Hi, I'm Ulisses, and This Is The Minimalist Baby
A NICU trained nurse introduces The Minimalist Baby, an in-home newborn care specialist practice in San Francisco.
For nearly two decades, I have been welcomed into the most tender, sleep-deprived, and joyful chapters of other people's lives. I've held newborns in their first hours home from the NICU, taught first-time dads how to swaddle, cooked postpartum meals for recovering mothers, and walked beside families through diagnoses they never expected to hear. Every one of those experiences shaped the work I do today as a newborn care specialist in San Francisco, and the practice you've found here.
So before I tell you what The Minimalist Baby is, let me tell you a little about how I got here.
From trauma bays to nurseries
By training, I am a pediatric and neonatal nurse with a specialty in trauma and critical care. I have spent years in Level 1 trauma centers and intensive care units, caring for neonates and critically ill patients. That kind of work teaches you to stay calm when everything around you is loud, to think clearly when seconds matter, and, most importantly, to be fully present with people in their hardest moments.
That clinical foundation matters in newborn care more than people realize. When a parent calls me at 2 a.m. worried about their baby's breathing, a feeding that didn't go right, or a rash that appeared from nowhere, I am not guessing. I am drawing on 15+ years of bedside experience, pediatric assessment skills, and the kind of pattern recognition that only comes from caring for thousands of patients. One family I worked with for nearly five years still talks about the day their son turned blue while choking on a broken bottle tip during a trip to France. I am grateful every day that I was trained to respond, and even more grateful that he is now a thriving little boy.
But emergencies are the rare exception. Most of what I do as a newborn care specialist is gentler, quieter, and far more ordinary: helping families build sleep and feeding rhythms that actually work.
What The Minimalist Baby is, and what it isn't
The Minimalist Baby was born from a simple observation: new parents today are drowning in information, products, opinions, and noise. Every scroll brings another expert, another gadget, another reason to feel like they're doing it wrong. And underneath all of that, what most families actually need is someone in the room. Someone calm, qualified, and unhurried, who can help them trust themselves.
That is the work. I help families establish healthy sleep from the very first days of life, without ever resorting to "cry it out." I guide them through feeding transitions, first foods, and the small developmental milestones that feel enormous when they're yours. I support postpartum recovery for the parents, not just care for the baby. And I do it with a minimalist philosophy: fewer products, fewer rules, more confidence. Less noise. More knowing.
I am especially proud of the families I've been trusted to walk alongside, here in San Francisco and beyond: same-sex parents, single parents by choice, IVF and surrogacy families, twin parents navigating postpartum depression, and families of children with developmental differences. Every family structure deserves expert, judgment-free support, and every one of them has taught me something I carry forward.
What you can expect from me
If you decide to work with me, here is what you will get: warmth, professionalism, and complete respect for your home and your boundaries. Punctuality that borders on early. A calm voice when yours is shaking. Honest guidance offered as a suggestion, never as a verdict, because you are the parent, and my job is to support you, not to replace you. And, almost always, a good meal somewhere along the way.
You will also get a nurse. That distinction matters. My background means I can recognize early signs of illness, advocate for you in pediatric appointments, and help you tell the difference between something to watch and something to act on. It also means I take family privacy and clinical professionalism seriously. What happens in your home stays in your home.
A first chapter, not a final one
This article is the first thing I have ever published under The Minimalist Baby, and it feels right that it should be an introduction rather than a pitch. In the weeks to come, I'll be sharing the frameworks, philosophies, and small practical lessons I've spent years refining, including the Ulisses Method for sleep, my approach to introducing solids, and the postpartum essentials I actually recommend (spoiler: it is a much shorter list than you'd think).
Thank you for being here at the very beginning. I'm so glad you found your way in.
Ulisses, the baby whisperer
