What our Clients Say

"We were so fortunate to have Erin and her team care for our baby during the first 6 weeks of his life. They provided exceptional care for our baby which enabled us to rest easy knowing he was in great hands. On top of that, we felt well supported by their expertise. Although this was our third baby, there were issues we hadn't experienced before (e.g. reflux, tongue tie) and with the help of Erin's excellent referrals we were able to address the issues early to minimize disturbance to his health. Having Erin and her team with us during this very vulnerable and challenging time gave us the rest, reassurance and care needed to really enjoy those first few special weeks with our baby. Their service was incredibly valuable to us and I highly recommend them for any new parent."

A.D. Winchester

"It is my pleasure to recommend Erin Manning as a Newborn Care Specialist (NCS). She has been caring for our four month old son since we returned home from Mount Auburn Hospital in early May. Erin is extremely reliable and is well versed in all aspects of childcare. We hired Erin as our NCS initially to guide us through the first few months of raising Reed. As we both had not previously had much exposure to small children, there certainly was a significant level of anxiety once we left the comfortable confines of the hospital. From Erin noticing the first night that the little man needed additional formula, to cleaning up after a poorly installed diaper (blame Dad), Erin has provided much needed advice that made us better parents and more confident with raising our firstborn. We feel very fortunate to continue to have Erin in our home spending time with Reed. We are convinced that some (maybe all) of our son’s easy disposition is due to Erin’s guidance and care – which has allowed all three of us to get some much needed rest. Erin’s structured approach to caring for Reed has complemented our parenting style well, as she respects our personal philosophies while making certain recommendations are known and properly implemented.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you would like to hear more about our experiences with Erin, as we hold her in very high regard."

Brent, Winthrop

My wife and I used Gentle Giraffe Newborn Care for newborn care overnight services for the first 6 weeks with our newborn (our first child), and wholeheartedly recommend them to anyone considering newborn care overnight services. 

Our newborn care specialist (NCS) was highly professional, punctual, and well skilled at all aspects of looking after our newborn. She was a wealth of information to my wife and me as we navigated our first few weeks. And most importantly she was a pleasure to have in our home during such a special family time.

She made our transition to parenthood significantly easier than we were expecting. 

Erin and the Gentle Giraffe team was highly responsive on any administrative questions we had, and they frequently checked in on us. We ended up delivering our baby a few days ahead of the due date but there were absolutely no issues with ensuring we had full coverage and made some scheduling alterations on the fly which ended up being a breeze. 

Again - we could not recommend Gentle Giraffes highly enough and would be happy to be a reference client for anyone looking for overnight newborn care.

G&M - New Canaan, CT

"Our daughter spent her first 2.5 months hospitalized and when she came home was very medically complex. She had a feeding tube and quite a few meds and a grueling schedule we needed to follow to ensure weight gain. She was also a very challenging and screamy baby.

Our first newborn specialist from Gentle Giraffes was Niki, who was knowledgeable, calm, and patient. She gave us great tips and shared ideas from other families with feeding tubes. She rescued us from a pit of exhaustion and connected us with other families in the same experience.

Our second specialist was Heather, who has helped us get into a better routine for the family and gave us great recommendations to discuss with our medical team around feeding schedules. Not to mention when she comes in the door our daughter gets wild with excitement :)

This team made an enormous impact on our family during our hardest season and we are incredibly grateful."

Liz, Andover

"The Gentle Giraffes team were truly wonderful! Stephanie was our main postpartum doula and she took truly exceptional care of both me and my daughter. She, as were the other team members, are very knowledgeable and experienced. Stephanie was more like a friend that was happy to chat and answer all my questions. I immediately felt very comfortable around her and she understood exactly how to support us. She provided the perfect amount of emotional and physical support that I needed during the first few weeks and my daughter took to her instantly.

Stephanie's love for her work helped me feel more comfortable and confident during those very first weeks. She constantly went above and beyond, especially when it came to supporting my EPing journey. She would wash pump parts, keep me hydrated (or awake) and even brought extra equipment last minute when my pump broke.

Stephanie always made me feel comfortable, respected and I appreciated her honest approach. It was a pleasure to welcome her and the others into our lives, to help me navigate the postpartum world and care for my daughter. I knew from the moment Gentle Giraffes stepped into my home, both my daughter and I were in good hands. I would highly recommend Stephanie and the Gentle Giraffes team to anyone looking for a postpartum doula and/or newborn care specialist!"

Meg, Lexington

"Erin and her team went above and beyond with our premature twins, on hand with expert advice, knowledge and kindness in every area of care, and providing reliable and thoughtful support. Their hard work and help made it possible for us to be the parents we wanted to be: cheerful, rested and alert.’ Heather made it possibly for us to get some date nights by coming a bit earlier. She also made it possible for us to enjoy our family from overseas visiting by being flexible with the schedule and meeting us at a different location than our main residents."

Gillian, Exeter NH

"Gentle Giraffes, Erin, and our newborn care specialist, Niki, have basically saved our sanity and health during these crazy few months with our newborn. Our daughter was a preemie, and when she finally came home from the NICU, Niki helped us stay calm and feel confident that she was safe and being taken care of. On top of preemie-hood, our little girl developed some serious GI issues in the first few weeks home, and Niki took on feeding her in a (very!) challenging way without blinking an eye.

She’s a true expert, as I believe everyone who works for the company is, and we will be forever grateful for the guidance and support we received at the start of our daughter’s life. We also are grateful to Erin, who was able to work with our changing needs seamlessly and with understanding. We cannot recommend Gentle Giraffes highly enough! They are really fantastic."

Maura,  Cambridge

"I can’t say enough good things about Stephanie. I was worried about finding someone experienced in newborn care to care for our son since he was so colicky but Stephanie did an amazing job. She is incredibly knowledgeable about babies and has a lot of experience. She not only did a fantastic job dealing with my son being fussy but helped us get on a good sleep schedule. As first time parents she helped us by gently guiding us with her knowledge. She taught us so much and was a great resource for us. She cared for our son as if he was her own. She was thoughtful, kind, and loving towards our baby and us. We always looked forward to her coming every week and will miss her very much! She was such a great help during such a stressful and vulnerable time of our lives. She became like part of our family. Stephanie was such a blessing to our family!"

Thanks again!

Heatherlyn and Jon

"Erin is a deeply gifted baby whisperer, mother’s helper and child wrangler. I had the absolute pleasure of employing Erin for the first 11 months of my daughter’s life. (My second child.) She helped me (among many, many things) successfully navigate terrible postpartum depression, fix a baby with a tongue tie and a dairy allergy and manage my very wild and chaotic family, farm, animals and home during a pandemic. 

Erin is unquestionably the most reliable person I have ever employed and possibly ever known. She was not late a single day she worked for me and never missed a day either. Having worked with a few nannies with my other child and having interviewed some of the absolute “best in the industry”, I can say with true sincerity that Erin is the at the top of her field. Her knowledge of babies is PHD level and her passion is sincere and beautiful and intellect is rare. 

Erin has a vast resource of excellent contacts and was able to steer me towards help with anything I and my baby needed: an excellent baby chiropractor; a baby tongue/mouth specialist; a lactation consultant and so on. She even found the wonderful woman who took over for Erin when she had to move on from us. Erin is incredibly curious and committed to babies-at-large and was a joy to discuss theories with and ultimately learn from.

One of the most mind-blowing things Erin did was magically create an incredible sleeper out of my daughter. Erin is a slumber-wizard. I’ve never seen anything like it. She made bliss out of what I previously experience with my son as madness. For this alone she is priceless. 

I never thought I’d be capable of trusting my baby with anyone quite the way I trusted Erin. She was as much an extension of me as a mother as I could ever dream someone helping me could be. I am forever grateful to Erin for her calm nature, her knowledge, her sense of humor and ultimately her friendship. She made one of the hardest years of my life far easier than it should have been and she will be so so so missed. Because Erin, my daughter is thriving and as happy as a baby could be and I ultimately enjoyed a time period I was not thinking I could enjoy.

I recommend Erin to anyone. She can handle almost anything. Ours was a complicated home and she was never fazed. She deserves clients and families who will understand how hard it is to find people as committed, honest, and GOOD as Erin. Whoever Erin works for will be extremely lucky to have her. She is the best there is."

MR - Ipswich, MA & Los Angeles, CA

“Erin's help and knowledge was invaluable during the weeks while I recovered from my cesarean childbirth. She helped care for my infant while I was limited in what I could do. She also provided useful suggestions and information regarding breast feeding, soothing techniques, and feed/napping scheduling. Her experience with infants is obvious, and it was great to not only have her help with the baby, but share her knowledge as well. She made sure that I had an opportunity to rest or have food, things that were easy to forget to do when caring for a baby. Erin is very punctual and reliable, and has always made herself available for last-minute requests for help when I was sick. I would highly recommend her."

Amanda, Boston

"Following the birth of our second child, we hired Erin to provide some post-partum doula services and found her to be warm, caring, and also a great support system.  I reached back out to Erin when we started running into sleep troubles a few months post-birth and she helped me map out a plan that would work best for our family.  She offered me non-judgmental support and also provided me the guidance that we needed at a time when we felt lost and unsure of what to do.  I have seen drastic improvements in our sleep situation and this has been invaluable not only for my sanity, but for the whole health of the family.  I would highly recommend Erin to any family looking for help after the arrival of their child whether it be for help post birth or down the road when you are looking for a hand to help guide you."

Jen, Boylston

"I am happy to recommend Erin Manning as a caregiver. Erin has worked with my son from the time he was 1.5 weeks old until he was 15 weeks old. She has provided both day and night care; I primarily hired her to be our Newborn Care Specialist for nights, but she was just so helpful that we included some days as well. I found her through BWH Nanny Network and she has cared for several physicians’ babies. Erin's calm demeanor, extensive knowledge about newborns/infants, and very close attention to safety has been excellent. I can honestly say that I do not know how I would have survived the “fourth trimester” without her guidance and cannot recommend her enough.

 As first-time parents with no family in the area, it became apparent very quickly that my husband and I had no idea what we were doing. I hired Erin because her previous employer described how she is an incredible educator and resource for families. She is extremely experienced and confident in how to take care of babies, and can truly help new mothers feel confident too. She has cared for infants for over 20 years and is very involved in continuing education and nanny conferences (speaking at many).

 Erin is an excellent educator and explains things about newborn needs and habits so that the family can accommodate them. She helped our son develop excellent sleeping habits and get into a schedule during the day – which has been incredibly helpful for both him and I. So much of being a first time mom is the stress of “why is the baby unhappy??” but Erin helped me get him into a great rhythm which takes the guesswork out of his fussy spells. She was also incredibly helpful in helping me figure out why my baby was so uncomfortable at night (reflux and a milk protein intolerance) which we were then able to fix! Had it not been for her, I would have just assumed I had a colicky baby and suffered through 4 miserable months without answers.

 She is extremely calm, and I felt completely at ease with her. She is very attuned to the stress of being a new mom and did everything she could on the nights/days she was with us to alleviate my stress and just check in on how I was doing. She is very patient and understanding. She is also completely dedicated to the infant she cares for. I truly feel that she cared about our son as if he were her own. She is also extremely professional – always on time and totally reliable. I had no worries about her driving my son to some of his appointments (in fact, I felt much better about her taking him, than if I were driving or taking an uber).

 She is such a wonderful resource, and I know that whomever she works with will benefit immensely from her vast knowledge, calm demeanor, and just the fact that you will get some much needed SLEEP!!

 I am happy to provide more information and a reference. I can be reached at calbin@partners.org."

Casey, Back Bay

"Erin joined us when our daughter was 8 weeks-old. At that time, our daughter was still waking for various reasons throughout the night, and we struggled to get her to nap during the day. Erin took the time to get to know our daughter and used that information to help us develop positive sleep habits for her during both the day and night over the next few months. We appreciated that she didn't try to force any specific construct on us and instead worked to guide us through a process that worked for our family.

At 6 months, the time was right for our daughter to sleep through the night and Erin helped support us through that final stage. I truly never believed that we would get there and I still can't believe that we can actually say goodnight to her and then see her in the morning. We learned so much from Erin and are so thankful that we had her help and guidance during the early months of us becoming new parents. She'll most certainly be back with us for Baby #2."

Kira, Needham

"Erin has been nothing short of amazing and has become a part of our family. She is incredibly responsible, warm and loving with the kids, and very knowledgeable about all aspects of child care, from sleep training to discipline.

 She always went above and beyond to make our lives easier.  She was very flexible and accommodating of our schedule changes and very pro-active with things around the house.  If she saw something that needed to be done, she would just do it without us even asking.

 Erin is also a very good communicator.  She knew what we needed to know and would always give us a lot of information about our kids schedules and mood and usually a few funny stories too.  She’s not afraid to ask questions or suggest things that might be helpful for the kids.  This enabled a strong working relationship for us and consistency for the kids."

Molly and Ozgur, Wayland

"We used Erin for the birth of our third daughter, Freja.  It was our first time using a Newborn Care Specialist (NCS).  Our only thought has been why did we not do this for our other children.

At 12 weeks, our daughter is sleeping 11.5 hour stretches at night, a feat neither of our older children (4.5 and 2.5) do on a regular basis.  This was accomplished through Erin's guidance and her encouragement.  She was very good at presenting options and the reasoning behind it.  She was diplomatic in discussing available paths but 100% took our lead on the ultimate decision with regards to feeding and soothing.  She worked to keep our child's experience consistent between nights when she was the caretaker and nights when she was not there.  That took the form of daily check-ins, motivation to persevere with our plan, and implementation of similar methods the nights she was here.

 Even being a repeat new parent, Erin was helpful beyond just facilitating extended rest periods for Mamma and Pappa.

She helped in identifying a lip and tongue tie (confirmed by our pediatrician) that we had addressed early on.

She assisted us with sleep transitions: 1) when to move our daughter's bedtime earlier; 2) when to start extending her sleeping periods at night; 3) when to start crib-side soothing to prevent sleep crutch formation; and 4) how to balance wakeful periods, nap sleep, and feedings so that she was getting enough calories during the day. All of which I probably knew at some point, but was too tired and busy with two older children to relearn. 

 She had an arsenal of outside resources available at the ready that I ended up needing - pediatric dentists, lactation specialists (for reoccurring mastitis), pediatric chiropractors, etc.

 She made date nights possible earlier on than they would have been otherwise by coming in early and taking care of the newborn and assisting with our older two at bedtime.

 For us, the transition from two-to-three children has been easier than one-to two.  I think a large part of that is due to Erin's help. We are so happy we decided to enlist her in the care of our daughter."

Amanda, Jamaica Plains

"I am happy to write to inform you about Erin Manning as a nanny and caregiver. I have known Erin for several months, and a friend initially recommended her to me. She has cared for my daughter from age 3 days until age 3.5 months for overnight and daytime care. Erin's calm demeanor, extensive knowledge about newborns/infants, and very close attention to safety has been excellent. I have full confidence in her abilities and also find her to be an incredibly attentive and considerate person who is always willing to help.

 Erin was a godsend to me when I was learning to care for my newborn. In this situation a new mother "doesn't know what she doesn't know." Erin is the cure for this! She is extremely experienced and confident in how to take care of babies, and can truly help new mothers feel confident too. She is extremely patient with sleep-deprived mothers and no question is off limits, even though I know some of my questions were probably very silly, she always answered me honestly and with kindness. She has seen every situation that can come up in the newborn period and I felt she really enabled me to do the best for my daughter, in addition to giving me a break from time to time to get some sleep.

 Erin is also an excellent educator and explains things about newborn needs and habits in a way that makes sense and helps moms remember why newborns do what they do. My daughter was not a “mellow” baby, and without Erin I am not sure how I would have navigated this. Erin was full of ideas and suggestions, and was a sounding board for my process of caring for my daughter. Erin is an absolute rock in the face of a crying baby and it appears she could withstand this stressful sound for a lifetime without flinching!! She is extremely calm and brought an air of calm to the household when she was there. Importantly, Erin was very committed to making sure my daughters sleep space and other areas were as safe as possible, and Erin is fully acquainted with all of the appropriate guidelines for newborns.

 There are several additional things I appreciated about Erin 1) always punctual and fully reliable. 2) very skilled at working in someone's home without being intrusive. 3) While Erin is helping to guide and give advice she is very good at providing this advice without making a mother feel that they are doing something wrong. She makes suggestions in a way that is nothing but helpful and kind. 4) Erin is very sensitive to the stresses and difficulties that new moms have and helps immensely with this!

 My daughter and I were very lucky to work with Erin. When you are leaving your child in someone else’s care, especially a newborn, you need to have the full confidence in the caregiver – and Erin epitomized that confidence. I am happy to answer any questions about her for any parents interested in working with Erin."

Ana, Cambridge