Night Nannies South and West of England

10/04/2025

09/04/2025

Hello lovely people. We would very much appreciate it if you could vote for Night Nannies.

Vote now: https://form.jotform.com/250865572699475.

07/04/2025

😭😢🤬

28/02/2025

Now that's not a photo you expected to see!.....It's Smear Campaign week and screening rate is at a 10 year low. So as a practice nurse please let me put a few things straight....1) I don't care if it's been waxed or not or even if it's dyed bloody rainbow colours 2) The same goes for hairy legs.....3) Leave your socks on, even if they are odd! No-one should have to have cold feet as well as getting their foof out!....I reckon I've done 100 smears in the last 12 months (I work part-time!) and yes it really is true, if you've seen one you've seen them all. So ladies, please go and get it done if it's overdue, tell the nurse if you're s**t scared (for whatever reason) I promise she'll be kind.......it might just save your life.

25/02/2025

Its lovely to be able to get a chance to post on here and I hope my posts open up conversations for both parents and practitioners about this industry.
My Little charge is doing so much better and of course this means relief for all of us, but it has been a long road and I have done a lot of research for myself and also used the network of professionals I have built relationships with over many years to support me in supporting this family. I have ensured for myself that I have regular supervision, which I believe should be standard in our industry, as it is in all other professions who work so closely with people.
I have worked to support this family in working out the right answers for them as a unique family, with a unique set of needs. There is no one size fits all and skilled practitioners know this and use all our experience and learning to give bespoke care.
I have 25+ years of childcare experience with all ages, and have many government recognised qualifications and also accredited qualifications, yet I know that most of the families I work with take this on trust, and its just a list on my CV.
Most of us give our heart and sole to those families we choose to work with and it saddens me every time I read in the papers about the bad care of babies and children and I wonder what checks the parents did, or how well anyone who recommended someone actually knew about their colleagues professional background. Not that it is all about cost, but does the renumeration offered match with the level of study, skill and expertise you would expect for the role?
Yes it is ultimately the parents responsibility to check these things, but it would be good if there was an industry standard to be able to use a certain job title so there was at least a starting point.
In an unregulated industry it becomes even more important to carry out checks, but you need to know what the relevant checks are, have the authority to do this and know where to access that information. Parents often do not know this, why would they? I do not know much about stocks and shares or farming qualifications. I don't know what all the different farming qualifications are equivalent to, which are government recognised and which not, and why not. Which recognised farming industry bodies are the accreditors of different courses.
Practitioners should have access to supervision to ensure they are supported and have the opportunity to talk to someone when they are working closely in families. At a time when families and lone workers are both so very vulnerable it is important for all parties. In these days of, time short, easy social connection I think the recognition of these essential requirements can be easily forgotten. What are your thoughts?

28/01/2025

See you there 😉. Pease feel free to ask any questions about what a Night Nanny is and does, finding a sleep consultant, and any other questions you may have around safely booking professional help.

Let’s talk sleep deprivation - it’s got to be the worst!

Hands Up if you’ve got a poor sleeper….

😕Night Time troubles?
😕Won’t settle or go to bed?
😕Goes to sleep but then awake at silly o’clock and want to play?
😕Co-sleeping worries?

Any of this Sound familiar?

Jennie aka The Kids Consultant will be joining us on Thursday this week. She will be happy to chat informally in the soft play, over a brew or in Toddle Village whilst your little ones play.

She has a wealth of knowledge and ideas to help! Book your playtime and Ask Jennie 😉

Thursday 30th January 9:30/10:30/11:30 playtimes.

https://www.activetots.org/index.php/booking-sessions

13/01/2025

Please always baby wear with care. Check the lullaby trust guidelines and where possible use a sling library to check fit and style of sling that is best for you and your baby. Sending much love your little Jimmys family 💙

Content note: baby loss.

The tragic death of baby James (Jimmy) Alderman in a sling has led to many questions about the advice given to families about using slings and baby carriers for young babies, particularly while breastfeeding.

The Lullaby Trust was sent a copy of the Prevention of Future Deaths report following the inquest into Jimmy’s death. We are committed to reducing the number of babies who die suddenly and unexpectedly, and we take this report and the learning from it very seriously.

We are currently funding research into sling and baby carrier safety. Sophie Lovell-Kennedy at Durham Infancy and Sleep Centre (DISC) is leading the research, which is interrogating the current research and literature. This research is jointly funded with Teddy's Wish. We hope to discover any risks associated with baby slings and carriers, and to speak with UK parents about their use and knowledge of slings and carriers. We hope this research will lead to clearer guidance for parents, but finding clear answers will take time.

In the meantime, we are taking immediate action to consider if the advice we currently give should be altered. We are working with a number of government bodies, researchers and charities in doing this, alongside Jimmy’s parents and Jimmy’s Cuddle.

While we are considering the messages, we urge families to look at the advice that is available through The Lullaby Trust about slings. Our recent advice on babies’ airways is a really helpful way to understand how to keep babies’ airways clear and why babies are best slept on their backs.

We send our love to the Alderman family, and all those affected by Jimmy’s tragic death.

Read more about Jimmy and his family, and what we are doing here: http://https//www.lullabytrust.org.uk/slings-and-baby-carrier-safety/

13/01/2025

Happy New Year to you all. Sorry it has taken me a while to get on here to you guys. It has been eventful. The little one I am working with has had, I believe, a very bad reaction to the Rota Virus Vaccine. Information has been hard to find as it is quite a new vaccination and there are various views from the professionals. Sadly no real concrete information or answers. Our advise has been mostly to wait and see and observe. Little one has now been diagnosed with CAMPA and moved onto specialist milk. This has meant no more breast milk from mum as going dairy free could have health implications for her, so not advisable. I know my little one was not CAMPA before this vaccination, but was quite sensitive gut wise, and it has taken a while to get here. We are now 7 weeks post vaccine. The red herring for me was that the signs denoting allergy did not come until after the vaccination and I did not know whether the vaccine was causing the issues and would rectify itself with time. Hoping things improve for the parents and my little poppet soon. In many ways this family is lucky as they have had me to help at night, I am concerned for parents who do not have the support this family has had. I worry that we are bringing these vaccinations in when parents are at their most vulnerable. We as professionals know that the fourth trimester is the worst time tiredness wise for parents and I would love some studies to be done on what the timings of the 8 week vaccinations do to maternal mental health. I am in no way an anti vaxer, lets be clear on this. I just feel that we have increased the number and volume of vaccinations hugely in the past decade or so with no real studies that I am aware of (although I maybe wrong here and I am happy to be directed to any you may know of) as to the correlation between size and weight and the ability of tiny bodies to cope when adding new vaccinations. I would love to hear any thoughts or experiences any of you have had, both professional and personal and any studies that you know of which I could go and read which may help me learn more about how best to support my lovely family.

17/12/2024

To all those mamas out there I thought you might need to hear this today, especially with Christmas looming which is such an overwhelming time for us ❤️

14/11/2024

Sill absolutely loving my job, but finding that the support for parents, especially first time parents is really lacking. There is a lot of information out there, saying watch out for the 6 week regression, but not really letting parents know what that might look like, how long it might last or offering any suggestions or solutions.
I really wish we could go back to the simple mother and baby/toddler groups where parents could meet up for a coffee/tea, the children could have unstructured, non guided free play (this helps children learn to make decisions and play on their own make choices for themselves and hones these skills from an early age.) The parents got to speak to each other in a relaxed non structured environment. The value of these groups is hugely under appreciated. It does not all need to be structured and parents really need to be able to talk to each other to realise its a really tough gig and facebook posts never portray this.

22/10/2024

😂. Parent life 🥰