This is the first question I asked my wife when I first heard about “night nursing.” My pride got the best of me. I was so naïve to the challenge of raising a newborn. I cannot stress this enough, hiring an Infant Care Specialist is an investment and it’s the best investment I’ve ever made. It is an investment in your wife (her physical recovery is going to take 6-plus weeks), your marriage (it is dramatically easier to care for a crying baby, and each other, when you’ve slept the night before), yourself (self-care is a real thing), your career (yes, when you sleep at night you are more productive during the day, it’s science), and most importantly, your baby (the infant care specialist is literally watching them through the night).

Our hourly rate is $29/hr., and we offer four, five, or six nights a week. If you choose four nights a week, we offer a 10 hour shift. If you choose five or six nights a week we offer either a nine or ten hour shift. Is that a lot of money? In the grand scheme of things, no. You'll be so happy that you invested in your family, marriage and well-being... you might just want another baby.

The Investment

Yes, Dependent Care Flexible Spending Accounts (FSA) is a pre-tax benefit account that can be used for eligible dependent care services such as Rested. You can find more information here.

As parents, our next question was "Can I use money from my HSA?". Unfortunately no. We couldn't believe it either. Currently, only services that qualify as "medical care" for the mother or child are eligible. If this changes we'll be the first to let you know. On the bright side, here are a few of the related items that are eligible for HSA: birthing classes, body restoration techniques, breast pump and supplies, breastfeeding classes, chiropractor treatment, doula medical services and prenatal vitamins.

My wife and I had every intention of using our infant care specialist 4 nights a week for 8 weeks … we quickly shifted to 6 nights a week and had our infant care specialist for 6 months because it was such a game changer for us.

Ultimately, it will depend on your preference and how quickly your baby sleeps through the night. Some babies can sleep through the night in 8 weeks (God bless) and other babies can take up to 6 months with things like acid reflux, sleep regressions, ear infections, etc.

If you can afford it, yes. If not, then beg, borrow and steal. All kidding aside, I’m sure your parents and in-laws would love to help out financially if needed. No matter what your mother-in-law says, staying up through the night with a newborn loses its appeal after a few nights, and you are going to want a fully rested grandma to help with the baby during the day.

The infant care specialist stays in the nursery next to the crib through the night caring for your baby. If the infant care specialist leaves the nursery to clean bottles, pump parts, empty the diaper pail, make you coffee before you wake up, fold the baby’s laundry, etc., she will have the baby monitor with her.

You do not need to provide anything except a safe and respectful work environment.

Typically 9 p.m. - 7 a.m., but you can extend to 11 hours or reduce to 9 hours (10 hour minimum if you’re booking four nights). There is nothing better than hearing the infant care specialist arrive at your home and say “goodnight, I’ll take it from here” to you and your wife.

We have an app. Our infant care specialists take notes on your baby through the night (KPIs include diapers, bottles, sleep, etc.) for you to review the next day.

The infant care specialist helps with older siblings by making sure your wife and baby are taken care of and good to go. That’s not to say if your toddler is in the kitchen and needs help with a bowl of cereal or turning on the iPad that our infant care specialists aren't happy to help. Absolutely! However, their main priority is making sure your wife and newborn are getting all of that careful attention they need in those first days and weeks.

While you might think breastfeeding eliminates the need for an infant care specialist, the opposite is true. If your wife is breastfeeding, your infant care specialist will bring the baby to her. She can then breastfeed the baby and the infant care specialist will take the baby as soon as they are done. They’ll burp, change, and swaddle your baby, and rock them back to sleep. That means Mom is continually well-rested while on the breastfeeding journey.

I recommend making plans as soon as you find out you're pregnant. Why? It helps to ensure that one of our Rested infant care specialists will be available for you (and eases the mind during those days leading up to delivery).

We believe the best way to care for newborns is by providing your family with the same Rested infant care specialist each night to build familiarity with your family, your baby, and even your fur babies. For us to provide you with the same infant care specialist, we need to ensure full-time hours so that your family is the sole focus. My wife and I became close with our infant care specialist and our baby became very comfortable with her so the nighttime routine was smooth. Our infant care specialist explained that when infant care specialists are rotated between families only doing a few nights a week it leads to inconsistent work which forces many infant care specialists to get a second job (usually during the day). We want to ensure that your family is best taken care of with an infant care specialist that is working full-time for you and shows up fully rested and focused to take care of your most precious possession in the world, your newborn.

Yes, and we feel it is best for your baby to become familiar and comfortable with the same infant care specialist. The only time you might have a fill-in is if your infant care specialist is out sick or something similar. In those situations, the new-to-you infant care specialist will be briefed on your family and have all of the important information via the app.

Yes, we take all precautions.

Rested infant care specialists all have a background in childcare, extensive training and are CPR certified. We’ll also send you a bio to get to know them before your first meeting.

We totally understand and we will do our absolute best to accommodate. Just give us a call, and we will get the ball rolling today.