Updated, May 2022 – Postpartum mental health issues are the most common complication of pregnancy. Postpartum Depression (PPD) and Anxiety in mothers and birthing parents is finally getting talked about, postpartum depression in men* called Paternal PostNatal Depression, or PPND, is just as common.
*While the studies that have been done solely include male partners and pronouns, the results and recommendations for care are still extremely useful to same sex and non-binary partners as well. Paternal PostNatal Depression is explained below.
What is Paternal PostNatal Depression?
A 2010 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that up to 14.1 of men suffer from depression after the birth of their child. This number rises when partners are also experiencing depression. Other studies also note depression in new dads can affect up to 25% of fathers. The condition is called PPND, or Paternal PostNatal Depression, and with the amount of depression reported in men as a whole is typically about 5%, PPND is very real. We often attribute Depression in mothers to the obvious biological and hormonal changes experienced after childbirth. However, hormonal and emotional changes happen to men too.
PPND can happen to any father but there are also risk factors you should know about before baby arrives that may help identify PPND early. These are:
history of depression
partner who has depression
an unplanned/unwanted pregnancy
poor family relationships and little social support
How can PPND be helped?
Early detection and action is KEY, especially if Dad or Dad’s to be are under significant stress and are predisposed to depression.
As reported in the NIH study, men underreport their symptoms. There is still a perceived social stigma to depression so talking about it and normalizing PPND is helpful.
You can take this assessment to see if they should be evaluated by a professional.
For men at risk, regular exercise, proper sleep and family and social support helps. This includes Paid Leave as noted by the National Institute of Health.
A professional assessment by a mental health professional is also recommended.
As Registered Nurse Elizabeth Hawkes has noted from her experience and research, postpartum mental health issues are 100% manageable with proper intervention and/or medication. Hawkes says, “It’s about time we include the entire family as one unit instead of only asking ‘How is mom?’ How is baby?'” For mothers and fathers, knowledge is power in managing postpartum mental health complications before they arise. If you’re experiencing PPND or have thoughts that scare you, reach out to the resources above or Postpartum.net.
Choking is a common cause of injury and death in children. While this is scary, the good news is that choking is usually preventable. If you do observe a baby choking, follow the steps below in Choking First Aid for Infants and call 911. You can also learn more first aid skills before baby arrives and take a Red Cross Infant CPR/First Aide class.
Choking First Aid for Infants
Parents and caregivers can help prevent situations that may cause choking in infants by ensuring that:
1. bottle fed babies are monitored and using proper flow on the nipple – don’t prop the bottle on a pillow or other device to feed. 2. only developmentally appropriate foods are offered 3. small items that can fit in the mouth are never in baby’s reach
Coughing is the best way to clear a partially blocked airway, but if your baby is unable to breath, cough or make a sound, the airway may be totally blocked and your help is needed to clear it. Be prepared to help baby by reviewing the steps below to understand choking first aid.
what to do if a baby is choking
While choking is a common cause of injury and death in children, but it doesn’t have to be. Parents and caregivers can prevent situations that may cause choking in infants by ensuring that:
1. bottle fed babies are monitored 2. developmentally appropriate foods are offered, such as smooth foods only when solids are introduced 3. small items that babies or toddlers can grab and place in their mouths are never within the child’s reach.
There are lots of terms for a helper that supports new babies and their parents overnight such as postpartum doula, newborn care provider and baby nurse. The term “Nurse” is protected in most states and should only be used by an actual licensed Nurse, but the other titles describe similar support roles. So, let’s start at the beginning by answering the question, What’s a Night Nanny? and describing what happens during a typical overnight shift.
What’s a Night Nanny? Watch this!
What’s a Night Nanny?
A night nanny provides overnight newborn care to babies and evidence-based support to parents. In a nutshell this means that they feed, diaper, swaddle and soothe the infant in the overnight hours. They also keep the home clean and ready for the day when leaving the family home in the morning. This means cleaning and sterilizing bottles and breast pump parts, making formula if needed and ensuring baby’s area and clothing are clean and tidy.
Providing evidence-based education means being prepared to guide and teach new parents in feeding, safety, diapering, infant sleep habits and more. We provide supportive, nonjudgemental care and give parents all the information they need to make the best and safest decisions for their families.
What Exactly Happens Overnight?
The role of the Registered Nurse or Newborn Care Provider (NCP) is to care for baby through the night, usually from 10pm – 7am and provide ongoing support to parents as needed. This means we:
diaper, feed, burp, soothe, swaddle, bathe and monitor baby.
educate and teach new parents
provide breast and bottle feeding support
help get baby and twins on a schedule and sleeping through the night (if that’s what parents want!)
tidy the area where care is provided, get bottles and breast pump ready for the next day.
provide partner support and help understanding postpartum anxiety, depression or the “baby blues”
Baby’s night will also be documented using our documentation App, LMS Live or your preferred baby tracker app.
What Happens Overnight?
Who Uses Postpartum Doulas and Night Nannies?
There is no “one size fits all” reason why parents have postpartum overnight care. In just about every other country besides the US there is community and government support for new parents. With families spread out and many jobs not offering maternity leave, it makes sense that parents would need a helping hand.
While the reason can and should be as simple as, “because I just ran the equivalent of a marathon and I want to,” here are some of the most common reasons people have overnight newborn care:
There’s no other choice – they’re up against the clock of maternity leave and need sleep to function at work.
They have other kids and family they need to be present for.
No family help available.
Twins, triplets and higher order multiples requiring at least 24 feeding and changing sessions PER DAY
Baby is home from extended stay in the NICU and guess what! Maternity leave was exhausted during this time.
To stay ahead of mental and physical health issues. Postpartum mental health disorders can affect anyone and restorative sleep helps both parents.
What if I’m Breastfeeding?
In the early nights after birth when baby is likely feeding every 2-3 hours a night nanny offers lactation support through your breastfeeding session to ensure nursing is off to a successful start. Then we’ll provide all care after baby has nursed doing the diaper changing, burping, diapering and swaddling back to bed. The goal is for parents to never get out of bed, maximizing recuperation time. (Unless they want to get up!) Many times parents and caregivers will text, to give each other a little message that it’s time to nurse.
As the weeks go on and you’re able to have a “stash” of breastmilk for overnight feeds, an overnight caregiver can use this pumped milk for overnight feeds or continue to bring baby to you. As baby becomes more alert, usually around week 6, the newborn caregiver will be up and caring for baby during the wakeful overnight periods. This equates to about 2-3 more hours of sleep for parents when nursing.
What’s a Night Nanny? – What’s a Baby Nurse?
Baby Nurse is a phrase that comes from the ancient practice of wet nursing, where others would breastfeed baby when a mother could not, or would not, nurse. Formula was not yet available. The reasons why wet nursing was normal practice throughout history are worth reading, and as such an ingrained part of so many cultures, it makes sense that “baby nurse” is still used today. In our modern times though, the title of Nurse is legally protected in most states and should be used by licensed Registered Nurses, Practical Nurses and Vocational Nurses.
We usually think of Night Nurse (RN/LPN) care as appropriate when there is a medical need for care of the child. Common reasons for this in the home include: using feeding tubes or other medical devices, passing medications to baby or when a child has a chronic or complex medical condition. Pediatric nursing is typically covered by insurance.
Nurses are helpful during the early postpartum phase for parents too. While it’s typical for birth moms to have a postpartum visit 6 weeks after giving birth, checkups within the first 7-10 days home from the hospital are also enormously helpful. Postpartum Mood and Anxiety Disorders (PMAD’s) are the most common complication of pregnancy and can affect both parents. While nurses cannot diagnose these issues, they can administer testing to determine if further care is recommended. Additionally physical healing, suture care and blood loss can be monitored by a maternity nurse.
If you’re not sure if you’d like help or what kind of help, please reach out and we can help walk you through all of your options.
Lactation Counselor Jordan describes a typical night helping families.
Meet Erin Thomas Walker, a successful business owner, resident of Elmhurst, IL and mother of 3. Erin’s compassion and understanding of working families keeps her connected to LMS families. Since Erin opened Let Mommy Sleep Chicago in 2020, she’s had another baby girl! Below is a short bio, and you can read more about Erin’s commitment -and how she began her business DURING the pandemic!- in Thrive magazine.
As a mother of a toddler and infant with no family close by, Erin has a deep understanding of the need for trusted infant childcare. What started as a search for options to help her own family, turned into a passion. Now her franchise allows her to share knowledge and support postpartum families. She also has a knack for hiring only excellent caregivers. As MM in St. Charles said: Regina was fantastic and extremely qualified. We’re so grateful to her and Let Mommy Sleep.
Along with her experience as a parent, Erin’s background in high level banking and real estate investment gives her the organizational skills and energy to spin all the plates! As the Chicagoland Owner and Agency Director of Let Mommy Sleep, Erin is used to handling flexible schedules. This is inherent to newborn care and postpartum doula work. Erin also truly enjoys supporting new parents, who like their babies, have also just been born. As Erin says, “When you do what you love, they say you never work a day in your life!”
Here are some of the things Erin likes to do with her own kids in And here’s a quick snapshot of her life…
Meet Erin Thomas Walker
This morning I woke up to a loud, “Yeaaah!”
I opened my eyes and looked at the clock. It was 6:45am. This is way too early, I thought as I glanced at the monitor, assuming to see a baby happily awakened from his slumber. Oh crap! There was no baby! I jumped out of the bed and raced down two flights of stairs to where the Yeeeahhh alarm originated.
I was moving so fast that I lost my balance and slipped down the last stair, falling through the baby gate. Carter my 3 year old, startled by my entrance, screamed and slipped off the trampoline as I landed hard on the playroom floor. That’s when I realized that this little boy escaped from his room, hopped ALL of the baby gates, and threw himself a dang on baby party! The TV and the lights were on, the couch pillows were on the floor, the toys were scattered about, even the toilet seat was up (lort!).
‘My back hurts’, I thought to myself. It was only 6:45 in the morning.
Connect with the Erin on Instagram…she’d love the adult conversation.For overnight care services you can reach out here. You can catch Erin and her kiddos anywhere from Glenview, Fulton Market, Bucktown, Logan Square, Glenco, and even Hoffman Estates.
Are you thinking about selling your home with young children in tow? Award-winning realtor and mother of two, Kamber Petty shares her favorite tips to make the process a little less stressful in Selling Your Home with Babies and Kids. Updated for 2022!
Selling Your Home
Selling Your Home with Babies and Kids
Yes it’s true that the real estate market is hot, but that doesn’t make it any less stressful…especially for parents with young children! These tips can help:
· Obtain an agent that fits your style. You need an agent that understands your current situation. Parents of young children need to find a realtor that recognizes that a short and to the point email or text is often the best way to communicate. An agent is there to serve you, and you need to find one that best serves your family’s needs.
· Set up a plan. Before the home goes on the market, decide on the steps you are going to take to keep the home presentable. How you will handle showings, and secure pets for example.
· Remember that kids come with lots toys and accessories. Aim to pack up about half of the toys to put in storage. You were going to have to pack them up when you move anyway, so why not do it now? The kids won’t miss the toys, and it makes tiding up before home showings a lot easier. Plus, the kids will enjoy opening up the boxes when it’s time.
· Infants come with lots of gear too! Buyers are not going to think less of you if there arebassinets, play mats and swings around. Most of the baby gear on the market today can be folded up for easy storage anyway. So as long as they are not blocking walkways or making a room feel cluttered, it’s okay to leave gear out.
· Scheduled Showings: Make sure agents can schedule online to see the home. The Listing Agent can set up the showings to give you a 4, 2 or 1-hour notice so you don’t have to scramble to get the home ready. Create a place to put away items quickly, so that showings can be done on short notice. Even kids as young as toddlers can help pick-up toys to put in a big basket in a family room before an agent arrives with prospective homebuyers. Get the kids involved for sure!
About the Author:
Kamber Petty is a mom to two very active boys and a successful Realtor. Kamber has garnered the NVAR Top Producing Club, Platinum Member Award. She is also the owner of KHS Homes Group powered by Pearson Smith Realty. When you can’t find her showing homes or meeting clients, you can find her on the baseball field with her two middle school boys.
Did you know you can write a relevant post too simply by supporting Mission Sleep?! Mission Sleep is our 501c3 nonprofit. We provide care for military & 1st responder families whose newborns arrive when a parent is deployed, wounded or deceased.
