Are you aware of the AAP Guidelines for Car Seat Safety?
Each year many children are injured in car accidents. Proper use of car seats can keep infants/children safe. It is so important as a caregiver or parent who is using the car seat in any capacity to be aware of car seat safety and how to use it properly. It is always...
What is your role as an NCS when working with a mother who is breastfeeding?
There are many options for how a night will look if mom is exclusively breastfeeding baby. Once baby wakes, the Newborn Care Specialist will bring baby to mom to eat. Before taking baby to eat it may be a good idea to change baby. This allows mom to stay in bed or in...
What are the different positions of a Newborn Care Specialist?
There are a few main positions an NCS can work: overnight care, temporary day care, awake care, 24-hour care and consultations. Overnight care and 24-hour care are the most common positions for an NCS, but temp day care and consultations are also quite common right...
How do I choose a breast pump?
When deciding what kind of pump to use or if you even need a pump, it is important to consider what mom’s needs will be. Will breast/chest fed baby always be taken along with mom or will mom be returning to work and need expressed milk? Mom may need to run errands and...
Will an NCS travel with a family?
It is up to the Newborn Care Specialist if they are will to travel with a family or not, but in most cases yes an NCS will travel for work. It is required that the family pay for the NCS’s travel including airfare, accommodations, food and the NCS’s 24 hour...
What is the process for scheduling care for my newborn?
New parents, soon to be parents, tired parents, parents of multiple children are in desperate need of childcare. New parents realize they are exhausted after just having a baby and desperately begin searching for overnight help or daytime help on google. They will...
What are tips for a safe and comfortable nursery setup?
Sometimes a family wants to have a consultation to help set up the nursery. They may not know where to begin, they may just not want to do it, or their baby may have come earlier than expected. Here are some great tips to help set up a nursery:...
How to choose a baby name?
Having a baby is so exciting and emotional. One of the first things parents think about are what to name their unborn baby. It is one of the hardest things to decide on. Choosing a name that your child will have for the rest of its life is a huge decision. Will people...
What are the responsibilities of a Newborn Care Specialist?
There are many responsibilities you will encounter as an NCS. Each family is different in what they may expect or want from their NCS. Each job will look a little different depending on the client’s needs. The most important responsibility of an NCS is to make sure...
When should I swaddle a baby and when should I stop swaddling?
Swaddling is a technique used to calm babies by wrapping them tightly to mimic that of them inside the womb. The tightness and confinement are supposed to comfort them. There are many guidelines to follow when swaddling to keep baby safe. There are a few different...
What are Dr. Karp’s Five S’s?
New parents often ask what do we do for a fussy baby? How can we calm them? As an NCS it is our job to not only soothe a fussy baby, but also educate parents how to soothe their baby when it is crying. The Five S’s are tips for calming a fussy baby in which Dr. Karp...
When and how should I burp a baby?
It is important to notice burping cues from both breastfed and bottle-fed babies. Both breastfed and bottle-fed babies will swallow air from their feedings which causes gas. If a baby begins to fuss, squirm, or push the nipple out of their mouth, stop and try to burp...
How do I know baby is getting enough milk?
Every baby’s feed will look different, but it is important that a breast/chestfed baby is nursing 8-12 times per 24 hours. Many times, during a nursing session the parent or baby will fall asleep and the feed will take longer than usual. It is important to notice if...
What are healthy sleep habits for a newborn?
There are many healthy sleep habits to be knowledgeable in for newborns. These sleep habits will carry over into their infant stage of life. It is important for caregivers and parents to be on the same page and that these healthy sleep habits are followed so that baby...
What is breast/chestfeeding?
Breast/chestfeeding is when parent decides to feed the baby from the breast or chest. The AAP believes breast/chestfeeding is the optimal source of nutrition through the first year of life. Breastfeeding can be easy to some new parents and incredibly stressful for...
How much should a baby eat and how often?
A common question asked when bringing a new baby home from the hospital is "how much should it be eating and how often?" New parents worry their baby is not getting enough to eat for a few reasons. One reason a parent may worry their baby is not getting enough to eat...
Making the jump to a Newborn Care Specialist!
Have you ever thought about a career change? I was a preschool teacher for 5 years until I made the decision to switch my career to a Newborn Care Specialist (NCS). I was working two jobs before making the switch. I taught full-time at a small preschool and worked 3...
COVID Tips For Caregivers
During this time of COVID, everyone has had to figure out their "new normal". Whether you had to leave an office and work from home, got furloughed, lost your job, or things at your job have had to develop new routines and policies there is a lot to figure out. If...