BABY WHISPERER

Maternity nurse Tania Olsen is helping to empower the kingdom’s new mamas and papas with the skills to soothe and nurture their babies during the early weeks.

The 40-year-old, who describes herself as a baby tutor, has been hired by various first-time parents in Bahrain to teach them the dos and don’ts of caring for a newborn, from sleep training to offering support to premature babies.

Although Mrs Olsen has no children herself, she has cared for babies of small private homes, fully-staffed households, of high-profile individuals and royalty across the Middle East, the US, Africa and Europe.

Mrs Olsen, based in Ireland, has visited Bahrain eight times over the past seven years, spending two weeks with each family in order to properly go through the ins-and-outs of parenthood. She believes that babies learn a lot in the first year of their lives which is why it’s crucial to start them off on the right path for a bright beginning.

She said: “Babies learn so much in the first 12 months and I can’t stress how important it is to set the foundations right from the start. I think topics such as putting a baby in a routine or sleep training are often perceived in a negative light.
 
“Routines are about creating a flexible and regular feeding, sleeping and playtime structure, not a rigid ‘this must be done at exactly this time’ format to the day. But babies thrive on predictability and parents can more easily interpret their babies’ needs.

“Sleep training isn’t about listening to your baby cry himself to sleep, but to give him the opportunity to self-soothe before picking him up.

“Teaching your baby these things is so much easier for both the parents and child when they are young. Babies also love being talked and sung to as well as read stories to and played games with. It’s equally important to teach them social skills and to stimulate them.

“Nothing gives me greater job satisfaction than supporting and empowering parents during this precious time.”

Growing up in New Zealand, Mrs Olsen’s life has always been centred on caring for children as she had watched over her friends’ infants as well as her own siblings. Choosing a career in childcare came naturally to her and when she moved to the UK at the age of 18, she became a nanny.

She worked with babies and children up to the age of 12, from single babies, twins, first born and siblings.

In her late 20s, Mrs Olsen decided to focus on the needs of newborns which led her to get her qualification as a maternity nurse.

Since then she has been assisting numerous families with a wide range of tasks such as teaching breastfeeding, establishing family-friendly routines, managing colic and reflux, offering advice on how to travel with babies, jealousy issues among older siblings and supporting mums with post-natal depression. Mrs Olsen even offers to train other staff members of a household on how to care for a newborn or infant.

She said: “Whilst my primary care is centred around the mother and child, I consider my ‘client’ to include all family members. It’s important to respect the culture of the family I am working with and I don’t think I would be doing my job properly if I excluded family members or ignored the culture that the baby will be raised in.”

Mrs Olsen also makes child caring fun through a variety of services that caters to the needs of different households.

One of her services, entitled Sleep Training & Routines, includes visiting a home to discuss and assist in implementing a practical day time and night time routine, promoting regular feeding patterns, encouraging the baby to sleep peacefully through the night and addressing any issues the parents wish to cover. This package varies from a day to a week and the cost depends on travel and duration.

One client who asked to remain anonymous, required the sleep package and was thrilled with it.

She said: “I contacted Tania for support due to experiencing a lot of difficulty with getting my baby, who was around three months old at the time, to sleep during the night and for daytime naps. He was waking up several times a night and I was feeding on demand.

“He was also having problems with wind, waking in a lot of pain. Tania encouraged me to try a routine in terms of naps and feeding and this worked wonders.
 
“She gave me regular practical support with the initial difficulties I had with implementing the routine, which really helped. Without her I would probably still be waking at all hours with my baby.

“He now sleeps through the night and goes to sleep almost instantly at scheduled nap times. He also feeds well and seems much happier in himself.

“She has also provided support with other issues such as the pain he had experienced with wind and teething. She is very calm, practical and down-to-earth and obviously has a wealth of experience.”

Another proud mum also described Mrs Olsen’s stay with her family. She said: “My son arrived three weeks early and the entire family was pretty frazzled, but nothing seemed to faze Tania and she soon had us and our house back in order.

“Tania suggested a routine for my son and it worked really well for him. By the time she left he was sleeping through the night to 5.45am.

“My daughter also got on very well with her, which made her adjustment to the arrival of her new brother easier and again took the strain off me. I was able to spend time with my daughter without worrying about my son and also spend time with him knowing that my daughter was happy too.

“She is a great person to have around the house and really fun to be with. I miss her.”

Mrs Olsen also covers breastfeeding in another package teaching mums how to, for example, correctly position and latch on the baby, about food and supplements that may affect the baby’s milk supply, how to store breast milk and answer any concerns.

For those exhausted, ready-to-pull-their-hair-out parents that require assistance immediately, she also offers remote support through a Skype consultation.

This service is scheduled by appointment and parents pay BD118 for the sessions over a four-week period. A BD30 email service is also proving popular.

She said: “My two-week ‘quick fire’ support service is the perfect option for parents who have questions, concerns or just want reassurance that they’re doing the right thing.”

For more information, visit her website www.thebabytutor.com or email tania@thebabytutor.com