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When I found out I was having twins, I was on a mission to seek out advice from other moms of twins. Enter Charlotte Mothers of Multiples. This wonderful support organization directed me to a night “nurse” (nurse is a very loose term in this industry – most of them are not RN’s). Actually in the beginning, I didn’t think I needed a night nurse at all. I was focused on day help and was convinced that I didn’t need anyone at night. Or so I thought!
So what is a night nurse? They are not much different than a nanny, except they come in at night. Their shift starts at 10pm and ends at 6am. They feed your baby(s), change diapers, swaddle and put them to sleep. They try to encourage a consistent nighttime routine so you can get a head start at getting your child to sleep through the night and you can get a good night’s sleep. They introduced me to the importance of swaddling. I never did that much with my first two since they were born in the summertime. But let me tell you, I’m a believer now and forever! As soon as we swaddled those twins, I mean really swaddled them (yes, there is a special technique!), I could see my babies almost sigh in contentment. It was such an obvious change. Not to mention, their sleeping patterns improved drastically.
I had never really considered hiring a night nurse prior to the twins pregnancy because I always breastfeed my babies and didn’t think it was worth the extra $ when I already had to get up and feed the baby. But when I was having two, I was told time after time, “you absolutely need a night nurse!” Of course I didn’t listen until it was almost too late. Story of my life! Don’t think you need to have twins to enjoy the benefits of a night nurse and a night of sleep every once in a while. I’ve heard of more and more mothers of singletons (that’s twins language for “one baby, not two!”) hiring night nurses, even when they are breastfeeding. You just can’t put a dollar amount to 5 hours of sleep in a row! So I didn’t start my night nurse search until I came home from the hospital the second time (twins had jaundice) so they were a week or so old. My whole family was sick with the flu or some random fever virus. Actually, my husband had to leave the hospital the night I gave birth to the twins because he had a fever of 104. That is a whole separate story – let’s just say, lucky for me I have great girlfriends:-) So after interviewing two different baby nurse companies (there were only two that I knew of), I was thinking that I wasn’t sure I liked any of the candidates who walked through my door. In fact, I was pretty certain I had recently seen one of them on America’s Most Wanted – again, I’m going off on a random tangent that we could definitely discuss over a bottle of wine! But in walked Jeannette Gregory, founder of Grandma’s Porch, and I truly believe she was my guardian angel sent from above.
Looking back, I think Jeannette had a certain glow about her, a sense of calmness and poise and my whole family immediately took to her. When you get that feeling, then this is the person you hire on the spot! We were her first case but she had a list of references that were incredible. She is a published author, publisher, runs Grandma’s Porch which now takes on night sitting cases, she has been on News 14 Carolinas because she is such an accomplished author. The list goes on. I mean, it just doesn’t get any better than this! Thanks to Jeannette, my twins were sleeping through the night (10p-6a) at 5 1/2 weeks. My girls never slept that long and that early on in their lives and probably still don’t!
If you’re looking for night time help, I would obviously highly recommend Jeannette and crew. You can also try to find nursing students at the local colleges. They are often looking to pick up hours and they are medically trained. But let me give you one very important piece of advice. No matter who you hire and no matter who recommends this person, make sure you always check references and most importantly, conduct a criminal background check through the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department. It will be the best $25 you’ll ever spend.
Have you ever used a night nurse? Do you have any recommendations to share?
18 comments
I am confused as to how a night nurse is still beneficial if you are breastfeeding? i.e. don’t you still have to awaken to feed the baby?
I had a night nurse for my first baby and it was the BEST money I have ever spent on anything baby related. She was a wonderful resource to me as a first time mom, she was great with our baby and put her on a road to being an awesome sleeper, which she still is today. I can’t recommend them enough!
This is Jen P. Yes, sometimes I go off on tangents and can sound confusing! A night nurse can for sure be a wonderful thing even if you’re breastfeeding. The night nurse prepares the baby when she wakes up at night (changes diapers, clothes, whatever is needed) and then brings the baby to you. You nurse the baby, hand her back over when you’re ready and off you fall back to sleeping bliss. The night nurse then puts the baby back to sleep. Even better if you’re not nursing b/c then the night nurse can do everything for you while you’re sleeping peacefully through the night. Even if you do it for one or two nights a week, it is SOOOO worth it, especially if this is baby #2 or #3!
As a mother of 10 year old twins I would definitely recommend some night help. I had no help at all with my twins (day or night) and walked around in a delirious fog their entire first year of life. One of them did not sleep thru the night until he was 3 years old. If I had it to do over again, I would definitely hire a night nurse to help with getting them on a scheduele and letting the Mommy rest.
I’m sure it’s very helpful having someone else take care of your child so you can rest. Wish I had the money to spend that way.
just tried to email your grandmas porch jeanette and it came back to me
I’m not sure why you had problems getting through to Jeannette at Grandma’s Porch. Her # is on the website link but for easy reference, here’s her contact info:Jeannette Gregory 704.606.7621jeannette@grandmas-porch.comYou may want to try her phone #. Sorry for the confusion and please let me know if you can’t get through! -Jen P.
It’s me again! OK, I stand corrected! The email on Grandma’s Porch is not working at the moment. But the phone # is for sure working! Jeannette Gregory @ 704.606.7621Thanks for your time:-) Jen P.
OK, just spoke with Jeannette and the email address is now updated on http://www.grandmas-porch.com. The correct email address is jtg@jeannettetgregory.com. Sorry for the confusion! -Jen P.
Hi Jen P. This is Jeannette, I am so impressed with the article you wrote “The Night Nurse Who Saved Me” Even though it is “I” you are referring to, It was a pleasure working with your family. I remember you speaking many times about your #1 dream and it has come to fruition CHARLOTTE SMARTY PANTS. It happened and I’m so proud of you. Much love to you and your family.
What happened to the days of being real a mom? This sends a bad precident to those women who are pregnant with mulitiples and cannot afford a glorified nanny. Simply read some books on teaching your babies to sleep, suck up the fatigue and step up to the plate of parenthood! It goes by so fast! We have 2 year old twins and a newborn, the money to spend on extra help and no family around….and suprise…we are still alive!!
I appreciate the new email address. Thank you and I will contact Jeanette. Do you have a moderator on this site? B/c if so, I would delete the messages of these rude women who are obviously jealous of women who can afford to hire help to make them a better parent (i.e. getting a good night sleep so you can tend to your older children when your infant babies will NEVER know the difference of who was up with them in the middle of the night)! It is simply ridiculous that people have the arrogance to post rude things on this website that is generated purely to HELP WOMEN!!! I applaud The Jens for all their hardwork on this site and hope these people mind their own business and keep their negative energy to themselves.
This is Jen B & Jen P. In response to the last comment, thank you for your question and for your nice feedback on the site. We do not have a moderator for the site, but we do read all the comments. We welcome all perspectives, even if they differ from our own. We feel deleting any comments would do a disservice to our readers and threaten the integrity of our site. Thanks to all for reading!
I published the second anon. comment and I just wanted to say I don’t feel any guilt whatsoever nor do I feel like I am not a “real mom” because I got a good nights sleep, was better informed about how to care for a newborn, and had a baby at 8 weeks that slept from 10pm-7am, and at 10 weeks slept 7-7. If you don’t have the resources you do with what you have, if you do, you make plans accordingly. I wish those who didn’t use this outstanding service didn’t disparage those of us who did. You are no better of a mother than I because you suffered more. You are just more tired.
Hello Charlotte Smarty Pants, I’d like to add that as a provider of services that include Newborn Care Specialist AKA Night Nurses or Baby Nurses, all feedback of services recieved are always positive and of the gracious mindset.Sure,any woman can wake up at night and care for her child – butbeing the resourceful, enterprising women of the new millenia – why not utilize a service that will allow you fully appreciate the newborn you put forth with clarity and vitality achieved with rest and a good night’s sleep.Baby Nurses povide the highest quality of infant care, parent education and assistance in establishing patterns.Any woman can appreciate that.
Thanks for your blog on Grandmas' porch, Jen P. After reading it last year, we called and they "saved us" too. After less than a month, Jeannette & crew got us on the right track with helping our 3 month old – our first – sleep through the night. Looking back, I was so clueless and they set me straight. I was, and still am, so grateful to them. Grandma's porch is a blessing. THANK YOU, THANK YOU Jen P. for posting this blog.
In response to the reader who asked: "I am confused as to how a night nurse is still beneficial if you are breastfeeding? i.e. don't you still have to awaken to feed the baby?"You can also express your milk so that the night nurse and/or a family member (wink, wink DH) can bottle feed your baby.
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