Does anyone else's back hurt from side lying with baby?

[mom2happy]

I have short tight hamstrings that cause me a lot of back pain. I've learned over the years that yoga maintains it to the point of almost pain free.

DD is up every hour all night and wont be settled with out nursing. I am so darn tired and this always kills my back.

It happened with my other two also.

Even with a regular yoga practice, I am so screwed up from being in that position all night.

I just can't sit straight up that many times and get situated in the right posture.

Is this just because of my back problems or is it something that happens to everyone?

[Knitting Mama]

I messed around with pillow configurations until I found what worked for me to keep me comfortable sleeping on my side. What I ended up with was a body pillow behind my back supporting my back, a small pillow between my knees, and for my regular pillow, a very flat pillow I can roll under my neck to the exact right thickness (those ones that are made for neck support were always awful for me). It also helps in the back pain category (though not in regular life!) that my daughter never sleeps more than 4-6 hours at a time, so I don't spend a very long time in that position without getting up.

[poorlittlefish]

Same boat.  No advice just commiseration.

[Mawood]

Me too. The night nursing is giving me lots of back pain. A pillow in the back helps but a lot of times I am too lazy for the set up or just fall asleep before that. I was doing a lot more Yoga before I had Olivia and I can tell that I am having more back pain because of the lack of exercise and stretching as well. I think it is the mix of carrying her (she hit the 20 lb mark around 8 months) and the nursing positions that is giving back and neck pains.

[Asiago]

For a while I woke up every morning feeling like a 90 year old! Then somehow one night it all just clicked and I finally figured out how to position myself comfortably. It's been great ever since and my baby is now 14 months. Continue to experiment is my only advice.

Edited by Asiago - 1/18/11 at 4:00pm

[lrgs]

Yes and we don't even co-sleep..........but I do sometimes bring her into bed to nurse, cuddle and doze in the morning but she won't sleep without my nipple in her mouth. After an hour or so my lower back is cramped up and sore. I've had a bad back for several years though. Maybe I should be checking out yoga. I've done some baby and mom yoga but never anything just for myself.

[FloridaBorn]

My low back has been aching terribly for the past month to six weeks.  I've never had this kind of chronic back pain before and it sucks.  I hurt as soon as I get out of bed in the morning.

Is anyone trying chiropractic care and finding it helpful?

[aphel]

No back pain here, but I have awful hip pain and some tail bone issues left over from birth. Lying on my side is so tough that DH has been sleeping in another room so babe and I can have the bed to ourselves and I can splay my legs in such a way that doesn't cause as much pain.

I see a chiro who also does in office massages. I think it's the massage that helps the most, truthfully. I was seeing a PT too, who specialized in postpartum care, but my PPO arbitrarily decided that after 8 sessions, I should be cured, and won't cover it anymore. Gah . . . .

[Zangua]

I actually did some nerve damage to my right side when DD was in her nurse all night phase. It has slowly gotten better.

Pillows and switching sides as often as possible is my only piece of advice.

[Terrilein]

Also wanted to commisserate. We do a lot of side switching. If my hips start bothering me, I stuff the end of my down blanket between my knees. If my back is just killing me I sleep on my back with ds latched on and sleeping in the crook of my arm. I've never done yoga, but I do pilates and that has helped immensely even if I've totally slacked off the last week.

[bendmom]

Commiserating. I am feeling OLD co-sleeping with my 3rd. My hips hurt with the first two, but this time my neck, shoulder, and back are so cramped up every morning, sometimes I want to cry it's all so tight. Yoga isn't really making it any better either, and I teach! I def. have started teaching off the mat a ton, almost no time on the mat. I'm to tight to demonstrate anything, and I'm afraid I will injure myself in front of my students as well. I think I need weekly massages, just to keep it all relaxed. I think some fascia work might be in order as well.

[Laurski]

Joining the chorus to say yes, yes, yes!  It's more my hips and, weirdly enough, my wrists, that are hurting me the most, although my back and neck area are also feeling pretty crappy.  And I switch sides about every 2 hours, since DD is still pretty much on a nurse every 2 hours schedule. 

I'd have to agree with a PP that I definitely feel 90 most mornings!

[ellairiesmom]

Joining in on the pain...this is only my 2nd baby, but back to back nursing/pregnancy, combined with lacking exercise & 40 lbs I shouldn't be carrying is taking it's toll.  I think I want to bring my big pregnancy U shaped pillow thing back into the bed for behind me cuz the reg body pillow just isn't doing it for me.  I can only sleep on my left side because of some unknown issue that started 6 mos ago on my right side.  Anytime I try & lay on the right side, I get spasms, pain etc-kind of around the lower point of the ribs & just under them.  So my left hip is dying from the weight & pressure & I have this horrible just under the shoulders pain on both sides.  

I think I may have did like a hyperextend type thing in my right upper back from my arm pulling over my body all night...????  Hard to explain but everything is a big mess!!!!

What we endure...

[cocoanib]

I'm in pain too. Some nights I get the pillows just right, but other times I wake to back pain and neck stiffness.

I'll probably go for a massage and adjustment sometime soon. 

[McGucks]

Good gracious, yes.  My upper back hurts every day.  My baby is 27 pounds and I have a 40 year old back.  I assume some of the pain is from side-lying (our main position for nursing, day or night) and from hauling his sweet bottom around.  One trick I have figured for night/side lying nursing is to tuck one knee behind the other (hard to describe--if I am on my right side, I tuck my right knee behind the left).  It kind of torques my torso towards the bed when I can't find a pillow to stuff under my rear.  I have gone to a chiropractor, but it didn't help (though it felt dandy).  My guess is a massage therapist would do a world of good...but when am I gonna do that & who is gonna pay for it?  I get my DH & DS1 to crack my back and sometimes pay DS1 for a backrub or let him trade it for another chore.  It helps.  Good luck!

[Queermama]

yes yes.. and my DS doesn't like many other positions, so we nurse side lying all day too.  I also suffered from Diastisis Recti (seperation of abdominal muscles) and went to a workshop teaching the "Tupler Technique".  they are exercises to strengthen the transverse abdominal muscles and it is helping!!!  check out: http://www.maternalfitness.com/

I'm still doing the workshop, so I'm not completely pain free... but it is helping. 

good luck!

[Angelorum]

I did the side lying with a pillow behind my  back for the first few months but I was still getting sore hips and shoulders.  It was at about 4 or 5 months when I figured out how to nurse while laying flat on my back.  At 15 months it is still one of the most comfortable ways for me to sleep and nurse.  I don't know if it would have worked when he was smaller.  I lay down on the bed with a pillow under my head and another full size bed pillow right next to one of my sides under my arm.  The side pillow comes up to my armpit, but does not go under my shoulder.   The baby lays on his tummy on top of me, but leaning against my arm that's on the pillow.  His far arm and leg sort of drape down my side, in between my side and arm. If his face isn't at the right angle to latch on, I can adjust it by sticking my elbow farther out so my arm is under the back of his head more and his face comes to the breast.  Does that even make sense?  I was so much happier once I figured it out.  I don't have to worry about where he is in the bed, and I get to sleep on my back with both arms below my head.

[Adaline'sMama]

Not my back, but my hips and butt. I wake up so sore every morning....