Watch Your Hands & Wrists
June 6, 2006 by kate baggott
Filed under Baby Care
Carrying a baby, burping, changing, nursing, not to mention hoisting infant car seats and strollers, all take a toll on a new mother’s wrists, arms and hands. The last thing you need when caring for a new baby, is the pain from a Repetitive Strain Disorder (RSI).
According to a Health Scout article, New Moms Should Baby Their Hands. In a press conference with Stacey Doyon, president-elect of the American Society of Hand Therapists, the following tips were offered to new mothers to protect their hands:
- Burp the baby in the standard over the shoulder position
- Use a support pillow when you’re nursing
- Keep the crib matress set as high as the baby’s development will allow.
- When rocking or cradling the baby in your arms, keep your wrists straight and change arms and positions as soon as you feel uncomfortable
- When carrying a car seat, keep your wrists and forearms straight with your palm facing down to prevent strain
and how! i remember when I first had Nico, i got something like tendonitis or carpel tunnel syndrome in my hands from the unaccustomed action of holding him to nurse. I was in agony for a while. Definitely one of those things no one told me about!
I wonder why there isn’t more written bout hand strain and parenthood. I seem to transfer everything to my back, which doen’t help either.