Night nurse

I am tryin to anticipate what it will be like once the twins are born and I bring them home, how will I feed two babies and still get sleep at night? What about a night nurse, do they get in the way my house is small, does anyone know a good agency that might specialise in night nurses for twins? I live in Gauteng South Africa. What books should I be reading.

 

I did not have a night nurse, but in the very beginning, DH and I both got up together. After a week or 2, we split shifts where I'd go to bed around 6 or 7, wake at 10 to nurse them, go back to bed until around 1am. DH would then go to bed and I'd stay up with whoever was up. Sometimes I took 2 naps a day, but you work it out. I think I'd rather have a doula, myself, as they cook you meals, do light cleaning and help with baby care (as well as nursing). Good luck!

 

I'm 28 weeks pregnant with fraternal twins. I'm anxious as well and have been thinking of getting a night nurse. I also have an 8 year old and a 5 year old. I've been reading Gina Ford's book 'A contented house with twins'. Her tips were quite helpful with my son and he was a lot easier to manage than my daughter.

Good luck!

 

We had a night nurse for the first three months - it was the best baby gift ever (from my mother-in-law). Ours was not through an agency, so we did not follow a set protocol of what she was to do - I came up with a routine/schedule and she followed it. She would come at 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday nights (nights that my husband would be going to work the next morning) and left at 7 a.m. She basically just fed and changed the babies every 3-4 hours (my babies are/were 100% bottle fed) - she kept them on schedule, recorded how much they ate, diaper changes, etc. And she washed bottles and cleaned our kitchen (I did not ask her to clean the kitchen - she just did it - and I loved it). I, too, have two older children (ages 2 and 4 when the twins were born) - I'm not sure what I would've done if I hadn't had Ms. Joyce here at night.

One thing I wondered about regarding the night nurse was whether she needed a place to sleep - a bedroom? A cot? I had no idea. I asked friends who had night nurses in the past and they said definitely not their own bedroom (relief - we don't have enough as it is!) - one friend put a mattress on the floor of the twins' room, another used a couch. We have a double-wide glider in the nursery - our night nurse was happy to just have a pillow and blanket to relax on the glider (she is short).

Good luck finding a good match!

 

I only wish I had someone come in and do all that for me!!!! During the first few months we both got up and fed the kids. After that, I would do it all on my own and somehow I just managed to function on less sleep.

 

As I breastfed that was not really an option for me. I learned to doze leaning my head back against the headboard while tandem nursing. The first month my DH got up and would change diapers/burp while I nursed. Then he had a night schedule and I did it both by my self. I just went to bed early and did the best I could. As mine were 4 weeks early, they slept most of the time and didn't stay awake at night cryin (even my very colicy baby) so it was doable. If you had a baby who always wanted tobe up at night, that would be hard. I followed Baby Wise and that worked wonders to get them to sleep. By 4 mo my DD was sleeping 12 hours and by 6 mo DS was. By 2 months they would mostly go 8 hours so you are really just getting up once and then first thing in the morning. It is doable.

 

Hi,

I had a night nurse. My husband fought me on it because of the expense but he says now it was the best thing we ever did. I knew that I was having a c-section since I had one with my first son and the doctor didn't given me an option for the twins. I knew it would be an exhausting recovery to start with so I wanted all the help and sleep I could get.

The night nurse slept in the room with the twins on a blow up bed. we live in a 2 bedroom apartment and she didn't feel obstrusive at all. She showed up at 6pm and left at 6am. This was great because it allowed us to focus on our older son and eat dinner together, while the nurse took care of the babes. Also, which was invaluable, she got the babies on a eating scheduled from the get go.

I would highly recommend it if you have the option!

 

Wow, I never even thought about a night nurse. Now it's totally on my mind! Laugh.
Where do you go about looking to hire one?

 

I would have loved to have a night nurse come in to help, but it was just not feasible. That said, my DH was awesome, he got up at every feeding and would feed one of the babies, once I stopped nursing them and that was with him getting up at 4:30am to go to work. The only time he would not get up was if they woke up around the time he was getting up and getting ready for work. Honestly, I would not have been able to do it without him. And FWIW, I think husbands should get up and help with the babies at night even if they do go to work.

 

yes agree husbands should wake up to help out too. when i had DD he seldom woke up for night feeds & felt he missed out on a lot. he wants to be more involved this time!

 

i'm not sure how to find a night nurse specifically, but many post partum doulas provide overnight services - you can check out DONA's (Doulas of North America) website to find one in your area.

 

Thanks for the info! Anyone know the avg cost per hour they charge? Want to get a ballpark idea.

 

again, i can't speak to a night nurse, but i do know that here in Calgary a certified, experienced PP doula will charge $30.00/hour for her daytime rates, while a doula-in-training will usually only charge $15.00/hour. i would imagine there's an additional charge for working over night, but it could also depend on the person you hire. most of the ones i know also have a minimum charge for overnight work (often 8 hours).