Picking up little ones!

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Hi everyone,

I was wondering what the best way to pick up my daughter is? She is only 16 months so I do pick her up alot but I am not sure I am doing it the best way. Getting her in and out of her buggy as well seems to be difficult as I come out of posture and end up bending at the waist.

Help/advice appreciated.

A

Someone on here told me about picking them up like you were playing football. Spread your legs apart and bend at the waist like you are stretching your hamstrings and then bend your knees a little and pick the baby up.

Hi Mommynow

It was probably more like bend from the hip joints with knees bent, and swing baby up close to you while straightening mainly from the knees first, to save your back and *keep your pelvic organs out front of your pubis*. That last bit is the principle to go by. You can use it for lifting bricks, pot plants or anything, as well as babies. Just keep your butt well out the back (No mini-skirts under any circumstances!) Save the mini-skirts for when there is no load to lift (never??)

Cheers

Louise

yeah, I try to bend at the waist while doing a little squat type thing. good thing I don't wear miniskirts! louise is right about that, lol.

as far as lifting your dd out of the buggy, at 16 mo you could probably start to teach her to stand up in it after she's been unbuckled. 'course then you run into the problem of her thinking that's an ok thing to do. so I guess that depends on your level of comfort. my kids are all climbers and were climbing out of strollers by 18 mo anyway.

My youngest is now almost 18 months and since she was 13/14 months I encouraged her to climb, walk as much as possible. She climbs the chair to get onto my lap, and climbs from me to get into her high chair and she has been doing this for a good two/three months. I don't know how high your buggy is off the ground, but I literally get on my knees in front of the buggy and let her climb onto my lap and give her a leg up or a little push into her buggy. I kneel in front of the swing at the playground and let her climb onto my lap and then help her in by giving her a bit of a leg up again. I even have a child's stool in the car in front of her car seat which she climbs onto and I then help her into the seat from there. She is very agile as a result and very strong!

I am lucky in that she has walked from 11 months and I am on her level a lot, ie sitting, crawling around on the floor playing and give her lot of kisses and cuddles this way so we don't miss out. My clothes surprisingly don't get wrecked, but of course unbeknownst to me I usually end up leaving the house with food of some sort on them anyway!

Frankie x

Thanks everyone for your comments. My daughter has been walking since she was 11 months also and I am trying to encourge her to do more for herself since I discovered my prolapse. I am making her climb up and down the stairs now while I walk behind or in front of her making sure she doesn't fall and she is a really good climber - she does actually like being independant. But as I am sure you all know 16 month olds can be awkward at times and when they don't feel like it they put up a fight and you end up lifting them and I just wanted to make sure I was doing things as safely as I can.

I will obviously have to keep lifting her in and out of her cot and the bath as she really cannot do these things on her own.

Thanks again.

A

*keep your pelvic organs out front of your pubis* for those lifting in and out of the cot and bath moments. Bum out and I also did a kegel for good luck. By the way I got rid of the cot completely some months ago as she was always in our bed and now sleeps on a mattress on the floor next to our bed. We are hoping to make the transition soon to her sleeping with her older sister upstairs- we are thinking bunkbeds.

Frankie x

Hi Anita

At 16 months she might be able to have a shower with you or your husband, or else do her in the laundry trough. Our kids loved showering with either of us, with the other person on hand to dry the dripping toddler, or once scrubbed, they can just play around at your feet under the shower until you are ready to get out. Hmm, maybe your 16 month old doesn't need as much scrubbing as mine did?

Cheers

Louise

Hi A,

It sounds like you've already got good advice on how to lift. I just thought I'd add that maybe consider changing now to a light stroller that's easy for a toddler to climb in and out of. My daughter wasn't always cooperative at first but I praised her so much when she did it herself that she now climbs in and out without being asked and hates for me to 'help.' At first, rather than lifting completely you can just help 'slide' your child out if that makes sense, hold her hand or hold her under the arms as she gets out herself. For the cot and bath I used a bucket to help her climb out of the bath (but still had to help her in until she was tall enough). With the cot I put a chair at the edge and she learned to climb onto the chair and then over and into the cot. Giving her a boost up or push on the bottom or hand hold to help was all better than lifting her completely myself. Hope that helps!