Three households I work with most weeks.
Most enrolments are booked by employers (parents) for their own nanny. Some are self-funded by nannies looking to upskill between roles. Both routes are welcome.
First role with a baby.
She's experienced with toddlers or older kids but the newborn stage is new. The programme starts with the essentials — feeding cues, safe sleep, infant first aid — and builds from there.
Years on the job, no certificate.
Capable with kids, but nothing in writing for your file or the next employer. The certificate of completion at the end is the piece that's been missing.
Newborn arriving on top of toddlers.
Your current nanny has handled the older one beautifully but you want her trained-up on newborn care, infant first aid and the early-weeks routine before the baby arrives.
What graduates walk away with.
Certificate of completion & sign-off
Each nanny finishes with a completed workbook, a group learning check and a certificate of completion — useful for your household file and future references.
First aid awareness & home safety
EFR-aligned CPR, choking, burns and emergency response, practised hands-on — plus a first aid / CPR take-away guide to refresh at home.
Feeding, sleep & routines
Latching support, bottle and formula prep, starting solids, safe sleep and age-appropriate routines. Built for the Dubai household reality.
Development, play & gentle care
Reading cues, behaviour as communication, the power of play and settling without shouting. No cry-it-out, no behaviour-chart shortcuts.
Ten modules, built in blocks.
The programme opens with an introduction to the professional role — communication, boundaries, confidentiality and reflective practice — then works through ten modules across in-person practical days, live online sessions and self-led study. It closes with a group online learning check, working through the workbook questionnaire as a class before sign-off.
First aid awareness & home safety
Emergency response, CPR, choking, burns and injuries, accident prevention, safe environments and general first aid.
Feeding the family
Breastfeeding, pumps and formula prep, safe storage and hygiene, responsive and paced feeding — plus starting solids, weaning, allergens, family meals and nutrition.
Baby & child sleep
Safe sleep guidelines, sleep routines and environments, developmental sleep changes and an introduction to sleep coaching methods.
Hygiene & personal care
Daily care routines, skin care, bathing and nappy changing with respect and dignity, plus infection prevention and correct handwashing (practical assessment).
Child development & milestones
Developmental domains and stages across infancy and childhood, observation, play and realistic expectations.
Understanding behaviour & gentle management
Behaviour as communication, positive reinforcement and routines, and emotional regulation for both nanny and child.
Understanding the power of play
The science and importance of play, types of play and their benefits, open-ended play and the adult's role.
Technology in childcare & safeguarding
Age-appropriate and intentional use, online safety and digital boundaries, and professional use of technology.
Reflection, resilience & ethics
Ethical practice and boundaries, burnout prevention and self-care, and ongoing professional growth.
Health of the home
Safe and essential cleaning practices, food hygiene and storage, and professional household standards.
17 practical hours · 8 online hours · 12+ self-led hours. Module order may vary with facilitator availability.
Every seat gets all of this.
Upcoming cohorts.
Four things this programme is built on.
Taught by an NHS-trained educator
Designed and delivered by a registered NICU nurse, NHS-qualified in mentorship and facilitating learning. Certificates are dated, signed and useful for your nanny's file — not a printable PDF from a course mill.
NICU first, classroom second
I'm a registered NICU nurse with 20+ years on the ward. I lead the programme alongside a small faculty of trusted specialists I'd put my name to — each teaching the areas they know best.
Responsive, never punitive
No cry-it-out, no behaviour charts, no shouting techniques. The methods taught are the same I use with families directly.
Built for Dubai households
Multi-staff homes, household languages, the reality of 12-hour shifts and live-in arrangements. Curriculum reflects the job, not a UK textbook.
Nurse-led nanny training in Dubai.
Most nanny training in Dubai is run by generalist educators. This programme is designed and led by a registered paediatric NICU nurse, IBCLC and DHA-licensed nurse — the clinical depth is the point.
NICU ward, not a classroom
I have 20+ years as a registered paediatric NICU nurse — neonatal intensive care. When I teach feeding, safe sleep or emergency response, the depth comes from ward rounds, not textbooks.
IBCLC-qualified
I hold the highest internationally recognised lactation qualification (IBCLC). The feeding module is built on the same evidence base I use with breastfeeding families one-to-one.
NHS-qualified in mentorship & facilitating learning
The programme design and facilitation style comes from formal NHS training in mentorship and education — not a weekend train-the-trainer certificate.
DHA-licensed nurse in Dubai
I hold a Dubai Health Authority nursing licence — meaning I practise here legally and am registered with Dubai's health regulator. That matters in a city where many course providers are not.
Newborn care, taught clinically.
If your nanny specialises in the newborn and early-weeks period, four of the ten modules form a coherent maternity-nanny training block — taught by a NICU nurse and IBCLC, not a generic childcare trainer.
The full programme (all ten modules) is what we offer — there is no standalone newborn-only track. But the certificate of completion covers the breadth that makes it useful across the whole first year.
Infant CPR, choking, burns and emergency response — practised hands-on. The take-away guide means your nanny can refresh the steps at 3 am if she needs to.
Breastfeeding support, latching, pumped-milk handling, formula prep and safe storage, paced bottle-feeding — the full range, not a one-hour overview.
Safe sleep environments, sleep routines in the early weeks, developmental sleep changes and settling — without cry-it-out.
Bathing, cord care, nappy changing, skin care and infection prevention — with a practical assessment and correct handwashing technique.
The honest answers.
Booking for your nanny? Most of these are the same questions employers ask before sending an enquiry. WhatsApp Lisa if yours isn't covered.
Both. Most cohorts are booked by employers (parents) for their own nanny — but we also welcome nannies who self-fund or whose agency sponsors them. The teaching style works for either route.
English, at a pace and vocabulary that works for nannies who use English as a second or third language. Materials are illustrated and we recap each day in plain English. If your nanny is comfortable with conversational English, she will follow this.
Yes — the most common arrangement is that the family covers the programme as part of onboarding, and your nanny attends the cohort days plus the online sessions around her hours. Talk to me if your handover dates are tight; I can sometimes flex around them.
Yes. The cohort is sold as a two-day bundle — the best value, covering the full curriculum — or as single standalone days if you only need part of it. Spaces are limited per cohort, so book early.
The programme covers first aid awareness — EFR-aligned CPR, choking, burns and emergency response, practised hands-on — and every nanny takes home a first aid / CPR take-away guide to refresh the key steps at home. This is first aid awareness, not a separately accredited first aid qualification.
Lisa Adair — a registered paediatric NICU nurse with 20+ years' experience — leads the feeding, sleep, safety and hygiene teaching, alongside a small faculty of trusted specialists. Child development, behaviour and play are led by Hannah of The Child Unplugged.
This is a training programme, not an agency. We don't sponsor visas or place nannies — but the certificate of completion is useful for your household file and for any future visa renewal that asks for evidence of formal training.
Our full cancellation and refund terms are set out on our terms & conditions page. If you need to move your nanny to a later cohort, talk to Lisa and we'll do our best to help.
Most nanny training in Dubai is delivered by generalist educators or play-based practitioners. Lisa is a registered paediatric NICU nurse (20+ years), an IBCLC and a DHA-licensed nurse in Dubai. The feeding module is built on the same clinical evidence base she uses with families one-to-one. The first aid block is taught hands-on by someone who has run real infant emergency protocols on the ward — not in a classroom. That's a meaningful difference when the person being trained will be alone in your home with a newborn.
Yes. Four of the ten modules form a coherent newborn-care block: first aid awareness (infant CPR, choking, emergency response), feeding (breastfeeding support, formula prep, paced feeding), safe sleep (newborn environments, early routines) and hygiene and personal care (bathing, cord care, infection prevention). If your nanny's focus is the newborn and early-weeks period, those four modules alone cover the foundations a maternity nanny needs in a household setting. The full programme is broader — behaviour, play, development, technology and ethics — which rounds out the qualification and makes the certificate useful across the whole first year.
Reading on this topic.
All posts →Properly trained. On paper.
Ten modules across feeding, sleep, safety, development and play. A certificate of completion, a first aid / CPR take-away guide and play resources from The Child Unplugged. Worth every working hour.


