baby nurse??

Has anyone hired one or plan to. I'm seriously considering this due to a number of factors but have absolutely no idea where to start. A friend mentinoed the idea to me and I think it may be the best for DH and I/ How do you find them, what are costs like, what wil lthey do, etc... I'm kind of clueless....

Re: baby nurse??

I am not getting one, but have a co-worker that did and swore by her. She came at 7pm and stayed until 7am (long work day!). She would care for the baby all night so he and his wife didn't have to get up at all. He has a townhouse and the baby nurse kept the baby on a different floor so they wouldn't hear her when she cried. It was pricey, but I don't know how much. Their in-laws paid as a gift. They had her for 6 weeks.

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I would kill for that! Although I'd prefer from 9 to 9.

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I looked into having someone who would have stayed for a week. I did not end up doing that b/c my baby was in the NICU the first week and the scheduling was a mess. Then, for my son's bris, we hired an RN for 24 hours and then she came back 2 days later to help remove the gauze (not easy) and to help with a bath. Most of the baby nurses I spoke to were not RNs or even LPNs. I don't think I would have been comfortable having someone here around the clock for so many days.

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I did not have one with Jacob since my Dh was working from home, my brother ( ped) was in town for the week and all the grandparents were around... but I am planning on having one with this child . I plan on having one for 2 weeks.. I feel that this would help me tremendously with the transition to 2 children and would get me back on track after having a baby..

That being said most of my girlfriends had one so I have many recommendations.. If none of those work out because of timing , I will be going through an agency in Forest Hills called the Austin Agency..

My friends baby nurses range from 165- 200 a day...

Message edited 11/20/2007 6:38:02 PM.

Re: baby nurse??

I had one with my first for 2 weeks and this time I am having one for 1 1/2 months. Like HillandRon said, my first daughter is going to need a lot of extra attention and I want to be sure I will be there for her. I also want to make certain all the new babys needs are tended to and I will certainly need some sleep. I should add dh will be back to work fairly quickly so it will just be us.

My friend, who is the pickiest person on earth, swears by this one woman she had. I interviewed her and thought she was terrific so I booked her as soon as the bfp came up! Good thing too b/c she books up fast. I would go on referrals and ask everyone you know!

The baby nurse will show you how to bf, set up the room, clean the room, get up with the baby in the nights so you can get some sleep, get the baby on a routine, bathe the baby properly, swaddle, etc....
She costs about 150-280 a day, depending on experience I think and stays with you 24 hours.

Good luck!

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i am a Nicu nurse and the going rate for home care nurses are 40 dollars an hour (the lowest) to around 60 an hour

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I had one with my DS and she was great. WHen I had my DD my mom stayed with me for 2 weeks . Mom was amazing.

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If I had to do it all again, I would scrimp and save to get one. It would of made the first three months of their lives a lot more pleasurable for mommy and daddy.

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We booked our baby nurse for 2 weeks (though we may only use her for 1 week). We had a ton of recommendations from friends and family. FM me if you need any names.

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This sounds like a great idea. Do you think it would work for me if I am nursing at night anyway?

Liz

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Can you please FM agency information? I don't know whether you still have that co-worker, but this sounds like what we need.
I am back from the hospital with my first, but my c-section is still healing, I haven't slept in a week, and DD is almost too much for me, DH AND MIL, who is leaving Tuesday anyway
The problem is nights, not days. She is fussier at night. I would probably just need someone some nights, just to catch up on sleep (I am not BFing).
Thank you so much.

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I would love to get a nurse but my husband is sooooo old school , I'm sure that if I complained enough he would ..but i do have my mom to help but in the hospital for the first night or 2 I would since I have not slept a full night since Aug 6th

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I am having a nurse as well. We just figured it would be nice to have an expert on hand, so we hired her for a week, 24 hours a day. If we feel she is in the way or its not working out we can send her home early, although you do pay for the week. I am BF so she wont be much help in terms of getting more sleep. I wouldnt really be comfortable sleeping while she was up with my baby anyway. Hopefully she will help me with BF, and show us how to do most of the important things, bathing, taking care of circumsion, belly button, etc..... We are paying her one flat rate for the week, about $1000.00.

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i would love to do have someone helping but we are trying to buy the baby a house so any extra costs is totally out of the question... lucky DH will be with me for the 1st 2 weeks and my mom is right around the corner.

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We had a nurse stay with us for 3 weeks. I am so glad we did!

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Re: baby nurse??

Posted by wannabemom

Posted by JTK

i am a Nicu nurse and the going rate for home care nurses are 40 dollars an hour (the lowest) to around 60 an hour

OMG, that means for 8 weeks of daily 12 hour shifts that is $27k-$40k

Re: baby nurse??

A doctor I spoke to highly recommended a baby nurse to me, but I think the cost far outweighs any benefit. I'm off for 12 weeks with my job secured... so in my opinion, there's my 12 job... to take care of my kid. That's just me, if I had the money laying around it may be a different story... once I started sweating the whole babysitter thing for when I do return to work, any thought of hired help for when I'm home went out the door. Fortunately, my mom, my sister and dare I say maybe even my mother-in-law are within 50 miles of us so I'm sure people will help out.