Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Babywearing While You, The Babywearer, Are Sick

With back to back viruses these last few weeks; I'm so thankful that babywearing is one of my parenting tools.  Here are my best tips for babywearing while you, the babywearer, are sick.

1.  Ask for help.  Fellow caregivers, while giving you a reprieve, can polish their babywearing skills or perhaps try babywearing for themselves.  Or not, but you get some much needed rest and perhaps a ricecake sandwich.


Offering a ricecake sandwich.
2.  If you have a fever, be cautious, as you can raise your baby's temperature too.  (If baby has a fever, and you do not, babywear skin to skin, as you can lower baby's temperature, but that is a different post.)

3. If you do not have a fever, boost your oxytocin by doing skin to skin contact with your baby; your bare chest skin to skin with baby's bare chest provides the most benefit.  To boost your oxytocin levels even higher give baby a great big sniff...mmmmm.
4.  Try not to further exhaust yourself.  My favorite way is to shut us all into a room with a TV and/or toys and pile into a chair together OR if I am feeling untouchable, hand the kids some blankets, carriers, stuffies/dolls and ask them to cuddle dolls and/or each other.  Babywearing the stuffies/dolls helps children to still get their babywearing sensory needs met.
5. Have versatile, easy to clean, easy to use carriers or carries available in accessible places throughout your house.  My first choice is a short wrap tied in a slip knot; I leave one hanging by the back door, at the bottom of the stairs, and at the top of the stairs.  If I have two children unwilling to take the stairs, I can use the short wrap for a strap RTIF or RTAS, and carry the second baby.  Buckle carriers are my next choice.  You DO need more than one carrier; vomit happens.
6. If you are achy or have a queasy stomach, you can use your wrap to help give you some relief.  Experiment with wrapping your back, ribs, and/or abdomen to gain some relief from your achy pains.  Just using my wrap like a shawl, pulled tight across my shoulders makes me feel cozier.
7.  Do nice things for yourself.  Read free junky novels on your kindle app, watch silly kitten and puppy videos on youtube, peruse slingofest.com for a look at all the wraps alive.  Window shop your favorite swap.

What tips do you have for getting through your own illness with little ones to care for?  Please share in the comments. 

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