5 minute read
Life Changing Newborn Care + Sleep Specialist, Erin CarrolL-Manning
If you don't know Gentle Giraffes Newborn Care and Family Services yet, you should!
Gentle Giraffes has been a major asset to our Editor in Chief's postpartum support.
We couldn't wait to share more with you if you are not familiar on who and what Erin and Gentle Giraffes offers!
HowdoesanNCSdifferentiatefromadoula orananny?
Erin is the Founder of Gentle Giraffes Newborn Care and Family Services and has been in the Newborn Care Industry for over 25 years!
Erin is a trained Master Newborn Care Specialist (NCS), trained Postpartum Doula (PPD), Car Seat Tech, and a lactation support specialist.
In addition to these she is trained in Respectful Care for Newborns, Infants and Toddlers. A Postpartum Doula (PPD) traditionally mother's the mother and supports the household as a whole. They educate families on birth recovery, basic newborn care, keeps the household running by doing household chores, sibling care, helping the parents with time management, allowing them to eat a hot meal, sleep in or snuggle with the baby while the parents get a hot shower. Lots of times a PPD is trained in mood disorders and lactation. They typically work with families the first 6 weeks postpartum. There are many PPD's who do overnights too.
A nanny is someone who comes in during the day. They usually have little to no training in child care and they take full direction from the family and are employees of the family. There are many professional nannies who are highly educated in the emotional, physical, and mental development of children. They work as a team with the parents helping and guiding them to raise these children, like a 3rd "parent". They normally have knowledge and understanding in many forms of discipline as well as child rearing philosophies.
Professional nannies are employees of the home/families and do take direction from the family, they have more input on kids activities, schedules, nutrition and development than others. Being a professional nanny is not at all about just playing with babies and toddlers all day long, There is so much more that goes into the well being of the child. Anyone who is with children 25+hours a week are having a HUGE impact on these children's lives forever. That takes way more skills in effective communication, healthy firm boundaries that leaves the children feeling strong and confident, navigating toddler tantrums that supports healthy emotional development rather than just playing all day.
"A seasoned NCS educates, guides and supports parents to make the transition into parenthood as smooth as possible whether it's their 1st child or even their 5th!
Most people think an NCS just allows them to get sleep, in reality NCS's do a whole lot more. They are the middle person bridging the gap between the Docs and the Books. Most NCS's do overnights but many work around the clock 3-7 days a week. Each NCS typically supports a family for 12-16 weeks but many stay as long as 6 months or even a year.
When clients work with Gentle Giraffes Newborn Care, we strive to bring them top notch quality care guiding them in different avenues of support the newborn may need all while troubleshooting colic, fussiness, over tiredness, overstimulation, feeding difficulties, physical body tensions from being in the womb as well as delivering, and setting up a secure attachment environment for the baby to thrive and the family to enjoy the first 12-20 weeks."
IfsomeoneisonthefenceabouthiringaNCS whatarethingstheyshouldconsider?
"This type of service is an investment into the well being of the family. These types of services have been known to help reduce postpartum mood disorders and depression as it allows the birthing parent to get more sleep which also aids in recovering better and reduces the internal stress. They empower the family to be even better parents as they have an expert in their home they can rely on for education and encouragement. They can learn from an expert on some of the small tips the books and Docs don't tell you. Qualified and Seasoned NCS's help navigate many of the obstacles newborns present that are not deemed medical hindrances. There are a plethora of reasons to consider when discussing this type of investment for your family."
Photo:GentleGiraffes
Whenshouldparentsstartthesleeptraining process?
"Six months is when sleep training should begin. That's when the circadian rhythm has fully developed, they are over the fourth trimester and really settling in.
However, we start healthy sustainable habits from day one, when we do this and clients follow our suggestions, the newborns are sleeping 8-12 hours between 12-16 weeks old. We can't guarantee this as many factors go into it. This has been the majority of our results with healthy babies."
HowdidGentleGiraffesNewbornCareand FamilyServicescomeabout?
"Gentle Giraffes Newborn Care is a vision I have had since I was a young girl. I have always loved working with children and supporting families. I also always thought of and wanted to start my own company. For years I just never knew how I could do both until about 2013/2014 time frame. That's when I set out on a mission to be where I am today. It's been a labor of love and all my own blood, sweat and tears. I literally have had no one help me build this besides my own two hands.
My husband is there to support me and take over the day to day things that a typical wife does so I could work 100 hours a week, could travel to take top notch classes and could network and learn as much as I could in my position.
At this point it has taken me almost 10 years to build what I have. Many have tried to stop me from pushing through to achieve the vision I had at 10/11 years old.but here I am ;)"
Whatservicesdoyouoffer?
"Overnights, Day support, Travel, Healthy sleep Habits, 24/7's, Nutrition, Lactation 101, Baby 101, Birth doula + Virtual support."
