Hiring A Newborn Care Specialist
What is a Newborn Care Specialist and Why Should You Hire One?
Parents and the media often mistakenly refer to a Newborn Care Specialist as a baby nurse, night nurse or night nanny.
Newborn Care Specialist
A Newborn Care Specialist [NCS] is trained in newborn care, and specializes in the first 0-16 weeks of a baby's life. An NCS's primary focus is on the newborn, but they can also provide other support based on additional training/experience.
Night Nurse/Baby Nurse
A Night Nurse is a licensed RN or LPN that works with newborns. The term is commonly misused to refer to a Newborn Care Specialist. An NCS cannot ethically or legally refer to themselves as a nurse, unless they have a nursing degree.
Postpartum Doula
A Postpartum Doula [PPD] is trained to support a family during the postpartum period. A PPD typically focuses on a family as a whole and guides parents through recovery with newborn care and household support.
Night Nanny
A Night Nanny is a nanny that provides overnight care for newborns. They can provide basic newborn care. A night nanny typically has limited training [such as CPR/First Aid] but no other professional newborn or postpartum-focused trainings or certifications.
*We realize that Baby Nurse and Night Nurse are terms that parents have been using for generations and we are working on being part of the change in educating parents and professionals to use proper terminology.*
Do you need to hire a Newborn Care Specialist?
Parents who engage a Newborn Care Specialist are usually seeking an individual with formal training, extensive experience in newborn care, and the ability to provide expert education and guidance to their new family.
3 ways to hire an in-home newborn care professional:
1. Individual
You find and interview candidates on your own. You check references and run background checks, and you will contract with the NCS directly. Need help with getting connected with Newborn Care Specialists? Find your NCS today.
2. Agency Team
You work with an NCS that is part of a pre-vetted team through an agency but you contract with the agency. This offers you the security of built-in backup care for emergencies and illness. This option typically has a more streamlined customer service experience, but might be at a higher cost.
3. Agency Referral
You work with an agency and are offered multiple profiles of candidates to interview. The agency handles all of the vetting. The agency can help with contract negotiations for both parties, but you will ultimately contract with the Newborn Care Specialist directly. It is standard for the agency to charge a registration fee [typically $250 - $500] and a referral fee that is a percentage [15-25%] of the total contract amount.
Paying for Newborn Specialist Care
There are two ways to pay the person you are hiring directly for newborn care. As a W-2 employee or as an independent contractor with a 1099. What route you choose will depend on your relationship with the NCS, the laws in your state and the requirements of whom you are working with. If you are working with an agency, you might not have to fill out any tax documentation.
*A Nanny is always an employee, your newborn photographer is a 1099. Hiring a Newborn Care Specialist can be a gray area! Talk to a professional if you aren’t sure.*
How much does a NCS Cost?
and why does the cost vary so much?
A Newborn Care Specialist will almost always charge a set rate per hour for the hours that they work. You might be able to find a new Newborn Care Specialist working independently in a rural area for $25 an hour, and you might find an agency in a big city that charges $80 an hour for their expert team.
The variation in rate depends on a multitude of factors:
You may notice that agencies tend to charge higher rates compared to individuals. This is due to their streamlined processes and backup systems in place in case your Newborn Care Specialist faces a medical or family emergency. They also have a higher overhead to ensure that things are managed smoothly on the back end.
Rates differ based on location, ranging from state to state and even city to city. Cost of living and transportation will impact what your Newborn Care Specialist has to charge to make a living in your area. Also, if the area you live in has a higher demand for Newborn Care Specialists then the hourly rates are likely to be more competitive.
If you are expecting high order multiples or your baby has special medical needs, you can expect higher hourly rates. If you are looking for awake care, you can expect to pay almost double per hour. If you are looking for additional tasks outside of what’s normal then you might be looking at a higher hourly rate.
The more experience and training a Newborn Care Specialist possesses, the higher their hourly rate will be. An NCS that invests in themselves will raise their rate to reflect their higher education/certification status. Additionally some Newborn Care Specialists are industry leaders or specialize in working with high profile families.
For each extra baby the rate typically increases $2-$5 an hour. Someone specialized in twins or high-order multiples might charge a higher rate to reflect their experience. This rate increase only pertains to babies that are born at the same time. Babies with different birth dates [from two surrogates for example] will typically be charged as two separate babies.
You may notice that agencies tend to charge higher rates compared to individuals. This is due to their streamlined processes and backup systems in place in case your Newborn Care Specialist faces a medical or family emergency. They also have a higher overhead to ensure that things are managed smoothly on the back end.
Rates differ based on location, ranging from state to state and even city to city. Cost of living and transportation will impact what your Newborn Care Specialist has to charge to make a living in your area. Also, if the area you live in has a higher demand for Newborn Care Specialists then the hourly rates are likely to be more competitive.
If you are expecting high order multiples or your baby has special medical needs, you can expect higher hourly rates. If you are looking for awake care, you can expect to pay almost double per hour. If you are looking for additional tasks outside of what’s normal then you might be looking at a higher hourly rate.
The more experience and training a Newborn Care Specialist possesses, the higher their hourly rate will be. An NCS that invests in themselves will raise their rate to reflect their higher education/certification status. Additionally some Newborn Care Specialists are industry leaders or specialize in working with high profile families.
For each extra baby the rate typically increases $2-$5 an hour. Someone specialized in twins or high-order multiples might charge a higher rate to reflect their experience. This rate increase only pertains to babies that are born at the same time. Babies with different birth dates [from two surrogates for example] will typically be charged as two separate babies.
Insurance & Contracts
CONTRACT
It’s standard to sign a contract outlining the relationship between the family and the newborn care provider. Make sure that the contract clearly lays out the timeline that the NCS will be available, the expected duties and a termination clause that is fair to both parties. You can also purchase the NCSA contract template.
RETAINERS
It’s typical to pay a 10-50% retainer of the total contract amount in order to hold a spot in the Newborn Care Specialists calendar. There should be language in the contract clearly outlining what scenarios the NCS would keep vs return the retainer.
INSURANCE
Chat with your homeowners insurance to see if there is anything that they recommend that you add to your coverage. Agencies should hold a large insurance policy and your NCS ideally will have their own Liability Insurance as well. If you hired an NCS as an employee then you may need to offer workers' comp.
Safety Checks
If you are hiring someone in your home to work with your newborn you want to make sure that they can safely care for your newborn and that they are the type of individual you want working in your home.
BACKGROUND CHECKS
An agency should run a background check on all the individuals that they work with. Make sure that you verify the agency you work with is doing their due diligence. If you are hiring a Newborn Care Specialist directly they may have a recent copy of their background check or you might need to run a check on them. We recommend ENannySource, Trustline, and Good Hire.
REFERENCE CHECKS
When working with an agency you can generally assume that they have talked to references. Sometimes an agency will release the name of 1-2 references or will provide written references upon request. If you are hiring a Newborn Care Specialist directly, it is standard practice that the NCS provides references and/or a portfolio for you to review. Blog on how to ask reference questions.
CPR & TRAINING
Agencies should verify that an NCS provides proof of CPR and of a legitimate Newborn Care Specialist training. If working with an individual you might want to ask them to provide proof of their training and recent CPR. Not all NCS trainings are created equal, you can review the list of our NCSA approved trainings here.
VACCINATIONS
It’s important as a family to decide which vaccinations are important to your family and clearly request that the Newborn Care Specialist that you are wanting to work with matches that criteria.
What to Expect From a Typical Shift with a Newborn Care Specialist
These are general standards. When you are interviewing your Newborn Care Specialist be sure to go over what they are or are not comfortable with offering on a shift. For example: Someone might be willing to do laundry on an overnight shift, while others consider this a daytime task.
You can expect the Newborn Care Specialist to primarily take over care of the baby in a private space on overnight shifts. Daytime and 24/7 shifts are unique to each position.
- Diapering, umbilical cord, and circumcision care
- General newborn care/soothing
- Assisting the family with feeding issues, including formula feeding and facilitating breast/chestfeeding, as requested but within scope of their level of training
- Preparing bottles (breastmilk and/or formula)
- Practicing proper breastmilk or formula storage
- Creating and implementing healthy feeding and sleeping schedule/routines to match the family’s needs
- Organizing & maintaining a clean nursery, including emptying the diaper pail, restocking diapers and wipes and keeping things tidy
- Assisting in establishing healthy age-appropriate sleep hygiene and habits
- Taking over solo care of the newborn as requested
Recognizing potential signs of allergies, illnesses, disorders, developmental delays or disabilities and recommending an appropriate referral. - Washing and sterilizing bottles/Pump Parts
OVERNIGHT SHIFTS
- Items that were used during the shift [but some NCSs will wash bottles that were used during the day by the family as long as they’ve been soaked in soapy water.
DAY or 24/7 SHIFTS
- All items related to the newborn [even that were used with the parents]
- Bathing the newborn (typically during daylight hours or shifts that start >1 hour before baby’s bedtime)
- Playing with the newborn and offering developmentally appropriate stimulation (During daylight hours)
- Assisting parents on errands/appointments (During daylight hours)
- Household Support - Putting together a stroller, putting away diapers from a delivery, picking up groceries (During daylight hours)
NCS Shift Types
What works best for your family?
OVERNIGHTS
NCS shifts that happen between 8pm - 8am and typically run 8-12 hours in length.
DAYTIME
NCS shifts that happen between 8am - 8pm and typically with a 4 hour minimum.
24/7 CARE
Live-in around the clock NCS care. Most shifts range from 16-20 hour shifts for each 24 hour period with a 4-8 hour break. Some parents want true 24/7 care which requires the NCS being available all 24 hours a day and allow for rest when the baby sleeps. *The NCS is paid for the hours they work and not their “break”.