Lift up older child

[biandboom]

Hello all mamas:

I'm a new member. I'm 6 weeks pregnant. My older daughter will be 3 this coming Nov. She's about 35lbs. Everyday, when I pick her up from daycare center. She always wanted me to lift her up and carry her out to the car. Is it ok for me to lift her up when I'm 6 weeks pregnant? Please advices. Thanks for your reply.

S.

[Jilian]

I've heard that lifting is ok if it is lifting that you do on a regular basis (and as long as your pregnancy isn't high risk). I assume your body is used to lifting your daughter since you probably do it every day. I still lift my DS and he's over 3.5 and weighs about 35 lbs too. He's starting to get heavy for me so I don't lift him as often.

I'd check with a Midwife or OB just to be sure.

[biandboom]

Thanks for you quick reply. I'm only 6 weeks pregnant. My first Dr. appt will be the end of Oct. I'll make sure will ask Dr. when I see her.

My daughter cried for the last 2 days because I didn't lift her up. And she said mommy doesn't love my anymore. . Now you told me it's ok to do so, then no need for me to worry.

[joshsmom]

biandboom- i worry about that too. my son is 3.5 and over 40 lbs! i've been lifting him and just thinking back to my first pregnancy... i was working as an RN and doing an extreme amount of lifting/pulling all throughout my pregnancy with no problems! still... i worry! what has been tough for us too is that my son can no longer "wrestle" with mommy. he's always active and jumping on me and i really don't want a strong knee to the belly. it's been hard because we haven't told him yet so i hope he doesn't think mommy just isn't fun anymore!

[saratchka]

I think it's fine to continue whatever level of activity your body is used to. If you're accustomed to lifting your daughter, I can't imagine it would pose a problem. I wouldn't recommend taking up weightlifting for fun while pregnant, but as long as you don't feel that you're straining, I think you'll be fine. Granted my DD is smaller, but I don't intend to stop lifting her unless it becomes a strain to do so.

[mataji4]

so as far as lifting goes, just remember that you can pull a ligament, even early, which can be painful and it can take a while to "go back" and feel normal. and with each pregnancy the likelihood of things being loose and being pulled increases!

so if you are going to pick up a heavy child/laundry basket, etc, just remember to bend your knees and squat down and then lift using the strength of your arms and legs, NOT your back/abdomen!

we all continue to lift our toddlers through pregnancy, but just be careful.

[OTMomma]

Jenny, that is great advice about lifting the right way!

I just wanted to jump in and say that during my first pregnancy I lifted over 50 lbs regularly at work until I had some pre-term contractions and my dr put me on a restriction to not lift over 10, but he said that if I hadn't had other problems, I could have continued to lift throughout my pregnancy. (I was helping lift patients out of bed in a hospital).

[StacieM]

I think so. My oldest daughter was carried quite a bit when I was pg with #2 though she wasn't quite as heavy as 35 lbs.

Unless you're high risk, I think you're safe continuing to carry your daughter as you have been just like Jilian said.

Later on if you notice extra strain or it just doesn't feel right, maybe you can carry her less. When I was pg with #3 and #4, DH never let me carry the older "babies." He always took care of it whenever he could. So I would carry them sometimes when he wasn't around, but never had to much. Plus they were already old enough to walk so they enjoyed walking around instead of being carried anyway.