When you think about working in the child care industry you may think about becoming a nanny, a daycare or preschool teacher, or a babysitter. But, there are many other avenues that you may not have considered. Have you heard of the term, “Newborn Care Specialist?” Keep reading to learn more about what a Newborn Care Specialist is, what they do, and how to become one.
What Is A Newborn Care Specialist?
A Newborn Care Specialist, also known as an NCS, is a trained professional that specializes in the care of a newborn baby (birth-3 months old). Their expertise helps parents smoothly transition into parenthood due to their complex knowledge of newborn care, development, feeding, scheduling, sleeping, swaddling, safety, and so much more.
What Does A Newborn Care Specialist Do?
A Newborn Care Specialist works with families as soon as they come home from the hospital. They educate, support, and guide parents during the first three months (though some stay longer).
Educate
NCS are trained to educate parents in the following areas:
- Feeding
- Proper bottle-feeding
- Bottle types
- Limited breastfeeding support
- Burping
- Sleeping
- Building healthy sleep habits from the start
- Safe sleep
- Setting up a newborns sleep environment
- Swaddling
- Scheduling
- Flexible, age-appropriate scheduling for the first few months
- Routines
- Morning, nap, and bedtime routines for a smoother transition
- Infant development
- Bathing
- Soothing
- Umbilical cord and circumcision care
- Diapering
Support
NCS can support families in many different ways:
- Full care of the newborn during these times:
Overnight
During the day
24/7 care - Properly clean, prepare, and sterilize bottles and pump parts
- Creating and implementing a flexible, age-appropriate sleep schedule
- Nursery organization and tidying
- Baby laundry
- Proper bottle feeding and burping techniques
- Setting up a safe, healthy sleeping environment for the newborn
- Engaging newborn in age-appropriate activities
- Caring for newborn’s umbilical cord
- Understanding the signs and symptoms of newborn health problems and knowing when to advise parents to see a pediatrician. NCSs do not take the place of medical professions.
Though the Newborn Care Specialist comes in to help guide parents, they also understand when to step back and comply with clients’ reasonable child-rearing preferences. They come in as a knowledgeable and resourceful team player. They have a great passion for working with small babies and working very closely with parents during the “fourth trimester” or first three months after birth.
Become a Newborn Care Specialist
Do you think that this is the perfect role for you? Can you see yourself caring for new babies and educating their parents? If so, here is how you get started in the field:
Take A Newborn Care Training Course
Taking a NCS training course is a great first step if you are thinking about working as a Newborn Care Specialist. It will help you to gain the knowledge and skills needed to provide all the support and education listed above. You may think that you don’t need to take a course, but even the most experienced newborn providers can learn something new in courses that go in-depth about the care and development of a newborn.
Get Certified In Infant, Child CPR
A CPR certification is vital to have when working with children. Whether you decide to take a combination or standard Infant CPR course, you want to make sure that the class teaches you how to properly and safely use CPR on an infant (babies under 1 year old). This method is much different from the only you would use for children over 12 months old.
Get Professional Liability Insurance
Working during the postpartum period is a very vulnerable, prudent time for families. Both the birther and the baby or babies are healing, things are ever-changing, and safety is key. Professional liability insurance can help to cover any unfortunate claims of negligence, inaccurate advice (this is why it is important to note that NCS does not equal a medical doctor), and more.
Get Experience
Having experience working with older babies-4 months and above doesn’t always work for parents. This is because during the first three months babies are very fragile, they can’t hold their heads up, and they are much smaller. Here are some ways to get experience in the first three months:
Network:
Finding someone that is already in the field working as an NCS. They’ll likely need a backup person to come in when they cannot or when they just need a break. Ask them if you can be their backup person.
Sittercity Job Postings:
Find jobs that may be looking for help in a month or two when their baby is older than 3 months. When you speak to them, let them know about your new knowledge and skillsets.
Volunteer:
Volunteer at places that care for newborns (i.e daycare centers).
After reading this, what do you think about becoming a Newborn Care Specialist? If you decide to embark on this journey, now is the perfect time to get started. Once you have completed training, got your CPR license, and grabbed some liability insurance, make sure you add your new training and specialty to your Sittercity profile and start searching for your first NCS job. GOOD LUCK on the next evolution of your child care career!
