Posted in Hiring a Doula, Newborn & Baby Care

What is a Night Nanny? Choosing Newborn Care

(Updated 2026)

What is a “night nanny”? While searching to get some extra winks of shut-eye, new parents often find this term. It can get confusing because they will also find terms like “night nurse”, “Postpartum Doula”, and “Newborn Care Specialist”.

These terms are not created equally.

The primary responsibility (caring for your newborn) falls under each of them. There is, however, a large variance in the training required for each of these roles. It’s important to know who you’re trusting your baby with.

The term “night nanny” is unregulated with no specific training. Someone who has experience watching elementary-aged children may begin to refer to themselves as a night nanny in order to gain additional clients and income. This is the same for the term “night nurse”. These are frequently-searched terms when looking for overnight newborn care when what you may actually want is a Postpartum Doula!

Buddha Belly only has Postpartum Doulas and Newborn Care Specialists affiliated with our company.

Our professionals have completed training and certification with trusted doula training organization and have proven to us that they are qualified to care for newborns and their families.

Our Postpartum Doulas also take care of the new parents and the whole family. They take time to find out how you are doing emotionally, offer guidance, support and encouragement. New parents are still figuring everything out, and they need a lot of one on one support, not somebody to hand their baby over to.

While they do rest once everything has been completed, they’re also there to take care of the home while you sleep. It’s not uncommon for our doulas to fold a load of laundry at the start of their shift. By the end of their shift, your doulas will have your bottles and pump parts clean and ready for use.

In our experience clients love the added benefit of working with a well established team. When working with just one individual there are often times that person cannot fulfill the schedule you and your family may need. We’ve surpassed that concern by ensuring one of our qualified team members is always available to assist you. No matter what you have coming up that requires you to get rest, you won’t need to sacrifice due to lack of coverage.

Parents need sleep! It’s especially important for the newborn stage to enlist help. From sporadic feeding sessions to short sleep cycles, newborns impact their caregivers’ sleep in a big way. When searching for trusted hands to leave baby in, the internet can leave you with more questions than answers. Night nanny, night nurse, Postpartum Doula, Newborn Care Specialist…we want to encourage you to look at the training, experience and benefits over the titles.

Learn more in Your Guide to Hiring a Doula

Curious about care with us? Contact us today to build your team.

Christie Rinder Founder Buddha Belly Doulas

Christie Rinder is the founder of Buddha Belly Doulas, Tampa Bay's original and largest doula agency. Supporting families since 2009, she's passionate about ensuring every family has the support they need during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. She believes in helping women recognize their own inner wisdom, strength and power.

Having served as President of the Tampa Bay Birth Network for six years and 17 years serving families as a doula and agency owner, she has a reputation for leadership, dedication and compassion. A childbirth educator, certified lactation counselor as well as a certified doula, she makes a point of ensuring mothers and their partners understand all their birthing options and what to expect on their journey. > learn more about Christie