How having a baby changes your posture

I love my babies so much but since I had my daughter I have realized that my “good” posture has gone out the window.

The other day I was in the middle of  a dance class and was asked to sit upright and do simple upper back extension. I almost died. My upper back muscles have become so weak from constant bad posture.

I have known for a while now that my posture has become a bit of a problem but I was really surprised at how weak my muscles had become.

I have posted before about using an app called Balanced to try and be more conscious about my posture but I have now realized it’s going to take a lot more than consciousness to improve it. I’m going to have to work on my upper back extensors in order to improve my posture for good.

No short term fixes. I’m in it for the long run.

So what really makes your posture become so bad after having had a baby? Repetitive bad habits. The positions we put our bodies in after having a baby are bad, bad, bad.

1. Nursing – we slouch over, shoulders hanging low in order to bring the milk to baba. Feeding pillows help a lot to bring  your baby up higher but they are simply not high enough. Solution – try to elevate your baby during feeding by placing pillows beneath your feeding pillow.
2. Comforting – by hugging baby close and letting baby feel your heart beat they are immediately happier. But in doing so we also slouch over in a protective way. Solution – again, if you can try to lift baby higher up. I know this isn’t always possible. But try to do so when you can.
3. Carrying in arms – we usually do this to comfort or rock baby to sleep. Work those arm muscles and try to stand up right without slouching over your baby to get a better look.
4. Carrying on the hip – when your baby gets older they get more stable and so you can carry them on your hip and give your arms some resting time. But baby is also getting heavier and more often than not we sit into our hip to create a bigger “chair” for our babies to sit on and to save those arms again. Don’t. Stand up straight and grin and bear the arm pain.
5. Picking up – do you honestly bend down into a squat-like position to pick up your kids? No? I didn’t think so. You bend over forward and just lift them up. We all know that if you’re picking anything heavy up that you need to use your legs and we just seem to forget his when kids get thrown into the mix.
6. Sleeping in odd positions – sometimes I fall asleep in the bed breastfeeding and so I stay facing Hayden.  I lie on my shoulder and my left arm just about dies. My back gets so sore from not switching up my sleeping positions. Solution – try to vary your sleeping positions as much as you can.

I love my,babies. You love your babies. But you still need to look after yourself and your body for your babies sake. This year I’m all about healthy living and overall longevity. So focusing on good posture is important to Prevent any future problems.