Days after giving birth to her first child, Jill Deutsch was hobbling to a doctor\u2019s appointment on a bum ankle when the baby nurse she hired to help care for her newborn called her \u2014 with specific meal demands.<\/p>\n
First, it was a Big Mac with a fountain soda for lunch. Then came a request for a specific cut of salmon for dinner \u2014 and she demanded to know the seasoning ahead of time.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had this ankle brace on. I\u2019m on the crosstown bus, which was mobbed. I\u2019m carrying a soda, her Big Mac, the fish, and then my dinner, and it was just nuts,\u201d Deutsch told The Post.<\/p>\n
The nurse, whom Deutsch found through a recommendation, also criticized the furniture in her home, including the living room couch she was supposed to sleep on, and was appalled it wasn\u2019t comfortable enough for her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Within a day, the new mom<\/a> had fired the nurse \u2014 but it opened her eyes to the wild west world of baby nursing.<\/p>\n Many new moms feel that they\u2019re at a baby nurse\u2019s mercy since they yearn for the extra help. Prostock-studio \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n Nowadays, the hottest postpartum accessory for affluent NYC families<\/a> is a baby nurse \u2014 who often spends long days, and nights, tending to newborns so new parents can rest and recover from birth.<\/p>\n The most sought-after names, who charge anywhere from $400 to $800 a day and find work through private referrals, WhatsApp chats, and mom Facebook groups, often need to be secured as soon as there\u2019s a positive pregnancy test.<\/p>\n A text exchange between a new parent and a hired baby nurse.<\/p>\n But a battle is brewing between anxious first-time parents and these nurses.<\/p>\n Parents claim they\u2019re being taken advantage of with outrageous demands and wants regarding cost, control, food, hours worked, and expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the nurses say wealthy parents can be equally demanding \u2014 expecting round-the-clock attention, little rest and an ever-expanding list of duties simply because they\u2019re paying a premium.<\/p>\n \u201cI hired a night nurse before any of my friends knew I was pregnant,\u201d expecting mom-to-be Lizzy Livne told The Post.<\/p>\n Lizzy Livne knows firsthand how difficult it can be to secure a trustworthy baby nurse. Anneliese Horowitz<\/p>\n Although the 33-year-old owns a digital concierge service, Quiet Lux, where she helps clients find their own baby nurses, finding one for herself was an overwhelming, tedious process.<\/p>\n She said the competition can get messy, as there are about 20 \u201ctop names\u201d NYC parents are desperate to hire \u2014 giving these caregivers somewhat of an upper hand in their wild demands.<\/p>\n Livne recalled one client who paid well above market per day for her baby nurse, who then asked for an additional daily $100 grocery allowance. Another client was expected to buy three Starbucks coffees a day for her nurse, despite having a $3,500 Jura coffee machine at home.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026They [the nurses] take advantage of the fact that you\u2019re paying them $400, $500, $600 cash out of pocket, which means you have to pull in 30 to 40% more of that on a pre-tax basis,\u201d the Upper East Sider pointed out.<\/p>\n Livne believes many of the NYC baby nurses operate like a black market. Anneliese Horowitz<\/p>\n \u201cYou want to pay what\u2019s fair. So, how do you define fair?\u201d Livne questioned. \u201cYou look for market comps, [but] there are almost no comps because there\u2019s this sense that if you love your child, you will pay this amount, and the nurses know how to sell it to you in that way. There\u2019s this perception that if you live in Manhattan, you don\u2019t have a budget.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt on every single call I was being worked,\u201d Livne complained. \u201cThey know exactly how to speak to you if they think you\u2019re an Upper East Side<\/a> [or] Tribeca mom who\u2019s going to be anxious about your firstborn.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a black market. We\u2019re all paying cash, and we\u2019re all paying a lot of cash,\u201d she groaned.\u00a0<\/p>\n Many parents are frustrated with how much money they\u2019re shelling out for baby nurses, who have wild demands. Ekaterina Pokrovsky \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/p>\n One New Jersey mom, who asked to remain anonymous, agreed.<\/p>\n The 35-year-old told The Post that one of her baby nurses routinely made pricey requests \u2014 from lamb chops for dinner to kitchen appliances like air fryers and toaster ovens, to Zara outfits, rugs for her daughter\u2019s apartment and wigs for church friends.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2026some even want you to take them shopping. But the joke is on us because we have to rely on them and they know it,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n