When parents come home with their newborn for the first time, they feel an amazing love and sense of protection for their baby. They want to do everything they can for the baby so that the little one is healthy and happy. But as much as they love their baby, the first few months of the baby’s life can be difficult. As parents also struggle to sleep through the night. That’s where a newborn care specialist can lend help. Newborn care specialists are professionals who offer helpful services to new parents in the care of their newborns.

Below are the major roles of a specialist:

1- The newborn care specialist’s major role is to offer assistance after the parents bring their baby home from the hospital. In most cases, this involves setting up a feeding and sleeping schedule, training babies to sleep, and helping with breastfeeding.

A lot of the specialist’s focus in the first weeks is to get the baby on the proper eating and sleeping schedule. After all, those two things are what babies do most in the first weeks of life. Getting them on schedule ensures a healthy and happy baby.

2- The specialist usually works the night shift with the baby. They help get her used to sleeping all night while the parents get a full night’s rest. When the baby wakes, the specialist will feed the baby by a bottle or bring the mother to nurse her. After she is fed, the baby is changed, burped, and put back to bed.

3- The specialist offers similar care during the day time and also creates a stimulating and nurturing environment for the baby. The specialist will document the patterns and maintain a log of feeding, sleeping, and changing times.

4- The specialist is there to educate and support the parents. Many new/first time parents do not have the knowledge or experience to take care of their baby. The specialist answers their questions & educates them about breastfeeding, swaddling, sleeping, and changing. This helps in building confidence in new parents to take care of their baby.

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Most newborn care specialists work with new parents for up to three months. Beyond that, some specialists may stay on and help the parents with:

• Sleep training beyond three months and help them keep infants and toddlers sleeping all night.
• Assistance with reflux and colic problems and help them deal with the baby’s GER/GERD.
• Taking care of twins or triplets and dealing with more than one baby at a time.
• Perform consultations regarding any newborn issues that come up.

Now that you understand what newborn care specialists do, you can decide if their services may be of use to you. Are you thinking about hiring a newborn care specialist?

The post What does a Newborn Care Specialist do? Why hire one? appeared first on Growing With Nemit.