question about post partum recovery with a toddler

nhatf820

I remember my midwife telling me during my 6 weeks pp not to lift anything heavier than the baby. Does this still apply when you have a toddler running around? I won't have someone here 24/7 for 6 weeks. Any suggestions?

J&JSuiter070205

Any you having a C-Section? 

I had a vaginal birth and was lifting my (then 14 month old) within days of giving birth with no problems.

nhatf820

J&JSuiter070205:

Any you having a C-Section? 

I had a vaginal birth and was lifting my (then 14 month old) within days of giving birth with no problems.

Hopefully no c section! Vaginal with DS but difficult and eventful. Hopefully all goes will this time around. That's good to know. I know there have to be very few women out there that have the extra hands. DS will be 21 months. I should be fine.

J&JSuiter070205

nhatf820:

J&JSuiter070205:

Any you having a C-Section? 

I had a vaginal birth and was lifting my (then 14 month old) within days of giving birth with no problems.

Hopefully no c section! Vaginal with DS but difficult and eventful. Hopefully all goes will this time around. That's good to know. I know there have to be very few women out there that have the extra hands. DS will be 21 months. I should be fine.

Honestly, it was not an issue at all with me after having a vagincal birth. I'll let you know in Dec/Jan after I have baby #3 and am trying to lift my 42lb 4 and 5 year old

howleyshell

I had a section and was told 2 weeks no lifting so your 6 weeks seems way extreme to me.

As for lifting.... you do what you've got to do.  Not everyone can have family around 24/7 or pay to hire a nanny.  I was lifting my toddler at about 1 week PP after a 2nd section.  

My recommendation is to go slow and listen to your body.  Lift with your knees.  Put a step stool by the toddler's crib to minimize your bending, put one foot in and another out of the tub when lifting, etc.  You're 7 weeks right now.  Trust me when I tell you that by the time you're huge pregnant you'll have figured out ways to minimize or ease lifting even before the birth.  Toddler + belly = up to 50 extra lbs!

The way I looked at it was that women have been having babies close together since the dawn of man kind.  They HAD to lift, hunt, gather, etc or they and their children died.  Slaves gave birth and were back picking in the fields the same day.  It can be done if you need to - just go slow and be smart about it.

 

nhatf820

howleyshell:

I had a section and was told 2 weeks no lifting so your 6 weeks seems way extreme to me.

As for lifting.... you do what you've got to do.  Not everyone can have family around 24/7 or pay to hire a nanny.  I was lifting my toddler at about 1 week PP after a 2nd section.  

My recommendation is to go slow and listen to your body.  Lift with your knees.  Put a step stool by the toddler's crib to minimize your bending, put one foot in and another out of the tub when lifting, etc.  You're 7 weeks right now.  Trust me when I tell you that by the time you're huge pregnant you'll have figured out ways to minimize or ease lifting even before the birth.  Toddler + belly = up to 50 extra lbs!

The way I looked at it was that women have been having babies close together since the dawn of man kind.  They HAD to lift, hunt, gather, etc or they and their children died.  Slaves gave birth and were back picking in the fields the same day.  It can be done if you need to - just go slow and be smart about it.

 

Thanks! I was actually thinking that after I posted. It is still nice to hear other experiences and advice. I'm sure I will still have more help than a lot of other women get (and definitely more than they've gotten in the past).

kcisthebombdotcom

As long as you have someone around the first few weeks you're fine. Even if you dont you find ways around it as well. For example, I fed DS many meals out of the high chair, let him nap on the couch because it was easy to get him onto, etc.

I didnt lift my toddler at all until 3 weeks PP, and I limited it the first week DH went back to work. I was fine.

VABride2008

I don't really see any way around not picking up LO #1.  She'll be 17 months and I doubt she'll be able to climb in the car herself, get in her high chair on her own, get in her crib, etc.  I certainly will try to not overdo it but such is life. 

HelloWaldorf

howleyshell:

I had a section and was told 2 weeks no lifting so your 6 weeks seems way extreme to me.

As for lifting.... you do what you've got to do.  Not everyone can have family around 24/7 or pay to hire a nanny.  I was lifting my toddler at about 1 week PP after a 2nd section.  

My recommendation is to go slow and listen to your body.  Lift with your knees.  Put a step stool by the toddler's crib to minimize your bending, put one foot in and another out of the tub when lifting, etc.  You're 7 weeks right now.  Trust me when I tell you that by the time you're huge pregnant you'll have figured out ways to minimize or ease lifting even before the birth.  Toddler + belly = up to 50 extra lbs!

The way I looked at it was that women have been having babies close together since the dawn of man kind.  They HAD to lift, hunt, gather, etc or they and their children died.  Slaves gave birth and were back picking in the fields the same day.  It can be done if you need to - just go slow and be smart about it.

 

 

This! Also, I recovered faster from my c-section, than I did my vaginal delivery. 

kagl04

I had LO2 on a Wednesday night. I had the weekend to "recover" while we stayed with DS at the NICU. By Sunday night I was putting DD to bed and lifting her as normal. Never had any issues and was back to my normal activities by 1 week (including driving, laundry...). Not ideal, but I had no choice. I'm no worse for the wear, though. Luckily I bounced back pretty quickly this time around...

etude de la vie

I was told just to limit picking up things you don't have to. Obviously I had to lift my toddler in/out of the car and high chair but I wouldn't bring up a laundry basket of laundry. 

It did take longer to recover with a toddler and I bleed for almost the entire 6 weeks (with DD I only bleed for 3 weeks).  

CaitlinJ22

recover? whats that? haha, well I had some help for 1-2 weeks after delivery but still lifted my toddler, he needed to know I still was able to take care of him. Sometimes I bled more if I lifted him a lot, so I listened to my body and slowed down. I had two vaginals, no cuts/tears the second time so that helped a lot..

TexasPaige

I had two c-sections and was given the six-week restriction. I stuck to it as much as possible. My advice is to start training your son early that you can't carry him everywhere. For instance, I quit carrying my 32-lb son up and down stairs when I was maybe seven months pregnant. I would just hold his hand. It took forever and a day to get anywhere, but it was worth it for him to be able to do it himself.

My kids are almost exactly two years apart.

12bailey18

They told me to do that for the first few days- I had a vaginal. However, I had to pick up my DS, didn't have a choice.I just tried to be careful and only did it when I had to.

MamatoJackson

Just listen to your body.  I had a c-section and was occasionally lifting my 30-lb.er at 1 week PP and regularly lifting him at 2 weeks PP.  I used my knees and legs and carefully listened to my body.

losmitty

I am going to assume since you said "midwife" you plan to deliver vaginally.

I was worried about this, not b/c any one told be too, but just cuz with #1 i tore and couldn't even walk much/correctly for a couple of weeks. Delivery was much easier on the body with #2. I wouldn't walked myself out if policy didn't require the wheel chair. I didn't carry #1 much, but I could certainly lift her and did. My midwife never said anything like that. Just listen to your body. You will know if you are pushing yourself to much.