Lullaai tips to care for yourself and your little one in times of uncertainty and pandemic

One of the best lessons learnt from the arrival of COVID-19 and the pandemic to our lives is that life is full of uncertainty. Plans once made may no longer turn out as expected; more than ever before, life is full of changes and constant shifts. Although these constant changes have been ongoing for more than 2 years now, uncertainty still affects us in many different ways and we may feel aimless and fall into a state of daily stress.

That is why we would now like to give you some tips for you to more calmly and resiliently navigate difficult days. We want you to have a wellness tool so you can give your baby the certainty and calmness they need to cope with these changes.

Practical tools in pandemic times:

• Explore your hobbies: It is time to give yourself the chance to try things you always wanted but had never dared to do. Explore your creativity and be ready to find out things you didn’t know about yourself.
• Prioritize self-care: Take time to recharge with anything that suits you, be it a calm coffee, reading a chapter of your favorite book, exercise, yoga or whatever makes you feel good. Any little act of self-care you indulge in, if only for 10 minutes, can improve your state of mind and body. Remember that looking after your mental health is very important.
• Set daily targets: Many of our frustrations may be caused by unrealistic goals set for ourselves. Set yourself clear, concrete goals every day, things you know are within your reach. Split your big goals into little goals you can achieve every day.
• Feel: Accept times of sadness, distress and fear and also of happiness. It is important to let our emotions flow because they are a key to our wellbeing.
• Live one day at a time: One of the biggest challenges is the ability to live fully in the present, which implies no longer overthinking about the past and future and focusing our attention on here and now. Enjoy your family, friends, a good call, and your little one’s company. One way of making the most of the present moment is encouraging thankfulness: at the end of the day write or think about at least 1 thing of your day you are grateful for, and when you start you’ll see how many things there are to celebrate about your life.

Tips for little ones during the pandemic:

• Daily routines even if locked up at home: It is important to stick to schedules for their activities, so the little ones will have a time to play, eat, sleep and share in family.
• Acknowledge the importance of your little ones’ emotions: it is important not only to care for your emotions but how you communicate with your little ones. Convey calmness, for they feel what you feel, give them space to express their fears, sadness and joys.
• Care for your little one’s sleep space: Stick to your sleep routines, quiet, dimly lit spaces with soothing music to help them fall asleep.
• Explain what is going on: Depending on how old your little one is, it is important that you tell them what is going on. When we give children the reason for things they find it much easier to do as they are told.
• Allow them to get bored: We often try to make sure that our children are always busy yet fail to realise that boredom is one of the scenarios the boosts a child’s creativity the most. Let them think and create solutions for their problems and find alternative methods to keep themselves entertained.