Are you starting to develop arms and back pain from taking care of your newborn? New babies and breastfeeding require prolonged positions that can cause or aggravate symptoms. Check out these tips to help you minimize those symptoms!
Breastfeeding suggestions:
- Support your arm and elbow using a nursing pillow
- Use a supportive chair with lumbar support, slide butt back into the chair to relieve stress from the lumbar spine
- Try belly to belly feeding (side-lying)
- Change locations throughout the day to prevent overworking one muscle
- If bottle-feeding, switch to use both sides of the body
Picking up the baby:
- Get close to the baby/ crib
- Gently pull the baby close to you before lifting
- Use golfer's lift when reaching into the crib
o Golfer’s lift: Stand on one leg with knee straight, use hip hinge
- Off the floor – get down on 1 knee, lift and hug baby, then extends hips and stand up
- Off the bed – put 1 knee on bed, pull baby close to you, lift and hug, stand up
- Car seat – put one foot in car, hip hinge, hug