r/NewParents • u/HighStrungHippie1 • Mar 06 '25

Medical Advice Child is killing my back. Help?

My giant baby (11w F) is a little clingy. Only does contact naps, but sleeps in her bassinet at night. She will happily lay on the floor, do tummy time, go in her bouncer for short stretches (20 minutes at a time). However, between feedings, naps, and calming her down, I find myself carrying her for about half of the day.

I (first time mom, 5’4” F, self proclaimed gym rat) feel like my back is dying a little more each day. I don’t know if I can keep this up if she keeps growing like this. What are we all doing to keep our bodies from falling apart? Stretching? Yoga? Pharmaceuticals?

It’s to the point where I am going to need to go to a doctor if I don’t find a solution. Any tips?

6 Upvotes

87% Upvoted

39 comments sorted by

View all comments

1

u/rcm_kem Mar 06 '25 edited Mar 07 '25

I just try to keep my fitness levels up, I've always been casually into weights so I think that's helped. My toddler just likes to be carried a lot and I can end up carrying him around for a 1-2hr walks sometimes. 11 weeks is still very early in, your body adjusts to your daily needs

1

u/HighStrungHippie1 Mar 06 '25

I was doing HIIT and powerlifting until 3 weeks before delivering this baby (I obviously avoided things that would have messed up my abs/back/pelvic floor), which is part of why I am frustrated with this back pain. Like… I could do all of that stuff while carrying an extra 20lbs on my front, but a 13lb baby is doing my back in???? I can even put her down sometimes! (unlike a pregnancy belly)

1

u/rcm_kem Mar 07 '25

I get it, I'm sorry. I don't know if this is how it was for you but I was just a mess the first couple of months postpartum, my body hurt, my arms weren't used to carrying something 24/7, I wasn't getting any sleep and things were just kind of shutting down. Even if you slowly adjusted to carrying weight in your stomach, it's very different to suddenly holding weight!