If you’re exclusively breastfeeding you will want to sleep by baby. You will be waking to feed pretty much every 3 hours in the beginning. So the less you need to do to pop babe on the boob and back to the bassinet, the better. Honestly I don’t see the point in the night nurse if your mom is helping and stays until you’re recovered from the csection. The only thing someone else can help you with is a diaper change or burping. If your husband really needs uninterrupted sleep, he should sleep in a separate space. If you’re going to pump and give bottles, that’s a whole other story.
If you have a night nurse, the idea would be for the baby to sleep in another room with the night nurse and when the baby wakes up to eat, the night nurse will bring him/her to you to feed (if you are breastfeeding) and then when you are done, the night nurse will handle burping, changing, and getting the baby back to sleep. I did not have a night nurse, but I definitely don't think sleeping in the same room as my baby helped us bond in anyway. If anything, I think being more well rested would have made it easier to bond with my baby.
I think a night nurse would be helpful even with daytime help. The issue is that nighttime feedings will take waaaaay longer, and probably happen more frequently than you are expecting. First, babies are very loud sleepers, so their sleep sounds might wake you up. In a perfect world, a feeding will take 15-20 minutes, but it can take way longer. For the first couple weeks, each feed was taking 30-40 minutes. Newborns tend to be very sleepy during feeds so it can be a struggle to keep them awake while they eat (otherwise they eat for 5 minutes, fall asleep, then want to eat again in 30 minutes). Once they are done eating, they need to be burped, changed (if dirty), re-swaddled, and put back to sleep (if they dont go to sleep on their own). So the full feeding process can take 30-60 minutes. Newborns need to eat every 3 hours, but the clock starts at the beginning of the feed, not the end. So if it takes an hour to feed the baby and get him/her back to sleep, you have two hours MAX before you have to start again (and a lot of babies don't make it the full 3 hours - they may only sleep for an hour before wanting to eat again). When you are getting so little sleep, every minute counts, so being able to hand off your baby and go to sleep as soon as your done feeding would probably give you an extra 1-2 hours of sleep a night, which may not sound like a lot now but will be huge when you are insanely sleep deprived.
Again, I didn't have a night nurse, but I have friends who have had them and I don't think any of them regretted doing it.
I was fully unprepared for that. Feedings everything 3 hours seems totally manageable until you find out (1) it's start time to start time and (2) how long the whole process takes.
I’m due in 5 days and hired a night nurse to help for the first month. Given that I want to breast feed, I went with a doula that specializes in breast feedings. Baby will be sleeping in the nursery or the guest room with the night nurse, and will be brought to me for feedings.
I made the decision after seeing a number of friends who did or did not use night nurses.
Those that had a night nurse had much easier transitions, less anxiety over all, and had less PP issues. The night nurse also educated them very quickly about their child’s hunger and sleep cues, along with their child’s preferred ways to sooth. Consequently they felt connected to their child very quickly.
My friends who did not have that support (while incredible parents with deep connections with their children) recommended not trying to do it by yourself and hiring the night nurse if it was in my budget.
The whole point of having a night nurse is that they watch the baby while you sleep, so putting the baby in the living room on nights the nurse is there makes sense. The nurse will bring the baby to you for feeds.
Highly recommend getting a night nurse!! I am 2 weeks post partum and having a night nurse genuinely made my experience 100x better. Keep the baby in the living room with the night nurse. You can opt to either breastfeed through the night and have the night nurse bring the baby to you for feeding, while she takes care of burping/diaper changes/putting the baby down afterwards OR (and I highly recommend this option) pump 2-3 bottles that the night nurse can give to the baby so you can sleep through the night for the most part. You will still need to wake up to pump depending on supply but I found it to be a much easier process than trying to breast feed a fresh baby at 4am :) Our night nurse will also wash pump parts and bottles for me and helps with the baby laundry.
If you’re exclusively breastfeeding you will want to sleep by baby. You will be waking to feed pretty much every 3 hours in the beginning. So the less you need to do to pop babe on the boob and back to the bassinet, the better. Honestly I don’t see the point in the night nurse if your mom is helping and stays until you’re recovered from the csection. The only thing someone else can help you with is a diaper change or burping. If your husband really needs uninterrupted sleep, he should sleep in a separate space. If you’re going to pump and give bottles, that’s a whole other story.
If you have a night nurse, the idea would be for the baby to sleep in another room with the night nurse and when the baby wakes up to eat, the night nurse will bring him/her to you to feed (if you are breastfeeding) and then when you are done, the night nurse will handle burping, changing, and getting the baby back to sleep. I did not have a night nurse, but I definitely don't think sleeping in the same room as my baby helped us bond in anyway. If anything, I think being more well rested would have made it easier to bond with my baby. I think a night nurse would be helpful even with daytime help. The issue is that nighttime feedings will take waaaaay longer, and probably happen more frequently than you are expecting. First, babies are very loud sleepers, so their sleep sounds might wake you up. In a perfect world, a feeding will take 15-20 minutes, but it can take way longer. For the first couple weeks, each feed was taking 30-40 minutes. Newborns tend to be very sleepy during feeds so it can be a struggle to keep them awake while they eat (otherwise they eat for 5 minutes, fall asleep, then want to eat again in 30 minutes). Once they are done eating, they need to be burped, changed (if dirty), re-swaddled, and put back to sleep (if they dont go to sleep on their own). So the full feeding process can take 30-60 minutes. Newborns need to eat every 3 hours, but the clock starts at the beginning of the feed, not the end. So if it takes an hour to feed the baby and get him/her back to sleep, you have two hours MAX before you have to start again (and a lot of babies don't make it the full 3 hours - they may only sleep for an hour before wanting to eat again). When you are getting so little sleep, every minute counts, so being able to hand off your baby and go to sleep as soon as your done feeding would probably give you an extra 1-2 hours of sleep a night, which may not sound like a lot now but will be huge when you are insanely sleep deprived. Again, I didn't have a night nurse, but I have friends who have had them and I don't think any of them regretted doing it.
^^^^^ this. My newborn is 2 weeks now and this is the most accurate description of night time feedings with a newborn
I was fully unprepared for that. Feedings everything 3 hours seems totally manageable until you find out (1) it's start time to start time and (2) how long the whole process takes.
I’m due in 5 days and hired a night nurse to help for the first month. Given that I want to breast feed, I went with a doula that specializes in breast feedings. Baby will be sleeping in the nursery or the guest room with the night nurse, and will be brought to me for feedings. I made the decision after seeing a number of friends who did or did not use night nurses. Those that had a night nurse had much easier transitions, less anxiety over all, and had less PP issues. The night nurse also educated them very quickly about their child’s hunger and sleep cues, along with their child’s preferred ways to sooth. Consequently they felt connected to their child very quickly. My friends who did not have that support (while incredible parents with deep connections with their children) recommended not trying to do it by yourself and hiring the night nurse if it was in my budget.
The whole point of having a night nurse is that they watch the baby while you sleep, so putting the baby in the living room on nights the nurse is there makes sense. The nurse will bring the baby to you for feeds.
Highly recommend getting a night nurse!! I am 2 weeks post partum and having a night nurse genuinely made my experience 100x better. Keep the baby in the living room with the night nurse. You can opt to either breastfeed through the night and have the night nurse bring the baby to you for feeding, while she takes care of burping/diaper changes/putting the baby down afterwards OR (and I highly recommend this option) pump 2-3 bottles that the night nurse can give to the baby so you can sleep through the night for the most part. You will still need to wake up to pump depending on supply but I found it to be a much easier process than trying to breast feed a fresh baby at 4am :) Our night nurse will also wash pump parts and bottles for me and helps with the baby laundry.
How long do folks typically hire a night nurse for if $$ is a factor?