LIVING WITH SOCIAL DISTANCING, How DO YOU DO IT WITH BABY?

Let’s talk about 2020 – it’s not been easy and we’re only half way through. For me personally the onslaught of the Global Pandemic COVID19 has sent me to the absolute edge.

My entrepreneurial spirit started well before I invented CoziGo. I have always been determined to make the most of what I have and if I don't have it, well find a way to make it happen.

When I started dating my now husband, many of our date nights turned into planning meetings of what we wanted our lives to look like – what to invest in, what to prioritise, how to best parent, what fills our cup and where we wanted to travel. Our planning always ensured that we remained on the same page with common goals for life. Over 2 decades we have created a balanced portfolio including shares and property and own two businesses in completely different industries, traveland building.

In just 2 short weeks, COVID19 threatened to unravel decades of hard work. Share prices came tumbling down. Some building works came to a halt. Flights were stopped. Our tenants couldn’t pay their rent. Our income was decimated. All this I could cope with, after all being an entrepreneur, resourcefulness and resilience naturally had me in problem solving mode – but then the kids were sent home from school. Indefinitely. Overnight I became their teacher as well as their mum, I was teetering on the edge terrified of what was to come next.

Everywhere I turned, there was panic in people’s eyes, uncertainty and unease. Everyone I spoke to confided in me that they were also struggling to breath and the tightening in their chest was suffocating. It seemed, the whole world was suffering with anxiety interfering with daily living.

As people adjusted to lock-down, reduced movements and governments all over the world worked out ways in which they were going to support their people through this – there was a certain easing of stress. We were grateful to be safe, we were tucked up in our homes, reducing the threat of this deadly virus. Lock down gave us a sense of control over our destiny.

It’s inevitable that life had to go back to "normal", but with no cure or vaccine in place – it still feels very uncomfortable to push all this to one side and carry on. We’re still being told to social distance, but our children are back at school, people are starting to fill small spaces again and we easily forget that the risks still remain.

Globally I know that everyone is at different stages of "normal". The common ground is for all of us to ensure we: wash our hands for 20 seconds, wear a face mask, clean and disinfect and most importantly – practice social distancing.

If you are a carer to children under two, I wonder how you feel about taking your baby out in to the big wide world under these new circumstances. Whilst reports say children aren’t as affected by the virus in the same way adults are, according to the MayoClinic children under one are at higher risk of severe illness with COVID-19.

This is due to their immature immune system and smaller airways, which make them more likely to develop breathing issues with respiratory virus infections. However, it's also recommended that we are unable to put a face mask on a child younger than age 2, a child who has any breathing problems, or a child who has a condition that would prevent him or her from being able to remove the mask without help. 

How then do parents and carers confidently go about their lives as they would have done prior to the outbreak of this global pandemic?

CoziGo was developed to help parents keep their babies and toddlers in their all-important sleep routine whilst still being able to get out and about. It was all about protecting their baby from the sun and blocking light and distraction and enabling children to fall asleep for faster and for longer. CoziGo is still all of those things, but in this new environment, it’s also a natural way to practice social distancing. It literally provides a barrier from the outside world. It stops passer’s-by being drawn to your precious bundle, touching them and leaning in to coo and admire them. It stops unwanted attention and contact from those you don’t know.

Whether there is a second wave or even a different pandemic it helps to be prepared and make it easier to take your baby out with a natural barrier from the outside world.