Night Nannies

[Jamily]

Hi everyone,

A friend of mine in London has been using a service called Night Nannies to help train her bub to self-settle - is there anything like this in Sydney and what does everyone think of using this type of service? My first impression was that it was a "lazy" way of doing it, but after chatting to my friend I think she is in control and sees the nanny as a backup/support that she is doing it right.

[Maghan]

I don't understand what a "night nappy" is and how it teaches them to self settle? If you mean a nappy which keeps them dry all night, I personally tried that and it made no difference, but a girlfriend swore it worked. We used to call them "super soakers". They were like a woman's sanitary pad which we put inside their nappies, they were intended to be used with cloth nappies, but we used them with disposables. From what I remember they were in a yellow packet and called something like nappy mates?

[Jamily]

hahahaha - sleep depravation has made me lose it! I mean night naNNy!! Sorry! :o

I have edited my first post!

[Aprilsmum]

I think its a fantastic idea. I don't know of any here, but I can remember thinking in the early days (April is 14 wks old now) that having someone come and spend a night with me to show me how to resettle her would have been such a help. I think that sometimes we are doing things that we don't realise is wrong and is perhaps setting up bad habbits. Having someone to correct us early on is great.

We can't be expected to always know what to do. I think instinct only goes so far...

B :o

[Chickadee]

I know Ngala here in WA runs information sessions for parents on many topics, including settling and sleeping, and you can also spend 24 hours at their clinic/house to get hands-on help. I'm not sure if they do in-home help or not. But I know there are other agencies in most of the other states that provide similar services. You could try checking under Sleep and Settling in the BubHub Services Directory.

There are also individuals who do consulting on sleeping. I know one in WA and I'm sure there are some in other states.

[lucyp]

Hi there,

I have not tried them myself - but have heard very good things regarding the service from one of the other mum's in my mothers group. They do stay overnight and are registered mothercraft nurses. They also claimable through your health care fund (yeah!) http://www.babycareforcryingbabies.com/index.htm

Also - any of the nanny agencies have nannies that will stay overnight that are trained in bubs etc e.g Dial and Angel - but I think they are quite expensive.

Good luck and let us all know if you have any success:)

[melzy]

When my daughter was 7 weeks we were referred to a place in Adelaide called Torrens House by a nurse that would visit us when she was first born because she was always hysterical and her sleep patterns were back to front. This lady was a child youth health nurse. I felt embarassed that "I" needed help and why does it seem so easy for other mums but I soon got over that. We stayed there for 3 days full time and it was wonderful. Your partner is allowed to visit any time, even stay and you get fed there and it didn't cost me a cent. By the time we left my little girl was in such a great routine and I had her sleeping in a cot. They showed me sleeping techniques, got into great routines - play and feeding. I met wonderful mums who had similar problems, or other issues such as weaning from boob to bottle, or bottle to normal milk or whatever. The staff were wonderful too.

My partner couldn't believe the changes when we got home. My girl and I were so much happier and I was so much more confident,. I will never forget that experience and recommend it to anyone who may need similar assistance.

Try and call your local hospitals or even call your local council and see if they know of any child health centres near you. Even try the Department of Child Health - City London Uni who actually teach people in this area.

I hope you find someone who can assist you.