Hi- I am trying to picture how I will be able to take care of two children under two once banded. I am working all the kinks out but don't know how I am going to lift them in/out of their cribs in the am, naptime, and bedtime. They weigh approx. 29 lbs now. Anyone lifting a child out of the crib?

i have a 19 month old, luckily my husband took a week off after my surgery, i would not have been able to lift my baby the first week. I am 2 weeks out of surgery and can barely lift him. I let him take naps on the couch that he is able to climb up on himself. Luckily my husband or daughter pick him in and out of the crib in the morning and evening. If its possible i would try to find someone to help u the first week or two if possible. i know physically i would not have been able to do it without help. good luck, and if have any other questions please feel fee to ask me!

amy

I have a 2 year old...and he sleeps with us, so one of my concerns is him rolling into me or kicking me after the surgery. :scared2: I am having my 17 year old daughter help with picking him up for the 1st week after surgery.

I guess I will just play it by ear, cause I know I am having the surgery no matter what. We will all get through it...but having little ones does make it tougher.

I just read over this post and this sucker is LONG!! Sorry!! But here it goes!!

I'm just going to post everything that I did and hope that some of it helps.

My DD was 2.3 yrs when I had surgery in August. I had a 10lb lifting restriction for six weeks!! DH is a fireman and works a 72hr shift every week, so when he's gone, I'm a "single" parent for 3 days! We had to figure some things out!

Once I knew that surgery was going to be fairly soon [didn't have a date yet but knew it would be within a month] we started working on things.

I talked to DD about having surgery and that mama's tummy was going to hurt for awhile. We were going to have to be careful and she was going to need to help me as much as she could. She got in to that! :scared2: [Kept it basic, of course.]

She's tall for her age and we had taken the side-rail off her crib awhile before that so I didn't have to deal with that. [The mattress was as low as it could go and standing, the top of the rail was just above her belly button! It's supposed to be no lower than nipple level!! :thumbup:]

We moved the carseat from my truck to DH's car so that DD could climb in herself and get herself in to her carseat. Once she was there, I could then buckle her up.

DH went with me to grocery shop before he went to work and I just made sure that I didn't need anything while he was gone! No way could I get DD in and out of a cart or carry a bag of groceries. A gallon of milk is 10lbs so a grocery bag is too heavy.

Laundry, it's downstairs in the garage, no way could I get it to and from. DH did all the laundry [and still does actually!].

sleeping, DD crawls in with us sometimes. I took a little pillow and would sleep with it against my stomach in case of any bumping during the night.

Keep the pillow handy. Take it in the car with you to put between you and the seatbelt. Keep it handy for when you need to sit and your kids want to climb up to cuddle, place pillow over stomach to keep elbows and knees away from your port area. That's what's going to hurt the most if it gets bumped.

DD loves hugs. I had her climbing on to a chair to stand and give hugs. She loves it and it's something we still do.

If you MUST carry a kid, have them get up on something so all you have to do is TAKE them. You're not LIFTING but moving from, say a chair, to your arms.

Be aware there are going to be things you didn't think of that all of a sudden, something happens. DD was sitting on my lap in my desk chair, started to get down but fell instead, I went to catch her but all I was able to do was slow her down. It HURT!!! She was fine but it startled her, and me, for that matter. Another time, DD was playing with her fire engine. It's a wooden, rocking fire engine. She was driving and climbing over it and playing with it in general when she sat down on the back of it and slipped into the compartment at the back. It's big enough for a few toys or stuffed animal or doll. Well, she was stuck and she couldn't get herself up and out. I had to pull her out! There was no other way. It HURT!!

There are just going to be things that happen that you aren't prepared for. That's just the way it plays. Just like if something's going to break, it's going to wait til DH is at work and I'm going to have to deal with it. Things like that! LOL!

One of the things I did before surgery, was go through my day and analyze everything I did as I did it. Thinking, is this going to work when I'm sore, can't lift, moving slow, whatever?

Another thing is to get specifics from your surgeon about lifting restriction, carrying, whatever questions you have about daily movements and how long things are going to have to be different. He may say no lifting for 6 weeks but you can carry after 4. Something like that. That's why you want to analyze your daily movements. One to make changes and another to ask your surgeon questions BEFORE surgery.

If you can have help, get it, take it, beg for it if you need to. It will just make things SO much easier on you and the kids. Between my DH and my mom, I was blessed with help for 3 weeks.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

Best wishes!!

Thanks so much for all the tips from someone who has been there. I will start today to get my son climbing into his carseat and other things so that it is easier when the 16th comes!:welldoneclap: