How to lift your kids without hurting your back.
Dr. Robin Armstrong [Langley Chiropractor]
We see it over and over in our practice … A new parent with low back pain, navigating the world of lifting car seats, putting a sleeping baby in a crib without waking them, or wrestling a thrashing toddler into their stroller. Or Grandparents with shoulder blade pain, caring for your 2-year-old grandchild a few times a week, wondering when the “Up, up, Gramma!” phase will be over. Lifting and caring for children can take a toll on our backs, here are the tips we give to our patients:
1/ Safely lifting an infant from the floor — Kneeling Lunge
Tummy time is an important part of training our babies neck and back strength. Transitioning them from the floor back to mom or dad’s arms can be challenging as they get bigger.
Try lifting in a lunge. Put one foot next to baby, slowly lower yourself down onto one knee. Start to pick up the child close to your knee on the floor. As you slide the infant from your knee on the floor to mid-thigh, keep your back straight, your buttocks out, and lift the infant onto the opposite thigh, hugging the infant close to you. Prepare for the lift by looking forward.
Lift by extending your legs while keeping your back straight and buttocks out. Remember to breathe as you lift. Remember not to combine a twist and lift – first lift, then turn.
2/ Lifting a toddler — Squat
When the “up, up, up, UP!” call comes, the most important thing to remember is to avoid bending from the low back to reach kids at ground level.
Squat instead with feet shoulder width apart, keeping your back straight, and pushing your buttocks out to bring yourself as close to the child as possible, while holding the child securely. Tighten stomach muscles and look forward and use your thigh muscles to raise yourself, while breathing out as you lift.
It is also helpful to teach the children to help you lift by holding onto your body rather than leaning away from you.
3/ Holding babies and toddlers — support the spine
Especially in the early baby days, there are plenty of hours feeding, and those hours can start to take a toll on your back. It is important to position yourself comfortably.
Make sure your chair or couch has low back support in the curve, but also upper back support. Raise the baby on a pillow or special nursing cushion so that you do not hunch over to get closer to baby.
When carrying bigger kids around, try to keep children centered on you body and use both arms to hold.
Try your best to avoid the classic mom multi task – toddler on one hip so that the other arm is free.
You would be surprised how long a toddler can fit in a “baby carrier”, and they can be a real gift on those teething days when your big baby doesn’t want to be put down. Dr. Robin especially liked the Ergo baby when her kids were little. (https://amzn.to/3LkoVtT)
One Last Thought: Get Low, Stay Low
Repetitive bending and stooping can be another aggravating factor for back pain related to caring for little ones. Try to squat or kneel when interacting with the child vs bending over. When cleaning up toys, stay on the floor or stay low rather than repeatedly bending over to pick things up. If sitting to play with a young one, try to sit against the wall or a piece of furniture for back support.
You are not always going to be able to have perfect posture when wrestling a toddler into a car seat, or feeding a baby in the early hours, but the more aware we are of how we lift and interact with our little ones, the more your spine will thank you.
Of course, despite your best intentions sometimes we still get back pain. We are always here to help you get rid of your pain and fine tune some of your lifting techniques.
