Ask the OT: How Can I Prevent Back Pain While Babywearing?

Babywearing is such an incredible tool, but it’s no good if you end every carrier cuddle session with strain, fatigue, or pain. You might think back pain while babywearing is just the price you pay for carrying your baby around all day, but that’s not true! Babywearing shouldn’t hurt. If it does, it’s a sign that something is off and worth fixing.

Common, but not normal, issues during babywearing include:

1. Lower back pain or strain 

2. Pain or tingling feelings that shoot down one or both legs

3. Tension in between your shoulder blades or at the base of your neck

4. Soreness at the top of the shoulders and up into the sides of your neck 

All of these are addressable and worth fixing, so let’s dive deeper.

Pain while wearing the ring sling usually comes from 2 fit issues: slack and shoulder placement. 

Check that your sling is snug and supportive, including feeling the fabric on your back for pockets of loose material. Hidden slack will cause the fit to shift and loosen even more, over time. Loose slings mean your body has to work harder to support your baby’s weight, which will increase fatigue and strain. 

While you’re adjusting your fit, also check out the placement of your rings. Ideal placement for your rings is right under the collarbone, and closer to your armpit than your heart. If your rings are too far down or towards the center of your chest, this will create a forward and downward pull on your shoulder and can also contribute to pressure on your neck. If not addressed, both of these fit issues will eventually cause strain along your shoulder and upper back.

The most common cause of discomfort in the Lark is slack in the shoulder straps, which causes neck creep, upper-mid back pain, and can cause a pulling sensation on the lower back. 

Luckily, this can be fixed super easily with the correct set up! Pull your shoulder straps straight down before bringing them around to clip them in- you should feel them slide across the front of your shoulder to tighten, and the X should cross on your mid back.

Similarly to the Lark, discomfort while using the meh dai usually comes from slack in the shoulder straps. Practice maintaining tension on the straps all the way until you tie them off. You should not feel a pulling sensation or like your baby is sinking down over time. For even more comfort, check that the straps are spread wide and flat across your back, and free of twists.

Back pain when using the stretchy wrap is almost always due to it being too loose. Are you seeing a pattern here? Getting everything tightened securely will help you and baby both feel more supported. To get that middle pass nice and snug during set up, grab the fabric where it sits on top of your shoulders and pull up and out. This will remove slack from your torso and help keep things cozy. 

Also be mindful of spreading all 3 passes of fabric nice and wide across your baby’s back, and smooth and wide across your own back for optimal weight distribution and support!

While fit issues often cause back pain, other factors to be mindful of are your body, how you’re moving, and whether your posture is ergonomic, especially if you are newly postpartum and your body is still recovering from birth.

The best thing you can do when it comes to protecting your back and body is to make a habit of doing regular body scans and posture checks when carrying your baby, so that you can easily identify any sources of discomfort or compensation, and quickly correct them to be better supported. 

1. How’s your neck? Are you sticking your neck out and down? Reset your head so it’s stacked over your shoulders and in neutral alignment.

2. How do your shoulders feel? You might notice you’re tense or scrunching your shoulders up if the carrier feels loose, or you might be curling your shoulders down and in towards baby. Take a deep breath, roll your shoulders back, and keep them stacked over your hips and gently relaxed. 

3. Are you sticking your stomach out and forward? This posture can be a leftover habit from pregnancy, or something that happens if you feel like baby is sinking down into the carrier. Gently engage your core and think about standing tall with a neutral spine.

4. How are your hips? Are you shifting your weight to one side, or slumping them forward? Take another deep breath and think about stacking everything in a straight line- from the top of your head down to your toes.

5. Are you clenching your butt cheeks? Overactivating the glute muscles is a common compensation for a weaker core. Relax your butt and gently re-engage your core instead. 

6. How are your feet? Are you shifting the weight to one side, locking your knees, or twisting? The most supportive posture is one where your feet are aligned and spread shoulder width apart, without tension through the knees.

When you’re babywearing, you have your normal body weight to support, plus the added weight of your baby. This can change your center of gravity and affect how much work your muscles need to do.

It’s important to practice good ergonomics when moving, such as lifting with your knees (not your back) and keeping your spine in neutral alignment by squatting rather than folding forward to reach objects that are low down. If you need to pivot, use your feet and turn your whole body, rather than twisting at the waist.

Fit fixes and proper posture go a long way when it comes to protecting your body and preventing discomfort while using a carrier. Sometimes we need extra help like pelvic floor therapy or 1:1 consultations with babywearing educators (hope&plum offers complimentary fit checks to all customers), and it’s important to utilize those resources if you identify a need. 

Ultimately, being purposeful and intentional about prioritizing your body’s health and well-being will help you wear your baby longer and more comfortably, and will support you in all of your tasks, as a parent and not. You’re doing a great job keeping your baby safe and comfortable in the carrier, and your comfort and safety deserve to be prioritized, too.