Babywearing has a lot of wonderful benefits, but it sure can take its toll on your body. The most important thing to remember when deciding on the type of carrier to wear? The closer the baby is to you and your center of gravity, the less strain you put on your body. And when you do decide on a carrier, make sure you know how to adjust it—for example, tie the Moby tight, or be sure to get the right sling size for your height and spine length. But even if you have the right fit, strain and fatigue happens. For each type of carrier—sling, backpack, and frontloader—relief can come from the right yoga poses. Here are some simple yoga asanas that make effective antidotes for babywearing strain:
Slings: We all have a favored side, usually due to which shoulder is higher or lower, and consequently there will be asymmetrical consequences. Often the trapezius (upper back/neck muscle) and levator scapula (the muscle that lifts your shoulder blade) stay engaged to keep the sling on the shoulder and we stick the opposite hip out to compensate.
Fix: If you wear the sling over the right shoulder, then place your right hand on a shoulder high countertop or on a doorframe at shoulder level. Lean your left ear to your left shoulder, and then slowly start to lift and lower your chin in very small movements.
Front loaders: This type of carrier asks a lot of the muscles between the shoulder blades—the rhomboids—to stabilize the weight that is opposite them. Whenever one part of the spine is compromised, other parts of the spine are affected, so you may end up feeling the results along many parts of your spine.
Fix: Interlace your hands behind your head. Exhaling, let your head drop towards your chest. Inhaling, roll your head back up and then look up, opening your chest. Go back and forth a few times.
Backpacks: With these, we adopt the forward head position (turtle-like) to counterbalance the strain in back. And often we lean forward slightly at the hips (like you got closelined at the pelvis), in order not to fall backward. This hunched position happens when we are walking uphill especially. Both of these (the turtle and closelined) can result in shoulder/neck tension and lower back pain.
Fix: Make a thick roll out of two towels. Lie down on your back with the roll horizontally across your upper back. Reach your arms out to the sides and breathe. This is a relaxing way to open your upper back and give your head a chance to fall back. If it hurts your neck, put the roll a little bit lower down your back.
In general, giving birth makes you more susceptible to back pain, especially in the first few months postpartum. In a vaginal birth, the pelvic floor muscles are, at best, stretched, and at worst torn. In a C-section birth, our abdominal wall has been cut through. In both of these circumstances, our ability to lift safely gets compromised. To lift effectively, we need support from both our pelvic floor and our deep abdominal muscles Here is a basic exercise that will help you elongate the muscles of your spine, which might have been uncomfortably shortened, and access those pelvic floor muscles to gain more strength for baby hoisting.
Cat/cow: Start on all fours, with your hands under your shoulders and your knees under your hips. When you exhale, “round” your spine (like a Halloween cat). As you do so, feel your belly moving towards your spine. When you exhale, open the front of your spine, “arching” your back. When you arch your back, try to maintain some of the feeling of your belly drawing in, so there is not over strain in your lower back. To get to specific areas in your back, shift your hips from side to side, look over one shoulder and the other and then explore varying degree of arching and rounding as you move your hips. To begin to find your pelvic floor in this position, hug a block or a tennis ball between your upper thighs. The prop will wake up your inner thigh muscles that work together with your pelvic floor muscles.
