Carrying your baby Beyoncé style or not?

Your child bearing hips are not meant for carrying your baby. Read how to carry your baby to avoid back, pelvic and hip pain.

When I think of a mum holding a baby I think of a woman with Beyonce style ‘child bearing’ hips and the baby being held on one hip. And yes I have been known to assume this posture many a time whilst carrying 7 things in my other arm BUT THIS IS WRONG. Your baby should be held in front of you and close and high on your chest with two arms (see right).

This is very comfortable due to the minimised load on you. If you do (like me) feel the need to multitask (who doesn’t) and your baby is old enough to support their own head, hold them to your chest facing outwards with your hand across their chest and under their bottom while carrying those (safe) items with multitasked skill.

I also hold Misaki close to my chest facing me with one arm whilst grabbing another item and then replacing my hand and the item under her bottom and carrying on.

If you do need one hand exclusively for something else and need to put her on one hip make sure it is for short periods of time and that you swap hips often. Of course you are not going to do this with a hot cup of coffee etc. Use your brilliant mummy common sense which is hopefully not too warped with exhaustion. This is why the carriers have been so popular in many varied cultures for so many years because it can allow busy Mums to continue all the work they need to do. See our future blog on Baby carriers for ergonomic advice on different carriers on the market.

“baby being held on one hip... whilst carrying 7 things in my other arm... is wrong...”

If you have twins balance one baby on either shoulder or either hip so that the weight is evenly distributed. You can do this while they are quite young but this will become too much as they get older. If you have triplets or more good luck to you! You are just going to have to lift them one or two at a time!

“it is the length of time... rather than their weight that impacts... on your spine...”

As I have mentioned in other posts it is the length of time you are holding your baby rather than their weight that impacts on the load on your spine so sit down if you want to cuddle them for long periods (Haselgrove et al, 2008).

Good posture and switching on your core is vital in all the manual handling tasks you do. When holding your baby in front of you, like when holding your baby in a carrier you are going to want to tend to counterbalance by leaning backwards.

You need to resist this as this will tighten your back muscles and load up your facet joints which can cause stiffness and if done long term cause joint degeneration (kind of like arthritis) or stress fractures.

Instead, do a gentle but firm pelvic tilt tucking your tummy in and bottom under which switches on your core to support your back and hold you in a good posture. This is quite complicated to know how to correctly switch on some muscles and not others so it is best if you are not aware, get personal guidance from a physiotherapist. See Switching on your core the proper way for more information.

It is also important to mention that a wriggly irate baby (like when trying to give them medicine etc) is going to be much harder to hold so you need your core super switched on in these situations so that they don’t move your spine in awkward directions fast and unpredictably. Holding them close to you will help reduce the forces too.

Summary

Holding your baby on one hip can cause back, pelvic or hip pain and injury.

Hold your baby close and in front of you.

Make sure you don't lean back to counteract the weight of your baby. Instead switch on your core to rotate your pelvis which keeps your weight distributed over your feet.

References

Perceived school bag load, duration of carriage, and method of transport to school are associated with spinal pain in adolescents: an observational study. Clare Haselgrove, Leon Straker, Anne Smith, Peter O’Sullivan, Mark Perry, Nick Sloan 2011 Australian Journal of Physiotherapy Volume 54, Issue 3, 2008, Pages 193–200

Melli Tilbrook is a Physiotherapist based at Adelaide Physiotherapy and Pilates Studio, Beulah Park.