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A night nurse, often known as a night nanny, cares for your baby overnight while you rest. The job covers feeds, diaper changes, night settling, and safe sleep routines for your child.
Morgan & Mallet, as a luxury household staffing agency, places qualified night nurses or nannies with high-net-worth families. The night nurses we place are thoroughly vetted for their experience, certifications, and flexibility.
Our global database of 50,300+ vetted professionals means we find the right match that can fit perfectly with your desired schedule.
Our recruiters can help you decide between round-the-clock care and overnight-only cover, then find the right person for it.
Most night nurses hold newborn care and infant CPR certifications. Some are also licensed registered nurses (RNs) or licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and can care for babies that are premature or have medical concerns.
While most families hire a night nurse for newborns, they can also take care of older babies, toddlers, and children who have trouble sleeping.
Get in touch today to speak to us about hiring a night nurse that is trusted, skilled and experienced.
What does a night nurse do overnight?
A night nurse pays attention to the needs of your child during the night, operating on a defined schedule. After you hand over your child to their care at bedtime, they cycle through a nighttime routine you prefer or help you build one from scratch.
Most of the night comes down to feeding. Your night nurse tracks when your baby needs to eat, then brings the baby to you to breastfeed or handles the bottle.
Our co-founder, Laurine Mallet, knows how the role goes with her own experience as a former night nanny. She took care of a newborn, waking up every two hours to take the baby to the parent’s room for feeding. She would then go back to her room and set an alarm for 45 minutes later, to collect and settle the baby once more. She would do this at least three times a night.
By covering these tasks during the night, a night nurse helps you get one long stretch of sleep instead of four short ones. For specific medical situations, you can hire a licensed night nurse who can take care of medical concerns that may occur during the night.
Some families book a night nurse for the same nights every week while others may depend on one during a rough patch of sleep. Either way, a night nurse or nanny helps you and your child develop healthy sleep schedules.
Is a night nanny the same as a night nurse?
In everyday use, night nurse and night nanny explain the same overnight service. Both describe professionals who care for your child as you sleep in the night. Families often use these terms interchangeably when requesting nighttime help.
But when it comes down to the specifics, the real difference is the level of specialization. Some overnight nurses are newborn care specialists with formal training in the sleep conditioning of newborns. These specialists have certifications from reputable institutions like the American Red Cross or are RNs or LPNs and command a premium rate.
The other group is made up of overnight nannies who can take care of children of all ages, from newborns to older kids. They’re highly experienced and handle night care at a lower rate.
Our recruiters vet all night nurses and night nanny candidates for first aid and CPR certifications. We also make sure they work in line with the safe sleep guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics.
The right fit for your home depends on what you need. For newborn twins, premature babies, or infants with medical concerns, a specialist can help and appropriately guide you during care. If you’re just looking for help so you can get a full night’s sleep, we can place an experienced night nanny to cover nights.
For childcare coverage at all hours of the day, not just nights, for a fixed period, you can look into hiring a newborn care specialist.
How much does a night nurse cost?
A night nurse in the US costs anywhere from $450 to $800+ per night. Night nurses are generally paid by the hour but it can turn into a salaried role for live-in, full-time positions.
Where the price for your night nurse falls depends on a few factors. A trained specialist would cost more than an experienced night nanny. The specialist can provide the medically appropriate care for your child during the night. If your child needs assisted bathroom breaks, medications, tube feeding, or has any other medical needs, the specialist can take care of it.
Twins raise the rate, and so does any newborn who needs specialized care. When you brief us, we check candidates for this. We check if the candidate has had experience with twins or children who have had different medical needs in the past because we understand not everyone can do this type of work.
Booking a night nurse on a regular weekly basis instead of whenever you think you need them brings the cost per night down. For a nights-only booking, five nights at $450 to $800 comes to roughly $2,250 to $4,000 a week. Seven nights is more like $3,150 to $5,600.
When you work with an experienced agency like Morgan & Mallet, you get experts who understand what you’re looking for and how to get it. Our recruiters help you set a realistic compensation package that attracts the right candidates for the type of care you need.
If you need full-time, live-in coverage, the role will have a salary. If you want round-the-clock specialist care rather than overnight-only care, take a look at our newborn care specialist page, it has a costs section on it.
When do families hire overnight care?
Most of our night nurse requests come from families welcoming newborns. Both experienced and first-time parents know that the first weeks can be draining.
Since newborns have short sleeping cycles, you’ll find yourself waking up at odd hours of the night to settle them down. Over time, this leads to sleep deprivation and stress.
Through our placements, we’ve seen how night nurses help reduce stress for parents of newborns. They get you back time for much-needed rest, so you can feel normal again and get on with everything else you have to do.
Night nurses are especially helpful for recovery during the postpartum period. They keep the nights covered while you heal well from a particularly hard labor, C-section, or any illness.
We advise reaching out to us to start the search for your night nurses before your due date. That way, the moment your baby arrives, you have someone ready to start immediately.
If both parents work, booking a night nanny for regular weekly nights means you don’t have to function on no sleep the next day. Some families only need weekends covered, or a rotating schedule that works around their live-in nanny.
For twins, premature babies, or when a second child arrives, even a set of two hands might not be enough. A trained specialist can do the extra feeds and monitoring that comes with caring for multiple children or a child who needs special attention.
Some families also look for night care during travel, where time zones and jet lag don’t help the child’s sleep schedule. Eric Rios, based in our New York office, screens for candidates with this kind of experience. A strong night nurse plans the sleep around the journey, “making sure the kids are asleep at a reasonable time the night before, or kept up if they need to sleep on the flight.”
Some families specifically hire a travel nanny who is very experienced at caring whilst on the move.
The checks behind everyone we place overnight
A night nurse is someone in your home while you sleep, feet from your baby. They are unsupervised during the night, without anyone awake to see if something goes wrong. That’s exactly why we do the watching for you, before anyone ever sets foot in your home.
For every four people who apply, roughly one makes it through. That’s because during every 90-minute candidate interview, we check how they deal with the hard moments in the placement.
For example, seeing how they’d settle a baby crying for over an hour or what they do when a midnight feed is refused. We listen for judgment and calm, and for someone who keeps safe-sleep practice in mind even when they’re exhausted.
These questions also give us a look into the character of the candidate. We judge every candidate on their discretion, warmth, and temperament with you and your child alongside their technique and skills.
We then recheck each reference by calling former employers. For a night role there’s no one watching, so we make sure the reference call goes over what the candidate didn’t mention.
For example, we ask for the dates when the candidate worked with them, what were their duties, what were the children’s names, and more to confirm the reference is genuine.
We also listen for how a candidate dealt with a night that went wrong. As Laurine Mallet puts it, “People tell you about a story, something bad happened and how they could manage it.” For overnight newborn care, making the right decision under pressure at 3 a.m. is the whole job, which is why we look at that more here than we would for a daytime role.
We also check certifications in pediatric first aid and CPR along with specific specializations you’re looking for. We have a set of safeguards in place that allow us to spot and prevent any fake IDs or qualifications from passing through.
By the time a candidate reaches you, the hard checks are already done. You’re simply deciding who fits your family, and we’re here to help you make that decision.
How does hiring a night nurse work?
When you call us, we first want to cover the basics. We ask questions about your baby or children’s ages, number of nights to be covered, the type of schedule, or if it’s a traveling role. We then prepare the brief accordingly.
As we vet every candidate, we check how they align with the brief. A candidate can hold every qualification you’re looking for but still be the wrong fit for your home at 3 a.m.
From there, you receive a final shortlist of three to five candidates to interview and choose from. We can also arrange trial nights so you can see if the night nurse works well inside your home. It’s the quickest way to see what works before a longer commitment.
Once your night nurse starts, we stay in touch to check the placement is working, for you and for them.
We can also move faster for urgent cases. Babies arrive on their own schedule, so we keep relationships with overnight nannies specifically for short-notice placements. For the full hiring process step by step, see our nanny hiring guide.
Why hire a night nurse or night nanny through Morgan & Mallet
Morgan & Mallet is an international household staffing agency that was founded in 2015 by people who worked inside the world of high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth homes.
Laurine Mallet’s experience as a night nanny helped her know what it’s like to hold a family’s newborn through the night. We’ve seen how a good placement works and what value they bring to a family and the cost of a bad placement.
When you need overnight care, you usually need it soon. A newborn won’t wait for a long search. We have a pool of 50,300+ vetted professionals and we already have overnight nannies prepared to start immediately. So if you need someone this week, we can usually get names in front of you within days.
Morgan & Mallet placements last, with a 96% success rate that works out in the long term. But we are also prepared to help when you feel the match isn’t working out. Every placement comes with a three-month guarantee where we find you a replacement at no extra fee.
We check everything is working out well after a placement starts, acting on what we hear. We once replaced a night nanny after a family raised a concern, because we knew the problem was the fit and it wouldn’t fix itself.
You can read more about our story in the world of luxury household staffing or contact our recruiters in our New York, Miami, and Los Angeles offices for a consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a night nurse cost per night?
In the US, a night nurse costs $450 to $800+ per night, based on general industry rates. Five nights a week comes to roughly $2,250 to $4,000. Specialist medical training, twins, one-time bookings, and locations like New York or Los Angeles all push the rate up.
What does a night nurse do all night?
They handle the feeds, resettle the baby after wakings, and start a gentle sleep routine while you sleep. In the morning they give you a short report on the night.
Is a night nanny the same as a night nurse?
For most families, yes. Both describe overnight baby care. The difference is specialization. A trained newborn specialist charges more than an experienced overnight nanny.
Can a night nanny look after a newborn?
Yes. Newborns are the most common reason families book overnight care. Many of our overnight nannies are trained newborn specialists. Night nannies also work with older babies, toddlers, and children who have trouble sleeping.
Can I book overnight care for just a few nights?
Yes. A single night, a few nights a week, or several months at a time. We can also arrange trial nights before you commit to anything longer.
Do night nannies travel with families?
Some do, including across time zones. Tell us your travel plans when you brief us, and we will put together a shortlist of night nurses who are happy to travel.
Will a night nurse sleep at our home?
It depends on the booking. Live-out night nurses arrive in the evening and leave after the morning hand-off. For longer or live-in bookings, the night nanny stays in a nearby room and wakes up for the baby through the night.
What is the difference between a night nurse and a maternity nurse?
A night nurse covers nights only. A maternity nurse is a specialist who can work around the clock, often for a set 12 to 16 week block. See our maternity nurse page for that service.
How quickly can you place someone?
Often within days. For urgent cases we can move faster, because we keep a pool of overnight nannies ready for short-notice bookings.
New York
office address
260 Madison Avenue, 8th floor, 10016, New York, NY - United States
phone
+1 (646)965-2308
opening hours
Monday - Thursday : 9AM - 6PM
Friday : 9AM - 5PM
Saturday & Sunday : Closed
Miami
office address
1221 Brickell Ave Bricknell, Miami, FL 33131, United States
phone
+1 305 710 3380
opening hours
Monday - Thursday : 9AM - 6PM
Friday : 9AM - 5PM
Saturday & Sunday : Closed
Los Angeles
office address
895 Dove St, Newport Beach, CA 92660, United States
phone
+1 305 710 3380
opening hours
Monday - Thursday : 9AM - 6PM
Friday : 9AM - 5PM
Saturday & Sunday : Closed