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Caregiver sitting with a new mother as she holds her sleeping newborn in a lamp-lit bedroom

Newborn Care Specialists

Experienced, carefully selected specialists who care for your baby day or night — and help your whole family settle into life with a newborn.

What a Newborn Care Specialist does

A Newborn Care Specialist (NCS) is a childcare professional who focuses entirely on the newborn stage. In the first weeks and months, an NCS cares for your baby, supports feeding, helps establish healthy routines and sleep foundations, and gives parents the knowledge and confidence to carry those routines forward.

Newborn care is where Sleeping Angels began. Our founder, Lissette Palencia, is herself a Certified Newborn Care Specialist and Certified Infant Sleep Consultant, and that experience shapes how we select every specialist we present.

A Newborn Care Specialist typically:

  • Cares for your baby during the shift — feeding, burping, diapering, bathing and soothing
  • Supports breastfeeding, bottle feeding or a combination, and keeps feeds on track
  • Keeps a log of feeds, sleep and diaper changes so you always know how the day or night went
  • Helps establish consistent, age-appropriate routines and healthy sleep foundations
  • Keeps the nursery, bottles and baby laundry organized
  • Answers questions and shares practical guidance, so parents grow more confident every day

A Newborn Care Specialist is not a medical provider. For medical questions, your pediatrician and your own healthcare providers remain your first call.

Daytime and overnight care

Overnight care

Overnight care is the most requested form of newborn support. While you sleep, your specialist looks after the baby. If you are nursing, the specialist brings the baby to you for feeds and settles the baby again afterward, so you rest between feeds instead of staying up for everything else.

Daytime care

Daytime care suits families who want hands-on support and guidance while they are awake — help with feeding, bathing and routines, time to rest or recover, and someone experienced beside them while they learn.

Many families combine the two, especially in the first weeks at home.

10-, 12- and 24-hour shifts

  • 10 hours

    What it covers
    A full night, or the core of the day
    Often chosen by
    Families who want restful nights
  • 12 hours

    What it covers
    A longer night or day, with more coverage at either end
    Often chosen by
    Families who want to wake up with the morning routine already under way
  • 24 hours

    What it covers
    Round-the-clock care, usually for several days in a row
    Often chosen by
    Families in the first weeks home, after a difficult recovery, or with twins and multiples

Shifts can run for a few nights a week or every night, for a few weeks or several months. We will help you choose a schedule during your consultation, and adjust it as your baby grows.

Twins and multiples

Caring for twins, triplets or more calls for specialists who are genuinely experienced with multiples — synchronized feeding and sleep schedules, careful logs and calm, efficient routines. Tell us as early as possible if you are expecting multiples: babies often arrive early, and experienced specialists are in high demand.

Feeding, routines and sleep support

Whether you are nursing, pumping, bottle feeding or combining approaches, your specialist supports the plan you have chosen with your pediatrician. Alongside feeding, a Newborn Care Specialist helps your baby settle into consistent routines and lays healthy sleep foundations from the start.

For families who want structured sleep guidance as the baby grows, we also offer Infant Sleep Consultants.

For first-time parents

The first weeks with a newborn raise a thousand questions. A Newborn Care Specialist is there to answer them in the moment — how to swaddle, how much the baby should be eating, what is normal and what is worth a call to the pediatrician. The goal is not only to care for your baby, but to leave you confident caring for your baby yourselves.

For a step-by-step guide to planning ahead, read For Expecting Parents.

When to book

The earlier the better. The most experienced Newborn Care Specialists are often reserved months in advance, so many families begin their search in the second trimester. Starting early gives you time for a consultation, to interview candidates and to finalize a schedule well before your due date.

If your baby has already arrived, or arrived early, call us at once — we will do everything we can to help quickly.

How placement works

  1. Tell us about your family

    Your due date, location, the schedule you have in mind and anything special about your pregnancy or your home.

  2. Private consultation

    We discuss your expectations, feeding plans, preferences and how you would like care to run.

  3. Carefully vetted candidates

    We present Newborn Care Specialists who match your needs. Every candidate is background checked, referenced and interviewed in person.

  4. Interview your candidates

    Meet and speak with the specialists you are considering.

  5. Placement and support

    We coordinate the placement and stay available as your plans change.

Read more about how placement works, or schedule a consultation to begin.

Frequently asked questions

Do you provide overnight newborn care?

Yes. Our Newborn Care Specialists work daytime and overnight shifts. Overnight care lets you sleep while the specialist looks after the baby, brings the baby to you for feeds if you are nursing, and keeps a log of feeds, sleep and diaper changes for the morning.

Do you work with twins or multiples?

Yes. We place Newborn Care Specialists with experience caring for twins and multiples, where feeding schedules, sleep routines and simple logistics all need a steady hand. Let us know as soon as you learn you are expecting more than one baby, since multiples often arrive early.

How early should I book a Newborn Care Specialist?

As early as you can. The most experienced specialists are often reserved months ahead, so many families begin their search during the second trimester. Reaching out early gives you time to interview candidates and settle on a schedule before the baby arrives.

What is the difference between a Newborn Care Specialist and a night nanny?

A Newborn Care Specialist focuses entirely on newborns: feeding support, healthy sleep foundations, newborn routines and guidance for parents during the first weeks and months. “Night nanny” is a broader term for anyone who cares for children overnight, and the experience behind it varies widely. If you want specialized support in the newborn stage, a Newborn Care Specialist is the right choice.

What is the difference between a doula and a Newborn Care Specialist?

A doula supports the family — and especially the mother — through birth and the postpartum period: comfort, recovery, emotional support and help settling in at home. A Newborn Care Specialist focuses on the baby: feeding, routines, sleep and overnight care. Many families use both.

How does the placement fee work?

Members pay their annual membership and an 8% placement fee on each hire, where a traditional agency typically charges an initiation fee plus 25%. For individual services outside a membership, we explain the fees during your consultation, before any search begins.

What happens if the caregiver is not the right fit?

Tell us as soon as you can. We will talk through what is not working and what you need instead, and support you in finding a better match under the terms of your service or membership. Members have 24/7 support throughout the year.

Let’s find the right professional for your family

Tell us about your family and your home — the schedule, the start date and the kind of support you need — and we will take it from there.