A lot of people seem to think of overnight care for their baby as a complete extravagance. “How can we hire a night nanny? We’re not those kind of people. We’ll just suck it up and take care of our baby.”

Who exactly “those kind of people”, are, can vary.

Middle class families think overnight care is for rich people.

Mothers committed to attachment parenting think that a night nanny is for people who don’t want to be involved parents.

Families of color think hiring a postpartum doula overnight is for white people.

But you know what all of this really tells me?

People don’t think that they deserve to get some help with caring for an infant. They don’t think that they should expect to enjoy the newborn phase. They feel guilty that they want to sleep even with a young baby.

There can be a lot of shame around not being superwoman as a mother. And partners can feel like, since they may spend time back at work sooner than the person who gave birth, they should really take over the newborn care at night.

Let me let you in on a secret though- you deserve to thrive as a new parent. And we were not meant to take care of infants alone.

At DCMM, our postpartum and infant care doulas have worked overnight with families throughout DC, Maryland and Virginia, and we see that they’re good, loving parents.

So who ARE the kind of people that hire help in the middle of the night for their newborn? Who exactly is googling “night nanny near me”?

Well, we aren’t night nannies, but we’re postpartum doulas, and we can tell you about the people who choose us.

A dad who hires a postpartum doula to alternate nights with him, so that he can be rested for work the day of important meetings. He just doesn’t want his wife to have to pump and care for the baby in the middle of the night by herself, and sends the doula off in the morning with gratitude. “Thank you for taking care of my girls.”

A single mom by choice who always knew she’d need a village to help with her new baby. She’s relieved to have a postpartum doula to bounce ideas off of in the middle of the night.

A couple who have to both be back working at full capacity by three months after the birth, and need to ensure that they aren’t exhausted at the end of parental leave, and their baby is in a good routine. They initially considered a night nanny, but were relieved to know that postpartum and infant care doulas can help their baby sleep longer without sleep training and tears, or sacrificing breastfeeding.

Two moms with both a baby and toddler, that realized they were becoming zombies during the day and not meeting the older child’s needs. They’re thrilled that postpartum doulas acted like an extension of their parenting team, and made the whole house run more smoothly. 

Families who’ve had to deal with colds, the flu, mastitis, and recovery after cesarean births.

Parents who believe that babies should room in with them, but who wake up at every little peep the baby makes to check on their little one, and end up awake around the clock. Knowing that their postpartum doula would only come to wake them to actually feed the baby was a lifesaver. 

The kind of people who look for help overnight, are just like you and me. They love their families, some of them love their job, and all of them need sleep, for both the adults and the infants. That’s exactly what the support of DCMM is for.

You don’t have to be Beyonce, with infant twins, a kindergartener and billions to manage, in order to hire professional support.

Overnight care for your baby and your whole family, might be exactly what your family needs.

Learn more about our postpartum services here, we want to support you.