Thursday, May 23, 2013

Hot Weather and a Wheaton-Pavlik Harness

     Life continues on for us. The heat is finally gone for a few days and I could not be happier!
     We attempted to spend time in the pool and out wandering the mall where it was cooler but there's only so much you can do before battling the heat becomes inevitable. Bed time was probably toughest for us. At first we tried fans but that just gave everyone sore throats, coughs and sniffles and made the heat seem worse.
     We pushed lots of liquids for everyone, though I must admit that sometimes I forget to make sure I get enough. Especially when I have a sore throat from sleeping under our fan! Despite our efforts to keep the kids cool, Froggie still ended up with heat rash on her back which we fought off with a cool bath last night. This prompted me to explore Hip Dysplasia Support boards and pages on Facebook. I posted requesting input as to how to keep a child in a harness cool when air conditioning may not be an option. I got one response.

    "Corn starch helps keep them dry when they sweat...."

     This did not answer my question... The information was helpful and I will probably use it at some point considering Froggie wont even be having x-rays to evaluate the effectiveness of the harness until August. So here is what I've come up with in our last 3 days of nearly 90 degree weather:

    * Spend as much time in Air Conditioning as possible in order to stay cool.
    * If that's not an option, open windows and run fans.
    * If that doesn't work, invest in a kiddie pool/go to the beach/find a creek (this only really works if you can have out of harness time).
    * Aside from the harness put baby in a few clothes as possible
    * Cool baths at night before bed!
My blogging partner

Free feet and blog writing 

Hanging out on the couch during free leg time

6 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for documenting this process! We just found out that my 4 month old daughter needs to be in the harness as well and I have been having a hard time adjusting.. You have covered many things that I have been worrying about and it reassures me a bit that we'll get through it and everything will be okay! :) Thanks again! I am following your blog now and look forward to seeing your daughter's progress along the way!

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    1. Kaisa, I'm glad that my blog has been helpful to you. I noticed when my daughter was diagnosed there wasn't a lot of information out there; every case is different but I hope that you can find some useful information in my ramblings. I wish the best of luck for you and your daughter as you adjust.

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  2. Quick question - did you figure out a better way to nurse with her legs out to the side? We typically use a boppy and do a cross body position (stomach to stomach), but I'm not really sure what else might be more comfortable? Love to hear any ways you've worked around that!

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    1. I'm actually working on a post about that right now! I probably wont have it posted until tomorrow morning, but it's coming.

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    2. The post is up now! http://froggiedprincess.blogspot.com/2013/05/feeding-froggie.html

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  3. Thanks! It's been so hot out, we don't have AC and our little one isn't allowed out of harness time, so it's difficult. If nothing else, it's nice to know we're not alone in the struggle.

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