As parents ourselves, we know just how wonderful and difficult those first few weeks with a baby can be. Looking after a newborn whilst on minimal sleep is challenging, particularly during that sensitive postnatal period.
That’s why we’re so pleased to announce our new Night Nanny service, which connects parents with nannies who can help care for their children through the night. As with our daytime services, Night Nannies can be booked, contacted and paid through the Bubble app, and we clearly display their experience, qualifications and reviews on their profile.
What is a Night Nanny?
Unlike a daytime nanny, Night Nannies will look after your baby for 8-12 hours at night and offer guidance and support with infant sleep.
Night Nannies have specialised knowledge and experience of caring for babies, particularly within the 0-3 month age range. They can support parents with infant feeding and sleep, and are knowledgeable about common newborn issues such as reflux and colic.
They support your choice of infant feeding and are knowledgeable about the UK safer sleep guidelines. If you are breastfeeding they will bring the baby to you for feeds, and then change and settle the baby afterwards so that you don’t have to leave your bed.
If you are bottle-feeding they will prepare all the feeds during the night whilst they care for your baby. They will prepare the bottle, feed your baby and then help settle them back to sleep afterwards, making sure to clean and sterilise the bottles before they leave.
Clearly, this is a job that requires in-depth experience of newborn care, which is why only 1.4% of the sitters and nannies on Bubble are available to book as Night Nannies. Many of them are Maternity Nurses or Doulas, and their experiences are clearly displayed on their Bubble profile.
Working with newborn professionals
We know that the first few weeks and months with a newborn can be stressful, and that parents want to ensure their baby is being attentively looked after.
This is why we’re working with Caroline, a newborn and parenting specialist, to launch our new Night Nanny feature. She is a highly trained Doula and Maternity Nurse, who provides antenatal education, birth doula support, infant feeding support and postnatal maternity nurse/doula services. You can find out more about her here.
She has consulted with us throughout our product development and launch, and has helped us to create a useful guide for parents who want to learn more about Night Nannies. You can watch this below:
How it works
As with our daytime services, the Night Nannies on Bubble can be viewed by downloading the iOS or Android app. Simply open the app, add in the job details and select the ‘Night Nanny’ booking type. Once you’ve done this, you will then be able to browse nannies who apply before confirming your Night Nanny booking.
Every sitter and nanny on Bubble must go through several verification steps before their profile can go live. These include identity checks, online background checks and reference checks. On top of this, nannies can have their DBS checks verified by Bubble, and you can see whether they’ve done this clearly on their profile.
Nannies also have the option of uploading video profiles and carrying out interviews with the Bubble team too. Again, these are credentials you’ll be able to clearly see when browsing available nannies.
With Night Nannies especially, their experience and particular fit for you is what is most vital. This is why we encourage parents to use the Bubble review system to see what other experience a particular nanny has, and to use the interview function in the app to arrange a meeting with any prospective nanny before going ahead with a booking. Parents use these meetings to personally check any other documentation or certifications that a Nanny has listed on their profile.
Bubble isn’t an employer of Night Nannies and we always encourage parents to use the tools and information we provide to help them make an informed choice that is right for them.
Is it for you?
Although Night Nannying (sometimes referred to as ‘Night Nursing’) has existed as a concept for a long time, in recent years there’s been an increased interest in it. This makes complete sense, as parents are often under a lot of pressure during their first few months with their baby and having some experienced help can really set their minds at ease.
Having someone to help care for your baby at night will also enable you to parent more effectively during the day. Although it’s usual for babies to wake frequently at night, this is hard for parents who aren’t always supported by friends or family and who may have work commitments too. Humans were meant to parent as part of a tribe, so doing it alone or as part of a couple is super tough and you shouldn’t be afraid to reach out for help!
Night Nannies are for every parent who would like to have more sleep, and you can hire a night nanny as a one-off, once a week or even 6 nights a week until your little one is sleeping longer through the night. Many parents find that knowing they have one or two nights of better sleep to look forward to can get them through some tough times!
In cases where a Mum has undergone a C-section or difficult birth experience, this kind of support can be especially helpful in enabling them to care for their children whilst also supporting them to recover from the birth themselves. Alternatively, Night Nannies can support older babies and toddlers in transitioning to a better sleep routine, whilst allowing parents to rest and recuperate in the night.
Find out more
To learn more about Night Nannies, you can also check out our Night Nannies FAQ page.
To browse and book a Night Nanny, download the Bubble app for iOS or Android.
