Wedding planners help brides and grooms plan for the big day. Financial planners help people make important money decisions. Now there is help for expectant parents too.
Baby planners can assist new parents with decisions ranging from how to decorate a nursery, where to find the best and safest baby products and how to manage feeding and sleeping when baby comes home. With customized services, overwhelmed parents-to-be can seek help in the areas they most need it.
What is a Baby Planner?
A baby planner, also known as a baby concierge, is a professional hired to provide guidance tailored to the individualized needs, lifestyle and budget of expectant parents. This relatively new industry offers experts who provide services for new parents from pregnancy to toddlerhood. A newly established organization, the International Baby Planners Association (IBPA), strives to set the standards for this new profession and hopes to develop a certification program in the near future to guide parents in choosing the right baby planner.
Baby planners generally do not proclaim to have medical expertise. The role of the planner is to assist parents in making decisions concerning safe and necessary baby products, how and where to have the baby and support during the first months, and even years, of the baby's development. Some planners offer only telephone consultations while others are available to do in-home visits to help plan a nursery or offer tips for baby-proofing the home.
Who Can Benefit From the Services of a Baby Planner?
Many busy parents find the services of a baby concierge invaluable. These planners can offer advice and help for:
- New parents confused about the wide variety of choices in cribs, car seats, and other baby products.
- Organizing baby shower gift registries. The planner may even assist in returning duplicate items and making exchanges after the shower.
- Parents looking for help in choosing the best prenatal and postnatal care. Baby planners are knowledgeable about lactation consultants, doulas, midwives and other professionals involved in the birth and care of a new baby.
- Parents interested in organic and "green" products for their baby.
- Mothers on bed rest. Some planners offer services to help with meals and other day-to-day needs.
- Families needing help after the baby is born with things like sending out birth announcements and offering advice on feeding and caring for a newborn.
With extended families living far apart these days, new parents may want the reassurance and extra help of a baby planner. Baby planners offer hourly rates or various packages. Interested parents should shop around for a planner they feel best suits their needs and lifestyle.
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