Driving with a crying baby!

Here are some tips on how to not add a back injury whilst driving and calming your crying baby at the same time.

I am starting to feel like Carrie Bradshaw from Sex in the City! If only I could walk in heels. I am loving writing blogs and getting my brain working again. New ideas are always coming in to my head but I write them down as quickly as I can as I don’t trust my baby brain.

Some babies love driving in the car, others hate it. Misaki hated it at first but now loves it. But if she is unhappy for some reason she still loses it which can be distressing and distracting. Safety first. The safety of you and your baby is paramount so concentrate on the road. There must be a better way to say this, but if your baby is crying she is alive (!) and unless she is crying with significant reason will survive.

It is really hard to hear your baby cry, and not something that we want to happen for extended periods, so pull over if she is really distressed. If you are fortunate to have someone else travelling with you, and your baby is liable to cry, you may want them to sit in the back. Many will argue they have to learn to calm themselves, controlled crying etc but if it is a long drive, and you feel you will get distracted, try this suggestion.

“The baby went silent because they were choking...”

I did this first aid course with my husband and my mum’s group and the instructor told an awful story of the baby going quiet in the car. I always think that if she is quiet she is content or asleep- win. But not so in this case! The baby went silent because they were choking on a piece of food! So awful you don’t want to contemplate so I went and invested in a baby mirror so that I can see her whilst driving. This gives you piece of mind but also helps you from twisting and reaching to check on your baby- a major manual handling no no.

From a manual handling point of view, you can do a major back injury from twisting to attend to your baby from the seated position but how many people do it?! I checked with my brother in law who is a police officer about the law with regards to driving with your baby. Unfortunately, by law, you are not allowed to turn to your baby whilst the ignition is on, even at the lights! It is seen as inattentive driving like using your phone. We are meant to pull over out of the traffic and then attend to our crying baby. So now that you know the law I will let you make an educated decision on how you want to manage the situation.

If you want to try and calm your baby by touching her/ giving her her dummy/ handing her a toy etc don’t twist. Get the flexibility in your pecs (chest muscles) and thoracic spine (upper back) so that you can extend your arm backwards without twisting your back and so that you are looking straight ahead at the traffic at all times. You need decent muscle length in certain muscles in your neck and shoulder and chest to allow this. You also need to not hitch your shoulder to get the reach as this could cause a shoulder injury. With breast feeding and holding your baby these muscles are tending to get tight so your arm flexibility may be less. If it is, see a physiotherapist for a massage, joint mobilisation and stretches and strengthening exercises to allow this better manual handling and a less stressful ride.

“Get the flexibility in your pecs and thoracic spine (to avoid) twisting your back...”

This being said I am almost 6 foot so have long go Gadget (80s reference again showing my age) arms so this might not be possible for a shorter person (my friends testify to this). If so, get as much flexibility as you can with physiotherapy and have lots of toys/ dummies that your baby can reach to entertain themselves for as long as possible. If you use a dummy or toy attach it on the seat belt or your baby on the driver’s side so that it is close to you as possible. This makes it easier to reach for and less likely to be thrown to the side causing more drama.

I asked my Mummy friends about what they do when their baby is crying and one said she has a box of toys she had in the front seat so that when her baby needed a toy she could pass another one back. This prevents you from having to twist to reach lost toys in the back.

Another said she had her older siblings in the back seat pass the baby her toys. A luxury us first time mothers don't have but a good option if you have multiples. I don't want to be sexist but women are known for being pretty good at multitasking, thus able to pay full attention to the traffic while singing nursery rhymes and passing toys at the same time but make sure you are 100% on task. Safety and abiding by the law is definitely most important!

If none of these options work and your baby is distressed or distracting you, pull over and turn the ignition off/ put the car in park with the hand brake on and then move your legs to the side so your torso moves without having to twist your back. This will give you extra reach to get to your baby. If you have gone to the trouble to pull over, it would be even better manual handling to get out of the car to settle your baby.

Good luck and take a deep breath!

Summary

Twisting your back while seated is one of the worst ways to hurt your back. Don't do it.

Use distractions like toys, dummies to entertain your child in the car.

Get a baby mirror for peace of mind.

See a physiotherapist to gain flexibility in your body so that you can reach your child without twisting.

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