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Did my first back carry with my woven, but my back started to hurt...

Sharon21Sharon21
in Attachment Parenting

So I did my first back carry today with my woven and less than five minutes after I was wearing DD my back started to hurt. I did a rucksack tied in front using NcBelle's directions https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc2F2oyDqns It looked really good and I had her nice and high, so I don't think I was doing it wrong. My back started to hurt pretty quickly but it didn't hurt too badly, I was still able to sweep and mop the kitchen with her there. So my question is: is it normal for your back to hurt when you first start doing back carries? Is it something that will get better as I get use to doing them?

Oh and I should add that I can carry her in front or on my hip for hours without hurting.  

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Re: Did my first back carry with my woven, but my back started to hurt...

  • pixieprincsspixieprincss member

    Pain, pain or like work-out pain where it hurts in a normal way because your muscles need to get stronger? If the latter, that is normal. Another thing is that new back wrappers tend to be leaning over for a long time to get baby on and in, and that can be hard of the back. As for comfort--I consider a ruck to be a precision carry, not a beginner one because you do have to have the right touch to get it supportive enough. That said, two tricks that I find helpful are to make sure that baby's arms are in. With a double-hammock, that is so supportive that baby can have arms out, but not so much with a ruck. Also, the key to comfort with a ruck is a snug top rail. Get baby's arms in and then tighten that top rail to the max. I pretty much ignore tightening the bottom rail, as that needs some slack to maintain a solid seat.

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  • SinafeySinafey member

    How was your posture?  When I first started doing back carries I found that I'd roll my hips forward in order to compensate for the new weight on my back, and that definitely caused some issues.  It took a really conscious effort for me to maintain good posture.

    Ditto PP about having the top rail nice and snug, if LO can lean out at all that's going to act like a lever to throw off your center of gravity.

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  • Sharon21Sharon21
    imagepixieprincss:

    Pain, pain or like work-out pain where it hurts in a normal way because your muscles need to get stronger? If the latter, that is normal. Another thing is that new back wrappers tend to be leaning over for a long time to get baby on and in, and that can be hard of the back. As for comfort--I consider a ruck to be a precision carry, not a beginner one because you do have to have the right touch to get it supportive enough. That said, two tricks that I find helpful are to make sure that baby's arms are in. With a double-hammock, that is so supportive that baby can have arms out, but not so much with a ruck. Also, the key to comfort with a ruck is a snug top rail. Get baby's arms in and then tighten that top rail to the max. I pretty much ignore tightening the bottom rail, as that needs some slack to maintain a solid seat.

    It was like work out pain, that is a good way to describe it. Also, I let DD have her arms out, maybe that was part of my problem. I thought about trying a double hammock first but thought the ruck looked easier. Maybe I will try the double hammock tomorrow and see how that works. Thanks for the tips! 

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  • Sharon21Sharon21
    imageSinafey:

    How was your posture?  When I first started doing back carries I found that I'd roll my hips forward in order to compensate for the new weight on my back, and that definitely caused some issues.  It took a really conscious effort for me to maintain good posture.

    Ditto PP about having the top rail nice and snug, if LO can lean out at all that's going to act like a lever to throw off your center of gravity.

    I was trying to be really aware of my posture but I did feel like I had to keep correcting it. It was almost instinctual to want to lean forward a bit. Does that feeling go away after you get use to it?  

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  • NickiechanNickiechan member

    I would really recommend a double hammock back carry for back pain. I find that if I do a ruck with certain woven wraps(I find Linen wraps better then all cotton for rucks) that it also hurts my back after awhile. I feel that double hammock helps distribute the weight a bit better.

    Here is a great video that helped me tighten up the chest pass.

    https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-B_r5EUkmwE8/T0UqUrJBsPI/AAAAAAAAS5M/qisxIDUZjyc/s576/2012-02-22%252012.46.35.jpg

     I also find that if I have LO's arms out that the weight is awkward in a ruck. I would maybe try a re-enforce ruck and see if the pain goes away if you like doing a ruck, but I work recommend doing a DH (double hammock).

    Nickie
    Proud Cloth Diapering, Babywearing Mommy to Desmond (5.30.2011) and Evangeline (2.26.2014)
    Loving wife, best friend and teammate to Babywearing Daddy, Kelly (7.27.2000)

    Volunteer Babywearing Educator at Babywearing International of South Central Pennsylvania 
     
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