My PEM Confinement Review
As a first time mom, with zero experience in handling a newborn, I knew I had to hire the help of a confinement nanny and boy, was I glad I did. My confinement nanny is from PEM confinement agency and they assigned auntie Soo Cheng (#542) for me.
She arrived on the day I discharged from hospital and there was no awkwardness whatsoever even though it was the first time we met. She was professional and got down to work immediately. Polite and fast in handling her daily tasks like preparing breakfast for my husband and I, doing baby's and our laundry, bathing for baby and keeping our home clean and tidy.
She taught me so much about my baby that I didn't even know, she could tell that Kayla was a little insecure and on the timid side and needed more cuddles during bath time as it was foreign to her. She didn't continue bathing Kayla when she started crying, instead she held Kayla close to her chest and hugged her for awhile before she calmed down and then continued with the bath. This gentle approach towards bathing made Kayla at ease and by the end of the 2nd week, she loves bathing! I took over bath duties during the 4th week before my confinement nanny left and she didn't even cry once during her bath time.
Our confinement nanny came along with us for each of the doctor's appointment and she made the first few outings with a newborn so much less stressful.
Here is our confinement nanny feeding Kayla my expressed breastmilk. She also taught me how to angle the bottle and baby so that the milk flow will be slower and smoother when Kayla is very hungry and tends to suck too fast and choke on the milk. I've been using all the tricks she taught me even till now and they seem to all work well for Kayla.
I trust Kayla in her care so much that I actually went out several times during my confinement period with the husband and left Kayla fully in her care. We managed to go for movies, dinner dates and even hanging out with our friends. The husband and I were so upset when the 28 days of confinement was ending because we really appreciated the extra pair of hands and help we got from Auntie SC.
Here are some of the breakfasts that she prepared for me.
If you ask me again, is hiring a confinement nanny necessary? I'll say YES in a heartbeat. As I was just recovering from labour, my body was still pretty weak and I was in no condition to fully take care a newborn by myself. And there was a million and one things about taking care of a newborn that I never knew until I learnt them all from my confinement nanny.
If I were to have baby #2, I'll definitely wish to hire Auntie SC again!
