Joanna Fortune: How can I explain morning sickness to my toddler? 

You don’t want him to associate the baby you hope he will be excited about with making you sick. And you may not want to tell him you are pregnant until further into your pregnancy if only to save yourself months of questions as to when the baby is arriving. You can tell him you are feeling unwell and have an upset tummy, so you need rest. You could suggest he play doctors with his teddy bear, while you lie down close by. This phase is about finding ways to keep your toddler as busy and occupied as possible, while you can be more of a play observer or cheerleader than an active participant.

Hopefully, the nausea eases as you enter your second trimester. But while you are in the trenches with pregnancy sickness, try a few of these tips:

• Set up a ‘special occasions’ bucket of toys, jigsaws, and arts and crafts bits you can take out when feeling especially unwell. Because they are not a regular part of his toy selection, they will be particularly engaging when you most need a break.
  
• Lie on the floor while he plays beside you.
  
• Role-play being the patient while he is the doctor caring for you.
• Blow up balloons and play at tossing them back and forth, while you are seated. You can introduce a challenge. For example, count the number of volleys before the balloon hits the ground. To increase the difficulty, you could say, ‘Let’s see if we can increase that number the next time we do it’.
  
• Play red-light/green-light or musical statues, so that he moves on your cue and freezes on your cue.
• Snuggle up on the sofa and watch cartoons together, so that you can rest while being with him.
  
• Toss some blankets and cushions onto the floor and let him build a fort. When it’s constructed, you could give him a small snack, while you have a cup of tea.
  
• Be kind and generous to yourself – take help that is offered or enlist your partner/family member/friend to batch-cook meals for you and take your little boy to the park to run and play so you can lie down.

If you experience nausea throughout your pregnancy or something in the realm of hyperemesis, ensure you consult with your GP or midwife and explore your options. My podcast episode on preparing a toddler for a new baby might be helpful.

Also, check out the episode on playing through low parental stamina .

• If you have a question for child psychotherapist Dr Joanna Fortune, please send it to parenting@examiner.ie