Wear those babies, but take care of yourself

Here I sit on the first day of WEAR: A Babywearing Conference in Chicago reflecting on my experience with babywearing.  I love babywearing!  I couldn't tell you how many times it has saved my sanity over the past two years.  I have been able to take care of so much while my child has been cranky, cluster feeding, or sleepy.  I have been able to run errands quickly,  take the dog for a walk, maneuver through crowds, and go hiking without dealing with a stroller.  I have been able to comfort her when there was no place to sit down or lay down.  
Babywearing has been so wonderful, but it has also been painful.  We have all done it.  Your child is cranky and maybe tired, and you just want to get them up in that carrier as quickly as possible.  They struggle with you. You struggle with them.  Soon, you have them up and secure but not quite properly positioned.  What do you do?  Do you risk fighting with them again to ensure a proper fit?  No. You deal with it and hope they fall asleep quickly.  The next thing you know, your shoulders are aching or your back is straining.  Still, you deal with it, because that baby is not coming down until she falls asleep or calms down or I finish what it is that I need to get done.
Maybe it wasn't that cranky child that just couldn't stand to not be held.  Maybe you just purchased a new wrap or learned a new carry.  You have spent hours working on perfecting your skills until you were sweaty and worn out.  For any who don't know, wrapping can be a serious workout, especially with an uncooperative child. 
What do you do now?  You are tired and in pain, sometimes so much pain you can't pick up your child.  Here are a few tricks to help bring your pain level down and relax those muscles:
1. Relax. Impossible, right? It doesn't have to be.  Relaxing doesn't have to be more than a couple minutes, just enough to take your stress level down and gather yourself. 
2. Heat Pack.  Everyone should own at least one microwaveable heat pack.  They come in so handy for everything from sore muscles to menstrual cramps to digestive upset.  They are very easy to find and relatively inexpensive, or you can make your own.
3. Take a hot bath with Epsom salts.  No time for that? Fill your sink with hot water and mix in a half cup of Epsom salt.  Submerge a small bath towel/large hand towel into the sink, ring it out, and place it on the sore area.
4. No Epsom salt? Rubbing isopropyl alcohol on the sore area.  Keep your child away from you until it dries.
5. Stretch.  Do some light passive stretches to get some blood flowing into the area.
6. Self Massage.  Massage the sore area or have someone massage it for you.  Not too much pressure.  That area in injured and needs to be treated with care. Deeper massage does NOT mean better or quicker results.
7. Professional Massage.  Schedule an appointment for a massage or make friends with a massage therapist and call them.  Chances are you could use the time for yourself anyhow.
8. Preventative Maintenance.  Do some daily stretches to help open up your shoulders and keep them limber.  You are holding or wearing that baby constantly.  Your body can use the stretching.  These stretches will help you with shoulder flexibility for carrying _https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4hGHJKyCtE    Thank you Faith for this video.
9. Yoga.  Do some yoga.  Even just some short sequences focusing on your shoulders and back will make a big difference with how your body feels when you are carrying improperly.
10. Get support.  If you feel like you are using your carrier improperly, or you feel like it's not the right carrier for you, find a support group to help you with that.  Babywearing International is a great organization.  There are chapters all over the world and probably one very close to you.  This is a great resource to learn about different carriers and how to use them properly.  The added bonus to this is a support group of like-minded parents who end up becoming friends. I don't know where I would be without my local chapter (not comfortably babywearing as much as I do).

Don't be discouraged if you ever feel pain from babywearing.  It's normal.  It happens to the professionals as well as the novice wearers.  Be proactive about preventing it from happening repeatedly.

Happy Babywearing!!

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