Meiyun Sun (孙美云)

I want to seriously share our family’s real experience with Auntie Sun over the month and a half we spent together. Auntie Sun lived in our home for more than 40 days, caring for me and my newborn baby. Later, I saw some reviews of her online that were very different from what I personally saw and experienced during those days. So I also want to document our family’s real experience and give mothers looking for a postpartum nanny another point of reference. As a completely inexperienced new mom, I had no idea how to hold a baby or how to feed one (I was exhausted in the hospital and did not learn any of it). After two sleepless days, seeing Auntie Sun was like seeing a savior, and the facts proved that I could trust her completely. During those 40-plus days, she truly was more than just a “postpartum nanny” to us. Since our parents could not come, she felt like family. She helped bind my belly and wipe my back, and she also paid attention to whether I had eaten and how well I was resting. I have always thought she was a superwoman. She did not just take excellent care of the baby; somehow, she took care of the whole household too. She was very skilled at the baby’s feeding, sleeping, bathing, burping, nighttime care, and more. At the same time, she cooked for the household, washed baby bottles, cleaned, and made desserts. Sometimes I watched her and had no idea how she managed to do so many things at once. She is also a very organized, plan-ahead type of person, while I tend to procrastinate and am often late. She would remember the baby’s appointments ahead of time and urge us to leave. She planned each day’s meals early, and as the time for her to leave got closer, she proactively taught us how to feed, burp, and bathe the baby, so that we would know what to do after she was gone. Her cooking was also especially delicious. The steamed buns, potstickers, dishes, and desserts she made were all delicious. Her steamed buns were especially much better than Nanxiang’s 😂 As a foodie and baking enthusiast, I had once been upset that I could not keep going to Flushing to eat and drink during my postpartum confinement, but having her at home made me very happy to eat at home. But for me, the most important thing was that she genuinely cared about the baby. That is actually very hard to fake. When you spend every day and night together, you gradually can tell whether someone is just doing a job or whether they are truly thinking about what is best for the baby. Of course, everyone has shortcomings. Auntie Sun is relatively direct and a little strong-willed, but she was a very good fit for someone like me, a complete beginner who wanted to learn. There may be different reviews online about any postpartum nanny, and every family’s requirements, living habits, and degree of adjustment will differ. I cannot draw conclusions about other people’s experiences. But I can say with great certainty that after spending more than a month with Auntie Sun day and night, I saw someone who is very hardworking, highly capable, experienced, willing to communicate, eager to learn, genuinely good to the baby, and very caring toward the mother as well. We were truly very lucky to meet her!

Auntie Sun worked in my home until she moved on to her next family after the baby was born. She is a very responsible and professional maternity nanny. She has rich experience caring for babies, is very attentive and patient, and adjusted the baby’s schedule and daily habits especially well, which made our whole family feel very reassured. Auntie Sun’s cooking is also especially delicious, with reasonable nutritional balance. She does housework cleanly and efficiently, takes initiative, never nitpicks, and considers everything from the perspective of the postpartum mother and the baby. In addition, before Auntie Sun came to my home, she had encountered some unhappy things, and she communicated with me about them very honestly. But these did not affect her work performance in my home at all. She was still serious and responsible every day, emotionally stable, and did her work to the best of her ability. I especially admire this and trust her even more because of it. Thank you very much to Auntie Sun for taking care of us during this period. I sincerely recommend her to families who need to find a maternity nanny. I believe she definitely will not disappoint anyone!

Warning: viral postpartum nanny — Sun Meiyun I was discharged from the hospital on the afternoon of May 23, and Sun Meiyun came to start the job. On June 27, I discussed with Sun Meiyun ending the job and settling payment. It was originally scheduled for 45 days, but in the end I didn’t want to put up with it anymore, so I had her leave after 26 days. The whole process was extremely uncomfortable. I paid her US$8,800 plus a 10% tip of US$880. In addition, I reimbursed Sun Meiyun’s round-trip transportation and shipping costs of US$320. But Sun Meiyun even miscalculated the bill before leaving and added an extra 1,500 dollars to me. I only realized it afterward. But I only recovered $380. She denied the rest. For us women, postpartum confinement is a once-in-a-lifetime matter. I was not careless about this at all, and I was willing to spend money to buy service. I didn’t care about the money at all. Now let me talk about my experience using her service: 1. She did not wash her hands after using the toilet and was unhygienic. I am not exaggerating at all. After she used the toilet, there was only the sound of the toilet flushing, not the sound of running water from the sink washing hands. This kind of thing should not be my business; it is someone else’s private matter. But! This concerns my son! After using the toilet without washing your hands, as a postpartum nanny you then go hold my son, feed him milk, and give him a pacifier! Do you think that is appropriate? 2. She played on her phone while caring for the baby. I won’t keep repeating this; Sun Meiyun is an internet celebrity. Internet celebrities need traffic. And this wave of traffic was provided by “us.” 3. A professional postpartum nanny would not use skincare products with a very strong fragrance. This is not good for children. Anyone with a little common sense knows this. When I discussed this with the previous mother who had hired Sun Meiyun, that mother immediately realized: no wonder my baby had allergies all the time! 4. Also the most important point. I had just given birth to my son and was a new mother. I didn’t understand anything, which is why I hired a postpartum nanny. Every night I still had to get up two or three times to pump milk. But she was something else. My newborn son was lying on the bed, and for some unknown reason he kept sleeping and sleeping; after he slept for 6 hours she still did not wake him up to drink milk. Newborns are generally fed once every two hours. I didn’t know, but as a postpartum nanny, didn’t she know? I think she only cared about her own convenience. 5. Gluttonous and lazy; whoever hires her will know. 6. After coming to my home, she was very unwilling to wash her own clothes. At first she wanted to wash them together with my clothes, which I was not willing to do. Oh, and on the first day she came to my home, she broke one of my dryers. On the first day after she arrived, she was being polite with me, so she hand-washed her own clothes, then without wringing them out at all—very, very wet clothes—she directly threw them into the dryer. My mom saw it and asked her why she didn’t wring them out. Sun Meiyun said it was fine. Then our dryer was ruined. Viral postpartum nanny Sun Meiyun even found wringing out clothes too much trouble and directly threw them into the dryer, misusing it and causing my dryer to be ruined. I was going to buy a new one, but after thinking about it, I decided to wait until after Sun Meiyun left. The last few days were the most outrageous: she came to my home to work as a postpartum nanny, but Sun Meiyun’s clothes were washed by my mom for her. Also, there was one time when none of us had even touched our chopsticks yet, and she had already finished eating. We were all stunned. 7. I prepared Shenghua Tang, and my doctor advised me not to take it. My postpartum nanny said it was okay, no problem. As a result, on postpartum day 20, I had heavy bleeding. I went to the emergency room. My OB-GYN asked me, did you secretly take Shenghua Tang? I told the truth. My obstetrician was very angry. I’m sharing these things as a reference for all mothers. 8. Her professional ethics worried me. During the service period, she often took the initiative to talk to me about private matters of other employer families. For example, she commented on former employers’ marital relationships, financial situations, educational backgrounds, motives for marriage, and even made various guesses and negative comments about how other people met, why they got married, what professions they worked in, and so on. Much of the content clearly belonged to other people’s privacy, and it carried strong personal attacks and subjective speculation. My first reaction after hearing it at the time was not agreement, but concern. Because I believe: After a professional postpartum nanny enters an employer’s home, she will come into contact with a large amount of private information. If she can talk to me about the previous family’s privacy without any scruples, then in the future she is also very likely to talk to others about my family’s matters. This made me have serious doubts about her professional ethics and sense of confidentiality. A postpartum nanny’s work is not only to care for the mother and baby, but also requires basic professional ethics and boundaries. On this point, I personally cannot accept it.

We originally only wanted to sign for 30 days. She said her schedule was hard to arrange and insisted on 40 days, so we agreed. As a result, not long after the second wage settlement, she suddenly said she wanted to leave early and had already arranged her next job. The money was collected in installments, the contract was also signed, and only after collecting the money did she say she wanted to leave. The $2,000 deposit had to wait until the last 13 days before it could be applied, so throughout the whole service period that $2,000 was in her hands; if something went wrong, you had to think it over first. The contract also forcibly included a 10% tip—not a suggestion, but mandatory—and the whole contract protected only her interests. Attitude She habitually spoke in a commanding tone, was forceful, and always thought she was right. We hired a postpartum nanny hoping someone would help me get through the hardest period, but instead I had to deal with this way of interacting every day. Flashlight At night, when I checked the monitor, she was holding the baby while using her phone. Whenever a message came in, the flash kept flashing nonstop in the dark baby room. It was not something I mentioned only once; every time I brought it up, she made excuses. The last time it directly turned into an argument, while the baby was sleeping right next to us. It only stopped after I first said I did not want to continue. There was no apology and no change. That night we decided to let her go. Phone never left her hand She used her phone while taking care of the child. The flashlight incident only brought this issue into the open; in fact, it ran through the entire service period. Disrespect for privacy She would directly push the door open and come in whether there was something going on or not, without saying anything first. Even in the morning when we were still sleeping, the door was opened directly and she came in. After being reminded, she said she had not done it and talked back on the spot. Did not take care of things in the home She broke two faucets by using too much force—one was bent and one leaked and could not be shut off. In the end, we had to hire someone to replace them to solve the problem. She used a lot of force in everything she did; closing doors and drawers made banging noises. During postpartum confinement my sleep was already light, and telling her did not help. Kitchen hygiene She never wiped the sink dry after using it. After she left, we found that the grout had already become moldy and black. The refrigerator handle was greasy, there were often oil stains on the table, and many details did not hold up to scrutiny. Because I did not want to get up early, I proactively said she did not need to make breakfast and that two meals were enough, thinking she could spend more time on the baby. In the end, the things she was going to slack off on were still the same. Professional negligence After my C-section, I kept using my hands to support myself when getting up. Now my tenosynovitis is very serious; it hurts even to hold the baby, and I need steroid injections. During the whole service period, she never reminded me that after a C-section I needed to be careful about how I got up. This is the most basic thing a postpartum nanny should tell someone. Missing item The egg beater she told us to buy—when she used it, she even asked how much it cost and said she wanted one. After she left, it was simply gone. It was only something worth a few dozen dollars, but this kind of behavior made me very uncomfortable. The day she left We bought her plane ticket, reimbursed her car fare, and paid an extra half-day of wages, hoping to part on good terms. She was not willing and wanted a full day. She said sarcastically, “That little bit of money won’t make you rich if you take it, and I won’t become poor without it,” and was ready to start cursing. After arriving at the airport, she messaged again saying the $45 baggage fee had not been reimbursed, and continued messaging the next day. Speechless. After the new auntie arrived and checked the baby supplies, she found that the bottom of the bottle sterilizer was full of limescale, black and dirty, and had never been cleaned. The baby’s bottles were sterilized in it every day, and I had had no idea before. After Sun Meiyun left my home, she discussed my private matters at her new employer’s home and, without any factual basis, spread false information about my profession to the employer and a postpartum nanny group, making up rumors and malicious guesses about my work and identity. While she was at my home, she also mentioned negative things about her previous employer many times, complained that the employer “threatened her,” and attributed things such as my slow postpartum reactions to issues with that employer, while frequently making negative comments about the previous employer. Looking back now, someone who constantly creates negative evaluations between different employers should actually have been let go in time even then. While she was at my home, when I, as the mother, went to see the baby, learn about the baby’s condition, or raise reasonable opinions, she said I was “too much trouble” and “like a supervisor.” It was as if an employer could not care about her own child and could not give opinions about the care work. In addition, she often recommended expensive silk quilts, bird’s nest, and postpartum recovery programs to the postpartum mother. I later learned from a postpartum recovery staff member that for every successful referral she made for postpartum recovery, she could receive a $500 referral fee. This also made me question her true motives in recommending these programs. She also has long used Douyin livestreams to recruit aunties to come to the United States and recommend related personnel and services to mothers. A person’s professional ability can improve, but character and professional ethics are the bottom line. Talking about employers behind their backs, disparaging different employers to each other, spreading private information, being unable to accept reasonable supervision, and treating clients as targets for sales and profit all showed me very clear problems with boundaries and professional conduct. Even more ironic is that, as I understand it, her current employer is also dissatisfied with her service and has already dismissed her early.

Auntie Sun treated our whole family and our baby with genuine sincerity. She started contacting me before I gave birth about things to pay attention to, and even came early to help me celebrate my birthday 💕. During the postpartum confinement period, she gave me massages, foot soaks, hair washes, wellness care, and meals suitable for breastfeeding. She was very professional in caring for the baby, adjusted the baby’s routine to be very regular, and her way of soothing the baby to sleep was especially professional, so it was very easy for us to take over afterward. Auntie Sun interacted with the baby and also let the baby play independently, which helped the baby develop very good concentration. During the confinement period, she not only took care of us, but also helped me walk the dog and took very good care of the dog too. A conscientious good auntie who practices scientific parenting—sincere, attentive, hardworking, and fun! We miss Auntie very much and look forward to seeing her again.

We had a very pleasant experience working with Sister Sun! She is efficient and capable. Whenever there were things we didn’t understand, she actively taught us. She guided us step by step on changing the baby’s diapers, direct breastfeeding, and bathing. She also immediately accepted any suggestions I made. Before she even started working in our home, I experienced physiological breast engorgement, and Sister Sun patiently gave me guidance on what to do. Sister Sun actively worked with us to take the baby out for follow-up checkups. Even though she and the doctors and nurses did not speak the same language, she cooperated very well. She helped us prepare the diaper bag, and along the way she helped change the baby’s diapers, feed the baby, soothe the baby, and more. Going out is much easier for us when she is with us! Sister Sun is very good at cooking and making desserts. For our baby’s one-month celebration, she made a cake by hand, and she helped make Thanksgiving and Christmas feel full of ceremony for me! When friends came to visit us and the baby, she was also very warm in hosting them! I recommend Sister Sun to moms in the United States~

Auntie Sun is truly wonderful—she is an excellent auntie who makes people feel especially at ease and is especially trustworthy. She is very patient and attentive when taking care of children, and she is very familiar with all kinds of situations involving the baby. Even when small unexpected issues come up, she can handle them calmly, so we do not feel panicked at all. She works quickly and efficiently, is organized, and keeps the home in excellent order. Her cooking is an even bigger pleasant surprise; the taste is so good that it is truly chef-level, and every meal is especially satisfying. When the baby turned one month old, Auntie Sun even personally made us a healthy and thoughtful cream cake, which was truly very touching. She also thoughtfully helped me wash my hair and gave me massages, always thinking of me in every way. Having an auntie like this by our side makes our sense of happiness rise sharply—even to the point that, just so we could keep hiring her, we could not help wanting to have a second child.

Auntie Sun has a very good character! After seeing many unscrupulous postpartum nannies online, I think this is the most important thing. Auntie Sun definitely does not act one way in front of you and another way behind your back. During the first week, I watched the monitor every night, and in places where we couldn’t see her, she was very gentle and careful with the baby, very kind, and not impatient at all. She also works very efficiently. When she was here, we didn’t have to worry about eating, cleaning up, or taking care of the baby at all. It was super worry-free! Auntie Sun is very easy to communicate with. She is not stubborn or self-opinionated. She will follow my reasonable requests, and for unreasonable requests she will explain them to me. When we took the baby to see the pediatrician, she would also ask the pediatrician about baby-care questions and keep up with the times! She is also very good at making desserts! In short, I am very, very satisfied.