How many of us parents experience back pain? Whether it’s a little twinge now and then or a constant problem, there can’t be many of us who haven’t suffered back pain since our children arrived. 

Our friend Tone Tellefsen Hughes at Luck’s Yard chiropractic clinic see many parents each week with babies and young children. Here they share their tips for lifting and carrying young children.

Avoiding Back Pain: Lifting and Carrying Children

A lot of strain is put on the back as parents and carers have to lift children in and out of car seats, buggies and into their beds. Sometimes they are not as willing as we wish and we end up with the extra strain of a struggling child on our hands too.

Top tips for avoiding back pain when you look after young children:

Lifting:

• Only lift a child if you have to.  Lift them close to you and centrally, and do switch sides if you need to carry them on the hip.  Stand evenly on both legs avoiding weight bearing on one hip and leg.
• When you lift babies and toddlers in and out of the cot, hold your stomach muscles in (bracing) and engage the pelvic floor muscles for support.
• For the older toddlers, make the children climb up in a stool/chair before you lift them up. At this age they could also climb into the car seat by themselves under supervision.
• Avoid carrying a bucket car seat for too long, and with the same arm. This will cause uneven strain on your back.
• Whenever possible, use a sling, pram or a push chair to save the strain on your back and arms/shoulders.
• When you use a push chair while shopping, try to use your stomach muscles to strengthen your core when you go around corners in the supermarket. Make sure the handle bars are tall enough for your height to avoid prolonged stooping.

Changing nappies:

• Use a table at waist height so that you do not bend over too much and for too long. Put one foot up on a small stool under the table to tuck the pelvis under the back to ease the curvature of the back.

Sleep:

• When you sleep, try to sleep on your side with a pillow between your legs to avoid twisting the spine and straining the back muscles unnecessarily.

 What to do if you have back pain:

Bed rest is not the best way to beat back pain, neither is prolonged sitting or standing.  Studies show that active rest is the best prescription, keeping the muscles and joints gently activated, but not strained.  If the injury is acute and of a muscular nature we recommend using an ice pack (covered by a kitchen towel) over the area for ten minutes three times a day to offer pain relief and reduce the inflammation.  You can also lie down on the bed and bend your knees to your back gently to stretch out the back muscles and do the yoga -cat stretch on all fours 3-4 times a few times a day to increase flexibility.  But we advise you to get personalised advice from a registered chiropractor, physiotherapist or osteopath to help you manage the condition.

Tone offers at a free 15 minute consultation with the chiropractic team where you can find out if we can be of help to you.

We also recommend you to look at their new App and DVD the ChiroMoves Collection designed to help parents who are not able to get to the gym or exercise class. The films are designed by Tone Tellefsen Hughes a registered Chiropractor who has over 22 years experience in working with patients and teaching in the chiropractic profession.

Naturally Curious Childcare have a copy of the DVD to give away to one lucky winner; all you have to do is enter your details below to be entered into our free prize draw. Closing date for entries is Friday 27^th of June at midnight, the winner will be announced on our Facebook page on Saturday the 28^th of June. Good luck!

If you have any questions about back pain for the chiropractors at Lucks Yard, or have tips you can share to avoid putting additional strain on your back, please leave a comment below.

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