Cozy bed with blog title overlay: You probably don't need a night nanny; Thoughts from an overnight postpartum doula & night nanny.

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As a soon-to-be parent, you’re probably feeling intimidated about nights with your baby. Everyone talks about how difficult the sleep deprivation is and emphasizes how little their babies sleep.

And you know what? They’re right. The disrupted sleep, paired with new worries, changes in routines, and the physical metamorphosis of motherhood can really throw you for a loop.

However, there are things you can do to encourage better nights with your new little one. The term “night nanny” or “night nurse” is commonly used, but what does that mean, and should you hire one?

Before we get started, please hear me out: you might not need as much nighttime newborn support as you think you’ll need. And that’s coming from me- someone who offers this support.

As a postpartum doula, I frequently meet with families who are either worried about sleep while still pregnant, or are in the thick of it in the early days postpartum, and they want me every weeknight for as long as I’m available. And I get it! It’s so life-altering to have your sleep disrupted in such an intense way. But, as someone who cares about you (and your wallet): there are some other ways to have better nights with baby that don’t involve hiring a full-time night nanny.

In this article, we’ll cover:

What is a night nanny?
Steps to take prenatally for better nights with baby
How to decide if you should hire a night nanny
How to book an overnight postpartum doula or night nanny

What is a Night Nanny?

You might have noticed that I use both terms: “Overnight Postpartum Doula” and “Night Nanny” on my website. You may have also heard people use the terms “Night Nurse” or “Newborn Care Specialist".” Some of this is colloquial, but there are some key differences between the titles.

Overnight Postpartum Doula

Postpartum Doulas are trained in supporting the family as a whole, with a focus on the mother/birthing parent. They help families navigate the transition into parenthood by answering questions, providing resources, and offering physical help with tasks like laundry and dishes. As an Overnight Postpartum Doula, I focus on the first two or three weeks with a family, helping them settle in, get caught up on rest, and figure out care systems that work for their lifestyles. Most families would benefit from postpartum doula support.

Night Nanny

Night nannies are focused on infant (typically newborn) care throughout the night so the parents can sleep. They may help with household chores like laundry or dishes. Because their focus is on infant care, they are not as likely to help support for the whole family, including breastfeeding and postpartum recovery. They might not have completed specific training about caring for newborns or infants. Night nannies are typically hired for multiple nights a week for at least a couple of months.

I offer short-term night nanny services to families who complete my Welcome Home packages, providing some respite care in the first three weeks so they can get some additional rest. I also offer night nanny services to families of infants up to a year old, for up to 5 nights, so they can catch up on some sleep.

Night Nurse

This term feels like more of a colloquial one. At least in Reno, Nevada, this term isn’t used much around the community, but I know in other locations it is utilized more frequently. To me, if you’re interested in hiring a night nurse, you are expecting to literally hire a Registered Nurse to care for your infant. This has benefits for infants with complex needs, like if they were born prematurely or needed to spend time in the NICU. Again, these professionals are focused on infant care and can be hired for any length of time, depending on your needs. I do have to say: I’m not as familiar with the actual application of the term “night nurse,” so please do some research about it to see if a night nurse would be a good fit for your family and if they are what you expect.

Newborn Care Specialist

Newborn Care Specialists are trained in, well, newborn care. Their focus is on the infant, so they provide infant care. Again, they may help with household duties, but aren’t likely to offer support for the whole family. Unlike “night nanny,” “Newborn Care Specialist” is a title earned through completing specific training.

Sleeping baby in crib with text overlay: While night nanny support is great when needed, a postpartum doula is a better fit for most families.

Steps to Take Prenatally for Better Nights with Baby

Prenatal education about what to expect
One of the best things you can do to have better nights with baby is to know what to expect. And I don’t mean just “babies wake up a lot.”
How often do they wake up? Why do they wake up? How does their sleep behavior change over time?
When you have a more solid foundation of knowledge, you can begin to set some more realistic expectations for your baby and yourself. You can learn all about infant sleep (and more!) in my newborn care class: The Recovering Perfectionist’s Guide to Newborn Care.
Setting realistic expectations
As you’ll learn in your deep dive about newborn sleep, babies do indeed wake up frequently. This is normal, albeit annoying. Babies are biologically hardwired to make sure a caretaker is still nearby. Plus, they have tiny stomachs and digest quickly, especially breastmilk, causing them to experience hunger more frequently. And, to add to it all, their rapid development is making the brain work hard, which disrupts sleep and changes sleep behaviors/patterns.
I know you’re craving to establish a routine with your baby from the get-go. but trust me as I say that you just have to roll with the punches for a bit. You can try to maintain routines for yourself, but your baby is going to feel like a roller coaster for a while. (To be honest, I’m 4 years into parenthood and it still frequently feels like a rollercoaster). I encourage you to remember that each phase will pass- the hard ones as well as the easy ones- and you will be okay.
Keeping these sporadic sleep patterns in mind, I’d like you to remember that your baby is unique and will have their own sleep needs, habits, and schedules. Some of this you can influence, and some just seems to come as part of the package. You' will see the parents online, or maybe in your community, whose babies fall asleep easily and/or sleep long stretches early on. That’s great for them. I didn’t have a baby like that, and you might not either. That doesn’t mean you’re doing anything wrong. Please have some grace with yourself.
As you’re setting expectations for sleep, also consider that if you plan on having anyone else feed your baby with a bottle during the night and you’d like that to be your own breastmilk, you will need to pump during the night to maintain your milk supply and physical comfort. I think getting up to pump and going back to sleep is less energy, and possibly time, than breastfeeding a baby, but this is a component you can include in the way that makes sense for your family.
I’d also like to point out, that yes, having a baby (and child) is inconvenient. You’ll have to do things you don’t want to do, and it’s tiring and stressful. And even if you have a night nanny or additional assistance for some time, there will still be nights that you will need to get up during the night with your child. Children, and especially babies, don’t hit a magic age that they sleep perfectly from then on. Their sleep should become more regulated and overall the nights will feel better at some point, but this might be much later than you are hoping for. That doesn’t mean there is anything wrong.
After you have set your expectations to include night wake ups, because they will happen, you can work on a postpartum plan.
Creating a postpartum plan
Postpartum plans are created prenatally to list goals, task delegation, people to call for support, and more. Doing this planning before baby arrives can help you have a more calm, supported start to parenthood. The postpartum plan can be as simple or involved as you see fit, but sleep is important to consider.
What are each family members’ sleep needs? How do you intend to meet those needs? Is there opportunity for either (or both) parents to nap during the day? Could either (or both) go to bed earlier? Who could you call to come care for baby while you take a nap?
I encourage you to complete a more extensive postpartum plan to think about your lifestyle as a whole and how you’re intending to meet your goals as a new family. You can find a postpartum plan template from Baby Chick through the link, and if you’d like some professional input from a postpartum doula, you can book a discovery call for a postpartum planning session with me.

Cozy room with text overlay: Setting realistic sleep expectations prenatally makes all the difference.

How to Decide if You Should Hire a Night Nanny

Should you hire a night nanny? Here are some things to consider:

If you or your partner have at least 12 weeks off work (or have flexible work schedules): you probably can get enough fragmented rest to still feel functional. You can hire an overnight postpartum doula if you’d like support settling in and getting caught up on rest in the early days after birth.
If you have a high stress or high risk job, especially if you have to go back before 12 weeks: you might benefit from a night nanny to ensure you can get enough rest to focus well at work, unless your partner has the capacity to handle the night shifts with baby.
If you have health issues that require you to have good nights of sleep: you’d benefit from a night nanny, unless your partner can take over the night shifts.
If you are anxious about sleep and figuring everything out: start with an overnight postpartum doula to help you feel more prepared and help you settle in once baby arrives.
If you have lower sleep needs, especially if both parents are able to take turns tending to baby during the night: you can have a postpartum doula help you get settled in, and then you’ll probably be okay on your own.
If you’re really struggling with your baby’s sleep: you have some options. If baby is sleeping okay for a baby, but you really need to get some more rest, a postpartum doula or night nanny could be a good fit for some respite care. If baby seems to be struggling with sleep, so you’re struggling with sleep, and no one is getting any rest, please reach out to a sleep consultant to help you troubleshoot what’s going on. Sleep shouldn’t feel that hard. I encourage you to work with a holistic sleep consultant that keeps the whole picture in mind and doesn’t encourage any form of “crying it out.”

How to Book an Overnight Postpartum Doula or Night Nanny

Have you decided that you’d like some extra help? If you’re in the Reno area, book a free discovery call with me to get started on the booking process. You can find the details of the support I offer on my Services page.

You can also reach out to PB+J Collective and Lifetime of Love nanny agencies for longer-term night nanny support, or if I am unavailable.

If you aren’t in the Reno area, you can reach out to any local nanny agencies or doula groups/agencies to find what services are available in your area.

Sending you all the good sleep vibes!

I wish you well!

Jenna

You Probably Don’t Need a Night Nanny