-Section Birth? Automatically, I often find that C-Section mom’s will need an additional layer of support. Due to the painful, and difficult recovery associated with a C-Section Birth, I would recommend that these families book more nights per week, maybe even up to 7 nights for the first 2-4 weeks. This will ensure that Mama has support throughout the night for the care of the infant.
How long are you and your partner taking off for Parental Leave? If you or your partner is not going to have a significant amount of time off from work (6+ weeks for each of you), then I would recommend booking a package that will cover 12 to 16 weeks of overnight infant care. Babies go through a ton of growth and development in their first 3-4 months of life, which also comes with a lot of changes in feeding and sleeping schedules. If you don’t have a partner to share the overnight duties with, you may find yourself constantly functioning on low sleep, which can be very stressful.
What are your sleep goals for the baby? This is important for me to know, because I need to find a balance between what is developmentally appropriate for your infant, and what expectations you’ll have from me, by the end of our contracted time together. The reality is, I cannot guarantee your baby will be sleeping through the night by 8 weeks old, and nor can I “sleep-train” them when I am only with your family 2 or 3 nights per week.
It's important to look at the whole picture of how much support you will have and when. I most often recommend that clients book 4-5 nights per week, for at least 12 weeks. From my own experience, client’s who book less time than that are often feeling like they don’t have enough support during the week, and that sleep deprivation is constantly looming over them. Every single client who only books 8 weeks of services, asks for an extension. If you're asking yourself “well Bryn, then why do you offer only 8 weeks of services?” It’s because I am aware of the high cost of overnight services. I know that even though I recommend a package that includes 480+ service hours, that not all families have that within their budget. If the only two choices are: don’t book services OR choose a smaller package; then I want my clients to have the option to choose the smaller packages. Some support is always going to be better than no support.
Consistency is key, especially for your baby —
If we are not using similar soothing methods, and maintaining our goals of creating a routine, your baby is never going to know what to expect. I encourage all of my clients early on to establish a bedtime routine in the evenings - it does not have to be anything fancy or over complicated - but it will create a pattern, which will begin to set the tone for each night. I also encourage families to have a “start time” for each day - let’s say everyone is awake by 8am. This will also help you and your baby create a routine early on in the day, which will then set the tone for a daytime routine.
We will have to work together as a team to help develop longer stretches of sleep, working to sooth your babies with alternative methods, not just feeding them. In order to do this, I need my clients to be prepared for the work that is required of them on their nights.
I really want our overnight provider to get our baby sleeping through the night —
This goal is perfectly fine, as long as it’s met with the reality of your infants age and what is developmentally appropriate. You may also choose to have someone with a Sleep Conditioning or Sleep Training background support you through this time. You’ll want to make sure you choose a provider who will use methods you are okay with. Many traditional Sleep Training Methods include leaving baby to cry for a specified amount of time - but if you are not interested in using Cry-it-Out methods, you’ll need to choose a provider who is confident in their ability to soothe baby promptly, while still working on elongating sleep. Gentle Methods are fantastic (and are my preferred method) but they can take a little more time, and a bit more work.
How often do clients really need an extension?
In my experience, most clients underestimate how much overnight care they will want, and how much overnight they can handle on their own.
Example 1: Client booked 4 nights per week for 8 weeks. Upon baby coming home, they immediately decided to increase to 5 nights per week for at least a couple of weeks. We ended up doing 5 nights per week for the entire 8-week contract, and then due to my limited availability, were only able to receive an extension of (1) 5-night week, and then 4 additional 1-night weeks to taper down.
Example 2: Client booked 4 nights per week for 12 weeks. Due to baby still waking up 2-3 times for feedings, the Client decided to do a 5-week extension. We tapered down to 3-nights for two weeks and then 2-nights for three more weeks.
Example 3: Client booked 3 nights per week for 12 weeks, starting when baby was intended to be 4 weeks old. Client felt family and friends visiting and ‘helping’ would be sufficient support for the first four weeks. Unexpectedly, baby came 3 weeks early. I was able to give this client additional days at the beginning of their contract because my second client has gone past their due date. Parents shared that in retro-spect, they wish they had booked their contract based on baby’s due date, and had more realistic expectations of how much family and friends would actually be able to help - particularly overnight.
Example 4: Client booked 3 nights per week for 8 weeks, and due to a difficult birth recovery and some parent health concerns, realized that handling 4 nights per week on their own was more challenging than they anticipated. Client discussed bringing on additional support to cover up to 6 night per week, for 4-6 months. Due to my own limited availability, Client would have to consider alternative providers for the additional time needed.
What happens if I didn’t book enough time and I want my Newborn Care Specialist to stay longer or add more days? —
If you have already secured your services, but have decided you may need to add additional days or length to contract, then talk to your provider as soon as possible! Many NCS book their clients several months in advanced, and if you wait until the end of your contract to ask for more time, then they may no longer be available. On more than one occasion, my client realizes early on that they will want more time added to the end of their contract, and as long as I am still available for those dates, I will accommodate adding that time to their contract. I want to stay until you feel ready!
This is a big financial commitment, I’m worried about budging in enough services —
Family Foundations understands the financial commitment that each family makes when they choose Postpartum and Newborn Care. We know that big commitments can feel overwhelming, and that you are often working with the unknown, because you have no idea how well your baby will (or won’t) sleep; or how you will handle sleep-less nights. We encourage every family to be thoughtful about the time they are booking in order to ensure they have ample overnight support.
To help ease the burden of financial costs, we encourage families to use Be Her Village Registry where you can Register for Pregnancy and Postpartum Support services! You can now find Family Foundations on Be Her Registry.
Still have questions?
We’re always happy to schedule a free consultation call with anyone who needs more information about overnight services or navigating the decision of which package to pick. Contact us today for more information!
