When you’re caring for a child, picking them up can put an immense strain on your neck, shoulders, and back. This can lead to pain and discomfort. Today, let’s talk about the best way to carry and care for your child to prevent these issues and alleviate any pain you may already be experiencing.
Relax Your Muscles When Holding Your Child
Whatever position you’re in, you want to make sure that you’re not causing extra tension up in your neck and shoulder muscles. Sometimes when we carry a child, we hold our shoulders up in a tense position for support. When you’re cradling your child, you may also have excessive tension in your neck and shoulder muscles, which doesn’t take long to become painful.
When you’re holding your child in your arms, try to let those muscles relax. One trick is to think about your lower shoulder blade muscle and try to set that shoulder blade down a little bit and anchor it there. That will help provide a little bit more support and relieve some of that tension up in your neck and shoulders.
Balance Out Your Activities—Literally
The other factor to think about is trying not to do actions that are too one-sided. For example, you really don’t want to put baby on your hip and lean to the side. It may feel more comfortable in the moment, but it can put stress on your back and irritate your hip muscles.
You’re better off holding baby more in your middle so you can support their weight with your core and legs. Baby can face out or face you, but the point is to try to keep your body more centered with your weight even on both sides to avoid that tension in your neck and shoulder muscles.
Maintain Good Posture When Carrying Baby
Sometimes when you’re carrying your child, you want to lean forward to compensate for their weight. This can put too much strain on your lower back muscles, which is why it’s best not to let your body go into that tilted forward posture.
Think about pulling your hips back more directly underneath your shoulders so that they’re in line with your ankles and your shoulders. That’s going to allow you to engage your abdominals a little bit more and decrease some of that low back stress.
Another good option is to use a carrier. You should look at and try some different types, or talk to your friends and see what ones they may be using. Baby carriers can be really helpful to free up your hands and allow you to get some things done while still keeping your weight distributed evenly so that you’re not putting excess strain on your back.
How to Pick Up Baby Off the Floor
When we think about how we should put baby on the floor or pick baby up off the floor, the key point is to use your leg muscles so you don’t put excess stress on your back. Try to keep your back straight through the bending down, picking up, and standing back up movements. I would definitely advise you to practice the movement without holding baby to make sure that you’re good with your balance. This will help ensure you can go through those movements smoothly so you can keep your baby and yourself safe.
There are two easy ways to pick up your baby from the floor, and you might be familiar with these movements already:
1. Do a squat to pick up or put down your baby
Essentially, you’ll straddle the area that you’re getting ready to set baby down on. Keep your back straight, engage your abdominals, and then do a squat. Once you’re lowered down, you can set baby on the floor or pick them up, then use your leg muscles to stand up again while keeping your back straight.
2. Do a lunge or kneel to pick up or put down your baby
You can also do a lunge or a kneeling motion. Go down onto your knee, and keep one foot forward to distribute your base of support over your center of gravity. Keep your back straight, lift baby close to you first, and then stand up using your leg muscles and keeping your back straight.
How to Pick Up and Hold a Car Seat Carrier
When you’re buckling baby in the car seat carrier, try to keep your back straight instead of rounded or hunched over the car seat. Bend more through your hips instead of your lower back.
Next, there are two methods for picking up and holding your baby’s car seat carrier:
1. Forward Carry
- Squat or kneel down using your legs and keeping your back straight.
- Grab the car seat by the handle (on the side, not from the top) and hold it as close to your body as you can with your hands at your stomach level.
- Stand straight up using your leg muscles and keeping your back straight.
- Carry the car seat as close to your body as you can, in the front of your body, and use your core muscles to stand upright.
2. Side Carry
- Squat or kneel down using your legs and keeping your back straight.
- Take whichever hand you’re going to carry with and stick it through the handle (as though you’re going to use your arm to support it, like a basket).
- On the side of the car seat is a round piece, usually where the canopy connects. You can hook your hand onto that to support the weight of the car seat.
- Hold the car seat to your side, with your hand supporting the weight and the handle resting on your arm to keep the car seat upright.
- Try to keep your center of gravity low so you’re not shifting off to the side, and keep your core muscles engaged.
These are easy ways to hold a car seat carrier that don’t put too much stress on your back or shoulders, but make sure you’re not tensing your shoulders up while holding the carrier. The point is to keep your back straight, use your hips for bending over instead of your lower back, and use your legs to support your weight when picking baby up or putting them down.
Call Rebound Physical Therapy for Women’s Health
I hope these tips are helpful to you. Sometimes when we’re in a hurry, we don’t really think about our motions or posture; but following these tips can make a big difference on how you feel and how much you’re able to enjoy your time as a parent.
If you’re experiencing any pain or difficulty picking your baby up or putting them down, please feel free to reach out to us. Our team will be happy to help address your concerns and get you back in action. Call us at (785) 367-3082 to schedule a consultation today.
