Babysitter | Imamother

amother

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 5:50 pm

Hi,
So I have a baby, almost 2 months, who is extremely difficult! He screams and cries all day unless held. He screams so hard that he holds his breath and I have to blow in his face to get him to breathe. I've been trying to figure out a solution with his doctor. We just started him on medicine for reflux and, iyH it'll help. In the meantime I'm going crazy. I have barely slept. He doesn't usually sleep for more than 10 min at a time and very hard to get him to sleep without holding him. I don't have any family here so I don't have anyone who can help me and take him even for an hour or 2 so I can eat, sleep, shower etc. I'm really struggling! I broke down crying at his doctor's appointment today. Anyway, I want to try to get a babysitter for a couple hours a day so I can be okay. What is the best way to find someone? I don't think I can take him to a group because he needs lots of attention and I don't think they'll deal with having a baby like him. How do I find a babysitter and how much do you think it'll cost? I don't want it to be tooo expensive but at the same time I'll have to figure it out because I can't keep going on like this. I'm so burnt out! Please help!

amother

Stonewash

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 5:55 pm

Maybe you can find a mother’s helper, a girl who doesn’t have a job yet. When I was a teen I took care of such a baby while the mom slept. I was very happy just holding him for hours.

Look in the bpweekly or place an ad there.

amother

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 6:14 pm

That's a smart idea to try to find a mother's helper. I'll look in the BP. Is there anywhere else? So he officially starts daycare at the end of August when I go back to work. I really hope that iyH he'll be better by then!

GrowingUp

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 6:25 pm

You can place a classified ad in the BP as well. Specify if you’re looking for a babysitter (where you won’t be home) or a mother’s helper (someone to hold the baby while you are around).

If you have a neighborhood chat, you can try posting there. Daycamps end by 3:30/4 so you can probably find someone local for the late afternoon.

I hope you find someone who can start tomorrow!

(Ignore this part if you don’t want advice on your baby, but this sounds like one of my sons. We ended up finding out he was highly sensitive to dairy. He was a different baby after I cut it from my diet and switched his formula.)

amother

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 7:03 pm

GrowingUp wrote:

Thank you!

I have been off dairy for 3 weeks, and BH his stool test now came back negative, but hasn't improved his mood. My doctor just prescribed reflux medicine so I'm hoping iyH that'll work. If not then she said she'll refer to a GI and switch him to formula that can help. Currently, I'm ebf, but I'll switch if it means that he'll be a happier baby. I'm going out of my mind.

GrowingUp

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 7:24 pm

I hope you can get to the root of the problem quickly!

Mother helper pay depends on the age. In my neighborhood in Lakewood it’s somewhere around $10-12 for elementary school age. Up to $15 for high school. Even more for post sem ($20+)

amother

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 7:45 pm

GrowingUp wrote:

Amein! Me too!

Thank you!

amother

Burntblack

Wed, Jul 27 2022, 8:28 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Aside from my kids who had acid reflux, one of my kids who used to cry a lot during the night ended up also having sensititivies/allergies (that he Baruch Hashem grew out of). At the time we did not know what was bothering him...

I hope the medicine helps and you're able to resolve this quickly!