Chic Spotlight: Mommy’s Dream Team

Rachel Gregory (middle) and her “Mommy’s Dream Team.”

Cincy Chic: Who started Mommy’s Dream Team and when did you begin offering services?
Rachel Gregory, founder of Mommy’s Dream Team: My mother, Becky Jones, and aunt, April Haddix, along with many other family members have been night nannies in the Greater Cincinnati area for 18 years. I’ve been a night nanny for five years myself and went on to launch Mommy’s Dream Team in March 2013.

Cincy Chic: What was the inspiration behind starting the business?
Gregory: Well, my own schedule was booked 3-6 months in advance just by word of mouth and I had to turn people away. So I thought “If I’m booked this much and no one knows me, how many families could I help if I advertised?”

Cincy Chic: How did you get started and how has Mommy’s Dream Team grown since?
Gregory: I booked with four to five families a year and since launching in March the team at Mommy’s Dream Team has not only tripled but quadrupled our sales each month. I’ve hired five team members and I’m still looking to hire three to five more. We’re also helping 14 families so far this year and the number keeps growing each week.

Cincy Chic: Can you tell us more about the experience and certifications that each team member has?
Gregory: Each team member has: A minimum of three years infant specific experience Is a non-smoker Bonded and Insured Has had a 9-panel drug screen test (including prescription painkillers) Had a FBI and BCI fingerprinting background check Is infant CPR and first-aid certified Completes one week of one-on-one training with me Attends bi-weekly continuing education classes. One week a team member presents, and the second a professional comes to presents. Examples of professionals include lactation consultants, doula, health coach and infant massage therapist.

Cincy Chic: What’s services do you get with a night nanny?
Gregory: Our overnight service consists of 9 hours shifts. We typically do 9-6, 10-7 or 11-8, but can go anywhere from 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m.
During that time for formula fed babies, team members bathe, bottle, do children’s laundry and any other small projects the parents might have.
With a nursing mother, we’re there to make sure she’s able to get into a deep REM sleep and rejuvenate her milk supply. When the baby or babies wake, we change them and take them to the mother to nurse. Each team member has continuing education to help with general positioning of an infant and we also have a lactation consultant. Normally when the babies are latching well and the mother has an established milk supply (normally 4-6 weeks), she will switch to pumping overnight so she can rest more.

Cincy Chic: What’s the cost of hiring a night nanny from Mommy’s Dream Team?
Gregory: We’re normally with a single baby 3-5 nights a week for 8-12 weeks, and with twins 5-7 nights a week for 3-4 months. This is about the time period it takes us to help get them consistently sleep through the night. We’re $175 for a single baby and $225 for twins.

Cincy Chic: What have been customers’ responses thus far?
Gregory: We have the best clients in the world. We have almost exclusively been word of mouth and they are helping spread the word like wildfire. They have given feedback on everything from our website to training, which helps us better ourselves. We love that our families let us help them take care of these little life/lives they made. That they allow us to be a part of the most joyful, yet stressful parts of their lives is something we are so thankful for and we try to do everything we can to make it a happy, smooth life transition.

Cincy Chic: Is there anything new on the horizon for Mommy’s Dream Team?
Gregory: We’ll be volunteering at the Pregnancy East Crisis Center with after birth parenting classes for new moms. We’re also going to be starting monthly lunch-n-learns for moms at the Bonbonerie and we hope to expand into other locations within the next year.

Cincy Chic: Where can readers go to learn more about Mommy’s Dream Team?
Gregory: Readers can learn more about Mommy’s Dream Team and the services were offer outside of night nannies by visiting our website at www.mommysdreamteam.com or by checking out our Facebook Page.