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Member of INA (International Nanny Association),
BBB (Better Business Bureau of Central Virginia) and The Nanny Network of Richmond.
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Nannies and So Much More
Our expertise with VA home child care
and finding VA nannies, has helped us to expand our VA Nanny
Services to include hotel sitting, temporary babysitters,
and professional baby sitters for corporate events.
When nannies are needed in Virginia, families turn
to Family Solutions. We started this business because
of the difficulty we had finding child care solutions
ourselves. When you’re faced with leaving your newborn
or young child with a stranger, there’s nothing more
frightening. But at Family Solutions, we take the
worry out of hiring a nanny. Our VA Nanny Services
include some of the most stringent background checks in the
industry. This helps to ensure that the individuals we
provide you as candidates for your position will be welcome
additions to your home, with no worries, and no concerns.
Our Services
VA Nanny Services
We find, interview, and place more
nannies in
Richmond
than any other
service. Our expertise comes from years of experience
working with caregivers and families. Let us help you
find your perfect nanny.
Corporate Event Sitters
Richmond
’s
most prestigious employers turn to us to assist with
childcare during their corporate events. They know
that Family Solutions takes great pride not only in finding
the best babysitting professionals, but in ensuring they are
well trained and enthusiastic about working for your event.
Temporary Babysitters
Whether you need a babysitter for the
summer months while your children are out of school or for a
week-long business trip, look to us. Our selection of
Nanny’s and Babysitters are well-trained, background
screened, and available for your review.
VA Hotel
Sitting
When you’re traveling with your kids,
finding reliable child care can be difficult. Family
Solutions has contracted with the area’s largest hotel
chains to be the provider of in-room child care. So whether
you’re in
Richmond
on vacation or a short business trip, we will ensure your
children receive the best child care available during your
stay.
Richmond Virginia’s
Nanny Source
At Family Solutions, we’re lucky to
have developed an excellent reputation for quality.
Our Nanny candidates are smart, dependable, and best of all,
they are well trained and love caring for children.
Our nanny candidates come to us from a variety of sources.
Many have raised their own children and grandchildren and
are looking for positions where they can continue to care
for children. Others have had special training through
college or trade school and are looking for that in-home
experience and sense of satisfaction that comes from helping
families.
VA Nannies Needed?
Call Family Solutions at 804-370-8691 to get started today!
Nanny Placements
Family Services actively recruits and places top-quality nannies in the greater Richmond area, with a track record of successful long-term placements. We place part-time and full-time nannies as well as other household help. For more information and to start the application process, click to the right to go to our “For Families” page.
Temporary Nannies and Sitters
Family Solutions has offered temporary nanny services since 2001, placing nannies with families during their short-term needs. This can be for a day, an evening, overnight or a week up to six months. Our pool of temps draws upon our nannies, doulas and permanent temporary nannies. For more information on temporary nannies, email info@familysolutions1.com.
Postpartum Doulas
Years ago, after giving birth, new mothers had other women to assist them during the postpartum period. With today’s active careers and lifestyles, many families live apart from those who traditionally would have helped them. In some cases the baby’s grandmother herself may still be working. Furthermore, hospital stays after the birth of a baby are much shorter that during the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s. Often new mothers feel ‘shoved out of the nest” and on their own sooner than they’re comfortable. Therefore the need for postpartum doulas has been growing rapidly.
It’s never too late to use a doula! Many times the best help can come after the family members go home and dad goes back to work!
What is a doula?
Doula (n.) A woman who helps another woman by providing physical and emotional support while communicating newborn care to her, the infant, and the family after childbirth.
The role of a postpartum doula is to help a woman through her postpartum period, generally recognized as the six weeks after birth, nurturing and supporting the new family until they are comfortably able to operate independently. Unlike a baby nurse, a postpartum doula’s focus is not solely on the baby, but the entire family.
What are the benefits of having postpartum doula support?
Research by experts tells us what many have long thought to be true: New parents who have support and feel secure and cared for in the postpartum period and during the transition to being a family vs. a couple are able to adapt more successfully than those with no or little pp help. Studies also support the facts that in cultures in which women are cared for by others during the postpartum period and expected only to nurture themselves and their babies during that time have superior outcomes in postpartum adjustment. The support that a postpartum doula gives can have a lasting impact on the family. They have greater breastfeeding success, greater confidence in newborn care, and less postpartum depression.
Even adoptive parents can benefit from a postpartum doula as they adjust to their new lives as a family.
What does a postpartum doula do?
Postpartum doulas pride themselves on their flexibility. They work between 4-6 hours a day, several days a week or five days a week for up to three months especially with multiples. Each family is unique and their needs are too. What a doula does changes from day to day. Here are some of the services doulas provide:
Education and Coaching in Newborn Care
- Hands-on education on infant & mother care
- Help new parents get to know the abilities and talents of their new baby
- Offer knowledgeable breast-feeding assistance and bottle feeding advice while supporting the feeding method the mother has chosen to use.
- Special care and instruction for babies with colic
- Assist parents through those first diaper changes and baths
- Teach baby massage techniques and other soothing secrets to help with bonding
- Teach diapering and dressing techniques, bathing routines and other care skills
- Offer new parents information on cord and circumcision care
- Provide information on newborn characteristics and baby skin conditions
- Help parents recognize signs that infants give when they are developing normally
- Provide referrals for special care when needed
Support for Mom
- Help mom care for her postpartum body, especially after a c-section
- Support mom through emotional vulnerability
- Provide information and suggestions to aid in postpartum recovery
- Positive support as mom learns to trust her own instincts and parenting style
- Listen with compassion, non-judgmentally, should mom need a shoulder to lean on as she adjusts hormonally, mentally, physically to the changes in her body and life.
- Provide much needed support for mother to facilitate bonding with the baby.
- Assist postpartum recovery by encouraging rest periods, hydration, and nutrition.
- Taking care of the mother’s postpartum needs, so she can better meet her new baby’s needs.
Support for the Entire Family
- Offer suggestions on how to integrate the new baby into the family
- Support dad through the transition to his new role, building confidence and helping the father overcome fears in holding and caring for his child.
- Create and nurturing/restful atmosphere where parents can eat/shower/nap
- Care of siblings (if applicable)
- Provide local and informational resources for new family
- Allow parents to spend time together or with their other children as the doula cares for the newborn
- Provides non-intrusive, non-judgmental support to ensure a restful recovery and helps establish the newly formed family
Household Support
- Preparing nutritious and delicious meals
- Light household duties
- Laundry-for the entire family
- Grocery shopping, errands, picking up prescriptions
- Listing for services one may need for the self care or care of your infant at home
- Helps maintain the household by doing chores and running errands
- Gives older siblings special attention
- Organize the nursery and home
What specialized training does a postpartum doula have?
All doulas represented and placed by Family Solutions have completed a postpartum doula training course conducted by Kathy Stewart, CPNP, DONA certified, and owner of Full Circle, Inc. Doulas receive education in the latest newborn care and techniques including physical characteristics of the newborn, breast and bottle feeding techniques, sleep patterns, colic, and growth and developmental milestones. They are taught how to promote parent and infant bonding. In order to support the new mother through after birth adjustments, they are trained in listening skills and caring for the postpartum body. Doulas receive tips on coaching new fathers and the couple, both in newborn care and coping skills.
Sibling care and adjustment is another area in which doulas receive instruction. Time is spent discussing adoptive parents, their birth story, and the adjustments they will have in establishing or growing their family. Additional topics cover cultural and dietary differences, including information on keeping a kosher home. Time is spent discussing baby blues and recognizing the signs of postpartum depression. All doulas have completed required reading, passed a test, and written an essay on Postpartum Doulas. All are trained in Infant and Child CPR and First Aid.
What does a doula charge?
Postpartum Doulas charge by the hour, generally beginning at $18.00 and going up from there based upon their experience and the family’s needs. More is charged for multiples and overnight care.
What are the tax implications of hiring a doula?
Generally speaking, in 2008, when employing a household employee, including postpartum doulas and baby nurses, taxes are required by the IRS to be withheld once a household employee is paid $1,600.00 or more. We recommend contacting a tax advisor who can answer questions relating to your individual tax situation when becoming an employer. Three national tax firms specializing in household employer taxes available to assist you in this area include:
Breedlove
GTM
Homework Solutions
How does Family Solutions screen its postpartum doulas?
All postpartum doulas complete an extensive application along with a personal interview. Childcare, character and employment references are checked and verified. Background checks are completed and a profile is completed for a family’s review. Only the most compassionate, experienced nannies are recruited as doulas when demand dictates.
Our standard background checks include, but are not limited to, a social security confirmation and trace identifying previous addresses. Other searches include criminal background, driving records, credit checks, and a search of the Virginia Department of Social Services Central Registry for founded child abuse and neglect.
What is the process to hire a postpartum doula?
Families need to complete an application, doula services agreement, and temporary services agreement. A Family Solutions representative will then schedule an in-home meeting with you prior to the nanny search to discuss your child(ren)’s needs, the employment contracts, interviewing techniques and establishing a relationship with your doula. Once these steps are complete, Family Solutions will begin sending doula profiles to the family who will then schedule their own interviews. Once a hiring decision has been made the doula will be booked for the requested dates.
For more information on our doulas services, email info@familysolutions1.com.
Special Events and Hotel Sitting
Our permanent and temporary nannies are available to assist with childcare needs during special corporate events and weddings. We also work with Richmond’s major hotels to provide sitting services to their guests. For more information on special event nannies, info@familysolutions1.com.
To learn more about the Family Solutions’ services listed above, please call 804-370-8691 or email
info@familysolutions1.com.
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