Gentle Giraffes Team ~ Nicolette

Nicolette Meinert

Nicolette is a kind, compassionate and understanding person with a genuine heart who fully enjoys working with children of all ages. She is intuitive by nature and knows exactly what babies and children need with little to no effort. Her knowledge and understanding of newborns and babies goes far beyond that of the classroom setting.

Nicolette Meinert started her career in child care, when she obtained her babysitting certificate from the Red Cross in 1997 and has worked in the industry ever since, be it a babysitter, mothers helper, preschool teacher, Professional Nanny and Newborn Care Specialist to name a few of her rolls. She has just about seen it all and done it all over the course of almost 25yrs.

Nicolette has a love for children of all ages, but her heart goes out to the ones with medical challenges. She found her love in this sector when she was just starting out. Since then she has worked with a number of clients who's children have been in the NICU coming home with feeding tubs, lung and throat challenges to name a few. Nicolette is known to do her research when she is presented with something new to have a full understanding of care the baby will need.

While attending Middle School, she volunteered in both the summer and after school programs. In High School, she studied Early Childhood Education. Nicolette has served a wide range of ages and has even cared for several sets of twins, including micro-preemies! Nicolette has provided overnight infant care for multiple families over the course of the last ten years. On her free time, Nicolette volunteers in a local teen parent program offering postpartum support.

Certifications, Training or Classes

• Department of Early Education and Care -  Infant/toddler and Preschool Teacher
• SafeKids - Child Passenger Safety Technician
• Safe Sleep Ambassador
• Baby Sign instructor
• CAPPA - Postpartum Doula-in-Training
• Newborn Care Solutions - Newborn Care Specialist
• Infant and Child Training Academy  - Multiples Care Specialist
• Infant Feeding Technician
• Infant Mental Health
• Baby Wearing Instructor
• Oral Tethered Ties (ToTs or Lip and Tongue Ties)

In addition, Nicolette has authored the book Conversations with Kids: A Journey Through 10 Years of Nannying .

"Niki came to our rescue. And I mean that with every ounce of my heart. Knowing that Niki was coming overnight was truly a bright spot in a very dark time. She is professional, caring, intuitive- truly everything a mother could want when entrusting her child to someone."  ~Sara, Boston

"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."  ~Maura, Cambridge