Month: November 2020

Weaning: Foods I Didn’t Expect My Baby To Love
baby · food · parenting

Weaning: Foods I Didn’t Expect My Baby To Love

The Sickly Mama2 Comments
Advertisements

So we’ve been weaning Little Man since he was six months old, and I’ve written a bit about it previously including my top tips for starting weaning. But I thought maybe it was time to write a follow-up post, expanding on one of the tips from my original article: that you shouldn’t make assumptions about what your baby will like.

As time has gone by, it’s come home to me time and time again how true this is! Little Man now basically eats whatever we have for dinner, with the occasional tweak – and it’s incredibly rare for him to not like something. He does have his favourite foods (anything Japanese, cottage pie, cherry tomatoes, banana) but the list of foods he doesn’t like is so short it’s not even a list, because there’s only one thing on it: feta cheese.

So I thought I’d pull together a list of some of the quite random foodstuffs that Little Man has tried and loved…

Weaning: Foods I Didn’t Expect My Baby To Love

Kimchi

If you’re not familiar with kimchi, it’s a Korean foodstuff made of fermented cabbage and other vegetables in a tangy, sometimes spicy sauce. When my husband made kimchi fried rice for us, although I dished some up for Little Man, I also made him a separate supper as we didn’t expect him to like the strong flavours of kimchi.

Boy, were we wrong! He wolfed it down and demanded more. This baby normally enjoys fried rice, but he seemed to enjoy it more than ever with the addition of the strongly-flavoured kimchi. Who knew?

Curry

I know so many grown adults who are quite fussy about curries, so I never expected Little Man to be quite so keen on them. He’s already tried a wide range of different types of curry, from more classic Indian aubergine curry with a bit of spice, to Japanese dry curry. And he’s seemed to enjoy them all! I was surprised to discover that he really doesn’t seem bothered about a bit of chilli spiciness in his food, and he has happily eaten a number of foods with a bit of a chilli kick to them.

Weird weaning food combinations

Early on in the weaning process, I discovered that Little Man would very much enjoy eating the strangest combinations of foods. This was super useful as we started our weaning journey and he was eating a lot of mashed and softer foods, because I could put pretty much anything on a plate for him. I remember once I sent my mum a picture of Little Man enjoying his lunch, and she asked what he was eating. The answer? Sweet potato, porridge, and broccoli. Yum. Not sure why I haven’t been awarded my first Michelin star yet… Presumably they have a backlog due to Covid.

Deconstructed shrimp tacos

Dashi

Dashi is a broth or stock flavoured with seaweed and flakes of dried fish. It’s a key ingredient in many Japanese dishes.(and is the reason why some westerners complain that so much Japanese food tastes vaguely fishy!). We’ve discovered though that Little Man love love loves dashi! He has absolutely wolfed down any meal which contains it.

I think a lot of small children enjoy fish for its soft texture and yummy flavour, so if your child is one of these kids, why not try cooking them something with dashi – for instance this Japanese oyakodon recipe is easy to cook and even easier to eat!

Watermelon

Okay, I didn’t expect that Little Man wouldn’t like watermelon (who doesn’t like watermelon???) – I just didn’t expect him to like it quite as much as he does. We discovered that giving him a big piece of rind with a little melon attached was amazing at soothing his gums while he was teething in the summer. Obviously you need to be careful that he doesn’t bite bits off the rind and end up choking, but at around 6 months Little Man’s bite wasn’t strong enough to actually cut through the rind, so he just really really enjoyed chewing on it!

Pasta all’amatriciana

Coffee

Okay, bear with me – NO I’m not advocating giving your tiny baby coffee! Little Man has the habit of climbing up on us and begging to try a bit whenever we are sat down with food or drink and he doesn’t have any. He was doing this once with me when I was drinking coffee, and I thought actually it’s so bitter that if he tried a bit, he wouldn’t like it and would leave me be to enjoy my coffee in peace. So I dipped my finger in my coffee and let him lick it, just to get the taste. And of course, you guessed it… He loved it. Oops.

Weaning foods: the verdict

So I guess in summary, I’ve found on so many occasions that my expectations of what Little Man will or won’t like are totally wrong. I’m sure at some point he will go through a much fussier phase, but right now we’re trying to get him eating as many different foods as possible (within the realms of NHS guidance on safe foods for weaning), and he’s loving it!

What unexpected weaning foods does your baby love?

Have you discovered any unexpected foods that your baby has loved during the weaning process? Let me know in the comments!

Sweet Potato Nachos – Autumnal Gluten Free Treat
gluten free

Sweet Potato Nachos – Autumnal Gluten Free Treat

The Sickly Mama6 Comments
Advertisements

I love nachos. So does my husband. But we don’t have them often, because a) they’re super unhealthy and b) a lot of tortilla chip varieties are not gluten free. I came up with this variation, which is much healthier but I think also hits a lot of the same buttons in terms of flavour. I call them ‘sweet potato nachos’ for that reason – but really you could also call them loaded sweet potato fries. This recipe is super easy and can be made quickly if you have a microwave – about 20 – 25 minutes, or 55 minutes if you’re baking the sweet potato in the oven. They’d also be great made in an air fryer.

As well as being gluten free, this recipe can easily be made low FODMAP (mainly by keeping an eye on portion sizes) so I’ve also provided instructions for anyone following a low FODMAP diet – and I’ve given some notes on making vegan nachos at the end of this recipe as well.

Sweet Potato Nachos Recipe

Ingredients list:

To make your gluten free sweet potato nachos, you will need:

  • Sweet potatoes (40g serving per person if you are following a low FODMAP diet)
  • Mozzarella cheese
  • Cream cheese (for low FODMAP ensure you’re not having more than 40g cheese overall when you add together the mozzarella and cream cheese)
  • Spring onion (for low FODMAP, only use the green part)
  • Vegetable oil or garlic infused oil if you have it!
  • Salt
  • Cayenne pepper

Method for making sweet potato nachos:

1. Peel your sweet potatoes. If you have a microwave, pop them in on a high heat for 5 minutes, turn them over, and heat for a further five minutes. You’ll know they’re done when a fork easily goes through the potato flesh. If you don’t have a microwave, ignore this and go straight to the second step!

2. Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees C. Cut up your sweet potatoes into chips and place on a baking tray. Add a couple of tablespoons of oil and a generous sprinkle of the salt and cayenne pepper. Toss the sweet potato chips through the oil and seasonings, then pop in the oven. If you pre-cooked your chips in the microwave, bake for about ten minutes, turning halfway through. If you didn’t pre-cook, bake the chips for about 40 minutes, turning halfway through.

3. When the sweet potato chips are ready, group them together in a pile on the baking tray. Dollop over the cream cheese and sprinkle with finely chopped spring onion. Then, top with mozzarella.

4. Stick the tray under a hot grill until the cheese on your sweet potato chips has browned nicely. And serve!

Ideas for your sweet potato nachos

These nachos are an ideal snack, or make a larger quantity for lunch. Just like traditional nachos, they work well for parties or social events – and it’s also a really kid-friendly recipe, and a sneaky way to get your kids eating some vegetables. If you’re trying to be a healthy mummy (or daddy), don’t go overboard on the cheese (or just don’t eat them every day!).

You can play around with the toppings for your sweet potato nachos as well. Tomato salsa would be a tasty addition (but not if you’re looking for a low FODMAP treat, thanks to the onion content), as would black beans or avocado/guacamole (again not good ingredients for low FODMAP diets though!).

Vegan Sweet Potato Nachos

Obviously this recipe is already vegetarian, but if you follow a vegan diet, it’s also pretty easy to turn this dish into vegan sweet potato nachos. Plenty of stores sell vegan cheese substitutes, so you can swap out the mozzarella and cream cheese for a vegan alternative. Or, you can even make your own – check out this recipe for homemade vegan parmesan or homemade vegan feta cheese substitute, both of which would be delicious sprinkled over the top of your sweet potato fries.

More recipes…

If you’re looking for more cooking inspiration, why not head to my recipe page? Or check out this super lazy noodle soup recipe, this great vegetable lasagne recipe or this recipe for a fab leftover chicken curry!

Getting A Covid 19 Coronavirus Test For Your Baby
Uncategorised

Getting A Covid 19 Coronavirus Test For Your Baby

The Sickly MamaLeave a comment
Advertisements

So the other day, when Little Man came home from nursery, he had a bit of a runny nose. He was unsettled overnight, and in the morning was very snotty – like a fountain with a bad algae infestation – but seemed happy enough, so he went off to nursery in the morning as usual. Then, just after 10am, the nursery called to say that as he’d been coughing, they needed to send him home. And we needed to get a coronavirus test for our baby.

Nursery weren’t really worried that he had coronavirus; his main symptom was a runny nose, which isn’t usually a symptom of Covid – but as he’d been coughing of course they had to play it safe. My husband booked Little Man in for a Covid-19 test, and I took him off to the testing site in the afternoon. I thought it might be helpful to share our experience, because I really didn’t know what to expect with getting a baby tested for coronavirus, and to be honest some aspects of the process were a little baffling! It would have been helpful to read about someone else’s experience before we went. So here goes…

SPOILER ALERT: As we suspected, when the results came back they showed that Little Man did not have coronavirus, just a nasty cold.

Getting A Covid 19 Coronavirus Test For Your Baby

Booking the test

You can’t just turn up to a Covid testing site and expect to be seen. Instead, you have to book a testing slot in advance, which you do via the .gov.uk website. Testing is free on the NHS if you have one or more of the main symptoms of Covid-19.

My husband actually booked our test slot while I was off picking up Little Man from nursery. You can book up to three household members in together for testing, and the process is pretty straightforward. After giving your postcode, you’re informed of your nearest coronavirus testing site – we were lucky to have one very close by. You could select a drive-through test or a walk-in test, and I went for the latter as it seemed more practical with a baby. You can pick a half hour long time slot for your test, and they tell you that it shouldn’t take longer than an hour. Fortunately for us, there were lots of free timeslots, so we could select a time that suited us right after Little Man has his lunch.

The website tells you that at some sites, you have to do the Covid swab yourself, while at other sites people do it for you – but it doesn’t tell you which one it’s going to be, based on the location you pick. We were also told to bring photo ID, although in the end no one actually asked to see it.

Finding the coronavirus testing site

I didn’t have a problem finding the test site itself – the problem came after we arrived. The testing site was set up in a car park. Not especially surprising for a drive-through testing centre. However there was no signage to indicate where to go for a walk-in test. I wandered around a bit, looking for a sign, being completely ignored by the staff there, and eventually gave up and just walked into the drive-through test entrance.

This attracted enough attention that someone finally came over to help. They seemed surprised to see someone coming for a walk through test, but took me to a table to one side of the car park, and told me to wait…

The Covid-19 Self Test Pack

I was given a sealed pack that contained various items – a swab (basically a cotton bud or Q-tip), tissue, plastic tube, two sealable plastic bags, and a set of instructions for how to conduct a Covid-19 Self Test.

The instructions were fine, but they’re not designed for getting a Covid-19 coronavirus test for your baby. In fact, all the instructions said on the matter was: “Children aged 11 and under – Adult to test child. Use the supplemental instructions to help you do this“. Fine… Except that I wasn’t given any supplemental instructions. Hmm.

I asked a member of staff, who said that he thought that you just needed to swab one nostril for young children – grown-ups have to swab their tonsils and nose (in that order, fortunately). I’m not sure whether the “supplemental instructions” on swabbing young children would have gone into more detail, but I do think it seems daft to have a separate set of instructions instead of just printing them all in one place.

I also think it would have been helpful not only to have actually had a copy of specific instructions of how to administer a Covid-19 coronavirus test to a baby, but to have had them in advance of going to the test site. If you knew what you were going to be asked to do, you could plan better how best to bribe/trick/otherwise deceive your baby into complying with the test. As it was, when we went to the site I didn’t even know that I would be asked to swab Little Man myself, let alone the details of what that would involve.

Conducting A Covid 19 Coronavirus Test For Your Baby

What I had to do:

So, I had to sanitise my hands carefully, swab my baby’s nostril – according to the adult instructions, ideally for 15 seconds and quite deep into the nostril until you feel resistance… It didn’t sound super achievable, when you consider that Little Man screamed, cried, grabbed my hands, and sometimes tried to bite me most times I just attempted to wipe his runny nose with a tissue.

Then I had to break off the long end of the swab, put it into the plastic tube without spilling any of the liquid in the tube, put that and an “absorbent pad” into a Ziploc bag, put that bag into a sealable biohazard bag, and put that bag into a box. Yay.

The Complications:

Did I mention the fact that it was a windy day? And that I was sat at a trestle table in the middle of an exposed car park, with nothing to provide a wind break, and handfuls of plastic bags, loose pieces of paper, and other objects that seemed designed to fly away at any moment. Oh, and nothing to weight them down with.

The inevitable did of course happen, and half my Self Test Pack ended up scattered across the car park by the wind while I was trying to unpackage the swab. So then I had to scurry around trying to collect them all up in one hand without contaminating the swab in the other, which was super fun.

How it worked in practice:

I distracted Little Man with a toy he hadn’t seen for a while, which got his attention enough that I actually managed to wiggle the swab around fairly deep in his nostril for about seven or eight seconds before he started protesting.

When the swab came out it was very snotty (eurgh, sorry). I wasn’t sure if this would be an issue, as the instructions for adults tell you to blow your nose beforehand so that the test won’t be ruined by too much mucus. The guy at the test centre said it wouldn’t be a problem though, and we got the test results fine so I guess it wasn’t!

Getting your Covid-19 test results:

The results took just under 24 hours to arrive. My husband was sent the Covid test results by text message and email, which was handy as we had to send the nursery a copy of them. Happily, as we had suspected, Little Man’s test came back negative – he’s just had a nasty cold, not the ‘rona.

My tips for other parents getting a Covid-19 coronavirus test for your baby

I think that the drive-through test option is probably easiest if there’s two parents on hand, but the walk-in test was much easier for me to manage with Little Man on my own. You’re not supposed to leave the car during a drive through Covid-19 test, and I wouldn’t fancy clambering into the back of the car to try to swab a baby in a car seat that’s facing the wrong way.

BUT. The wind did make the walk in test way more challenging than it needed to be, and it would have been even less fun in the rain, so check the weather forecast before you decide! If you do go for a walk in, expect to be outside the whole time, and take enough warm clothes for you and the baby.

If you’re getting a Covid-19 coronavirus test for your baby, I would take along some form of guaranteed distraction for the actual swabbing process – either a favourite toy they’ve not seen in a while or a favourite item of food. If you go for food though, make sure it’s something that will take them a little while to eat, like a breadstick, because the process is fiddly and takes a little while. If you’re in a car I guess you could even try to distract baby further with a baby sensory video on YouTube or similar.

Your experiences of getting a Covid-19 coronavirus test for your baby or young child

Have you had to get a Covid-19 coronavirus test for your baby or young child in the UK or abroad? What was your experience? Let me know in the comments!

Looking After A Baby When You Have A Joint Condition
Uncategorised

Looking After A Baby When You Have A Joint Condition

The Sickly MamaLeave a comment
Advertisements

As a mama with hypermobility spectrum disorder, I have rubbish joints! How rubbish they are tends to vary from day to day and even hour to hour. Some days I don’t notice any problems – other days when my hands are very stiff and sore, I struggle to open jars; or I’ll find that my hip or shoulder keeps popping out of the socket, or everything will just be very achey and stiff. But how do my rubbish joints affect looking after a baby? I’ve written a little about being a hypermobile mama previously, but it seems time to do something a bit more comprehensive on parenting with a joint condition…

And so, here are my top tips, focused around looking after a baby when you have a joint condition, from the newborn stage through to when they start toddling. Hopefully this guide will be useful to other parents with hypermobility spectrum disorder, EDS, arthritis and other joint conditions. If you have any tips you think I’ve missed, let me know in the comments!

Looking After A Baby When You Have A Joint Condition

Feeding your baby comfortably

Whether you’re breastfeeding or bottle feeding, especially during the newborn days you tend to spend an awful lot of time feeding and burping baby. Spending a lot of time in the same position is often uncomfortable if you have dodgy joints, and the limited range of feeding positions – and the fact that you don’t want to disturb a baby who’s happily feeding, by having to move them – can also be an issue.

Tips: Have a comfortable chair or spot in your house for feeding, which is set up just for you. I had a cosy armchair with a couple of cushions for back support, a footrest for my feet, and a spare cushion nearby which I could put under my arm or under Little Man to get us both comfortable. Having my arms supported definitely helped me. If you’re breastfeeding, there are different positions you can try to see what’s easiest for you. If you’re bottle feeding and struggling with holding a bottle, there are devices you can use for hands-free bottle feeding which clip on to a car seat or bouncer.

Poppers or buttons on baby clothes

Okay if you have terrible hands, these are THE WORST. I know lots of people hate poppers, and I know I’ve written about how I hate buttons on baby clothes previously; but as I love to labour a point and we have moved into the colder weather – which always makes my joints get even more stiff and achey – I just have to say it again. THEY SUCK. It’s hard enough to get my wiggly Little Man to stay still long enough for a nappy change, let alone while mama struggles to undo and then do up 5,000 poppers on the legs of his suit. Poppers/buttons are no good if you’re parenting with a joint condition!

Tips: All baby clothes should be mandatorily done up with zippers or, at a push, velcro. Obviously, I have yet to succeed in getting this written into UK law. And unfortunately it turns out that for some reason baby clothes with zippers are both hard to find and often really expensive. So my tip is: before the baby arrives, tell everyone who might buy you a gift that you want ZIPPERS damnit, and let them pay for it!

Alternative tip: Ask your husband/wife/partner/friend nicely if they can help with the damn poppers.

Hanging out on the floor all day

Turns out, having a baby means a lot of time spent hanging out on the floor. For me personally, getting onto the floor is fine, but it tends to be when I try to get up that I suddenly discover that I’ve been sitting with my joints in odd positions without realising it, and everything hurts. Oops. And the older Little Man has grown, the more time we’ve ended up spending crawling around together on the floor.

Tips: There’s not really much to be done about this one, unless you can persuade your baby to learn to fly! I tried bringing a cushion on to the floor with me, but once Little Man started crawling it was too much bother to keep moving the cushion around with both of us. My best advice is to think about specific activities that can be done away from the floor. For instance, a tabletop changing table might help for nappy changes, or bathing baby in the sink rather than in a tub on the floor. You can also look at getting a raised Moses basket and/or cot, so that you’re not having to stoop to and from the floor at nap time or when baby is very small and spends most of his/her time dozing.

Lifting and moving baby

I’m fortunate that although my joints are often painful and stiff, I tend to be okay with lifting and moving Little Man, but of course there are lots of joint conditions that could make it much more difficult to lift and move your baby around the house.

Tips: Using a sling or baby carrier is great, especially for the newborn phase, as you can take baby with you around the house without having to do lots of lifting, and spreading the weight evenly across your shoulders and back. Be careful though with using these aids if your joint condition makes you more likely to trip or fall – if that is the case, it may be safer to avoid using carriers. Make sure you follow good lifting technique to support your joints and minimise the risk to you and baby.

Related tip: Have a couple of stashes of key items around the house e.g. a couple of stations with nappies, wipes, a change of clothes etc. That way you’re not constantly having to carry baby up or downstairs or around the house if you need to change his nappy, clothes etc.

Taking ages with tasks….

One of the issues when your hands are stiff and uncooperative is just that things can take a long time, which is difficult for things like nappy changes when baby may just try to wiggle away.

Tips: My top tip is baby sensory videos to distract your little one! If you go on YouTube and search “baby sensory videos”, you’ll find loads of free videos that feature simple images and jolly music which will help distract baby while you get stuff done. Little Man loves the fruit and vegetable videos!

Your tips for looking after a baby when you have a joint condition

If you have experience of looking after a baby when you have a joint condition, I’d love to hear your tips. Let me know in the comments!

I also love this article about parenting with arthritis, which has lots of great advice that is transferable to other joint conditions as well.

Gluten Free Chocolate Cappuccino Brownies Recipe
baking · gluten free

Gluten Free Chocolate Cappuccino Brownies Recipe

The Sickly Mama4 Comments
Advertisements

I love making brownies, and much though I love a simple chocolate brownie, I like experimenting with different flavours! As my husband is a total coffee nut, he suggested a marbled chocolate brownie/coffee blondie combination, and I think this recipe is a total winner! Plus, you’d never know it’s gluten free. The only point of debate is whether to call them “chocolate cappuccino brownies” or “mochaccino brownies”… Thoughts?

Gluten-free Chocolate Cappuccino Brownies Recipe

The ingredients for your gluten free brownies:

For this recipe, you will need:

  • 75g dark chocolate
  • 75g butter
  • 175g caster sugar
  • 75g gluten free plain flour
  • 1tsp vanilla essence
  • 3 eggs
  • 1tsp instant coffee
  • 1tsp baking powder
  • 1/4tsp xantham gum (optional)

How to make gluten free mochaccino brownies:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 C. Grease and line the base of a 20cm X 20cm tin.

2. Melt the chocolate (I microwave it for 20 second bursts until melted, or you can melt in a bowl over a saucepan of hot water).

3. Beat together the butter and sugar until light and creamy, then beat in the eggs. Add the flour, xantham gum, baking powder and vanilla essence and mix until smooth.

4. Split the mix between two bowls. Mix in the melted chocolate to one bowl, and the coffee to the other.

5. Dollop the two mixtures into the tin and swirl together slightly. Don’t mix too much though, or you won’t get the contrasting flavours of the two mixes!

6. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes. 30 minutes will get you a more cakey texture, 25 minutes a more fudgey texture. Let the mix cool in the tin.

Tips and tricks for your gluten free chocolate cappuccino brownies:

This recipe will make 12 – 16 gluten free chocolate cappuccino brownies, depending on how you cut it, and it takes about 20 minutes to prepare, plus cooking time.

If you’re not bothered about being gluten free, substitute the gluten free flour for normal flour and leave out the xantham gum.

You want your coffee brownie mix to taste strongly of coffee in order for the finished product to have a good coffee flavour, so I recommend tasting the batter. If the uncooked mix doesn’t have a good hit of coffee flavour to it, add more instant coffee powder until it does!

More gluten-free baking recipes:

If you enjoyed these gluten-free mochaccino brownies, you might be interested in trying some of my other gluten-free baking recipes – check out these deliciously chocolatey gluten-free rocky roads, or this recipe for the best gluten-free oatmeal raisin cookies.

How To Make Your Hair Look Amazing Underwater (Tips From A Professional Mermaid)
Just for fun · mermaiding · top tips

How To Make Your Hair Look Amazing Underwater (Tips From A Professional Mermaid)

The Sickly Mama1 Comment
Advertisements

One of the classic hallmarks of underwater model photography is beautiful, flowing, floating hair. It can be key to creating that truly weightless look that shows the picture really was taken underwater and hasn’t just been photoshopped. But how do you get your hair to look amazing underwater? Here are some tips from my time as a professional mermaid performer.

How To Make Your Hair Look Amazing Underwater

Underwater Hair Wrangling

Different people’s hair tends to be differently floaty underwater; the finer the hair, the better it floats. The water you’re in will also make a difference; your hair will float better in saltwater than it does in a swimming pool.

Using oils and oil-based hair products

Hair is covered in naturally produced oils, which also help it to float, so if you’re finding that your hair is looking flat underwater, you can try adding a conditioning oil like argan oil beforehand (this will also help to protect your hair from chlorine and keep it from tangling). However, a word of warning! Oil in the water can ruin picture quality for your photographs – and once the oil is in the water, you won’t be able to get it out in time to rescue the shoot. If you’re the only model being shot that day, and you use a small amount of product, you may be okay – but a lot of product or a number of models all using a small amount of product could ruin your water quality. So make sure you discuss any user of hair oils with your photographer beforehand. Thanks to photographer Brett Stanley for this tip!

Moving your hair underwater

When you drop down through the water, your hair will naturally rise; however if you then swim or move forwards, it will push your hair back from your face, which can leave it looking flat. In order to get that perfect floating hair effect, once you’re in position, try shaking your head gently from side to side, or run a hand upwards through your hair.

Be aware of the position of your hair, as it can ruin a great shot if too much of it gets in front of your face; if that starts happening, the best solution is to use both hands to gently waft the hair upwards.

The hair is the primary indicator that this shot by Shamira Crivellaro was taken underwater.

Hair Colour Matters

Think about the colour of your hair and the colour of the background. If you are using a typical blue underwater background, blonde or red hair will be the most high-contrast colours, and will really stand out against your background. Lighter hair catches the light best underwater, so if you’re darker-haired (like me!) bear that in mind. Of course, you can always try wearing a wig (see below)…

Using Wigs Underwater

Despite what you might expect, wigs are totally do-able underwater. However in order to prevent your wig making a floaty bid for freedom, there are some key pieces of advice you probably want to be aware of:

  • Make sure you get a wig with adjusters inside and set them to a tight setting.
  • Then make sure you have a wig cap. For added security, I recommend french plaiting or braiding your natural hair underneath the wig cap, and then pinning the wig through the wig cap and into the plait.
  • Be prepared for your wig to be a crazy tangled mess once you’re done with the photoshoot. The longer the wig, the greater potential for tangling. Wigs with straighter hair are likely to take less time to untangle – curly wigs can get really messy. Bring a comb and be ready to invest some time teasing it back into shape.
  • Bear the wig in mind when you’re entering the water and getting into position. If you rapidly dive down or swim forward, the water will push against the wig and be more likely to loosen it. The more gently you move around, the less likely you are to dislodge the wig.

When you’re modelling underwater in a wig, you need to think about more than just making sure it doesn’t float off your head. Before you get in the water, make sure you’ve checked out the hairline of your wig in the mirror. Especially with cheaper wigs, while they may look great on land with the fringe/bangs hanging down, once you’re in water there’s the potential for all the hair to float up and expose that hairline.

If the hairline isn’t great, you’ll want to make sure it’s not exposed in the photos; try dropping below the water with a hand holding the fringe down.

I wore a red wig in this underwater photograph by David Kershaw

Styling Hair Underwater

Generally the best bet is to leave hair loose rather than attempting to style it; loose flowing hair creates a great underwater effect. If you are styling your hair, you’ll need a lot of pins to keep it in place! Remember also if you’re planning to use hair clips, hairbands, tiaras etc. that you need to think very carefully about whether your hair is going to get hopelessly tangled in them.​

This also goes for necklaces; earrings; and clothing that’s close to your hair; when I made my first ever mermaid top, it had fake seaweed on the shoulder straps. It looked great, but every time I got in the water, my hair ended up tangled in the leaves, and sometimes it couldn’t be untangled and had to be cut free. Needless to say, I remodelled the top pretty quickly!

Photograph by Duncan Grisby

Learn more about underwater modelling

This article is part of a series sharing top tips on various aspects of underwater modelling! If you’re interested, you can check out this article on general underwater modelling tips to look amazing underwater or this post about learning how to open your eyes underwater.