exercises Archives - Moving Like A Mother

What causes neck pain:

Having a baby and a toddler is quite the upper body workout. It is something I didn’t fully understand until I experienced it first hand. If you’re not endlessly holding your 15lb baby you’re putting your 30lb toddler in their booster seat. And in between wrangling your toddler into their car seat you’re picking your baby up out of the crib. I mean, I don’t think my shoulders have ever been so strong. No joke. And then in your “down” time you’re sitting slumped over trying to get your baby to latch, giving them a bottle, pumping, or just scrunched up on the couch too exhausted to move. All of this is setting your body up for neck pain.

My Experience with Neck Pain

Around the time my second baby was 3 months old I was doing some desk work when I began to straighten up and, BOOM, instant crippling pain right at the base of my neck. It was that sharp and intense pain when your eyes widen and you completely freeze. Crap. Instantly I knew I had strained something.

Luckily, I work with many wonderfully skilled physical therapists (winky face emoji) who performed some manual techniques and were able to help sooth my immediate pain. But then it was up to me to correct muscle and tissue imbalances in my upper back/ lower neck region. To this day I can still feel small twinges giving me some warning signs that my neck will flare up if I don’t work to keep those muscles strong and if I am not careful with how I’m moving and caring for my kids.

So now I bet you’re wondering what I did to treat my neck pain. I rested, watched how I was lifting and holding my children, performed self massage, and did these exercises below. If you suffer from neck or upper back pain you can try these easy at home stretches.

Exercises to treat neck or upper back pain:

1. Prayer stretch– lay on your hands and knees with your arms outstretched forward. Tuck your chin and rest your head on the support surface. Hold for 30-60 seconds.

2. Levator scapula stretch– Depress your right shoulder. Grab the back right aspect of your head and gentle pull down towards your left foot. Angle of head should be towards your left armpit. (Sometimes i call this the “smell your armpit stretch”). Hold for 30 seconds. Repeat 2x.

3. Chin tuck– Think about lengthening the back of your neck while tucking your chin in and down as though trying to give yourself a double chin. (Disclaimer: NO ONE looks attractive doing this exercise….but it’s good for ya) Repeat slowly 10 x.

4. Upper trapezius stretch– Depress your right shoulder and grab the right side of your head. Gentle pull towards your left shoulder. Hold for 30 seconds or more. Repeat 2x on each side.

5. Scapular squeezes- Keeping your shoulders down, pinch your shoulder blades together as if you were trying to get them to meet in the middle of your back. Repeat 10 times.

The best offense is a good defense so I highly recommend the tips below to avoid caregiver neck pain.

Tips to Avoid neck/upper back pain:

Avoid reaching or lifting far outside of your base of support
Switch the hip or side you are carrying your toddler or baby and don’t hold your child for too long (if possible).
Try to hold your baby or toddler with both arms and as close to body center as possible
Avoid a forward rounded posture with nursing or pumping
Avoid sleeping propped up in a chair or couch

You learn even more lifting and carrying body mechanics in my basic baby body mechanics post.

Kids can be a real pain in the neck. Aren’t I punny? But if you try to maintain good mechanics and keep the postural muscles of your neck and back strong and limber you can avoid these common aches and pains.

And on a positive note. All that baby lifting, holding, and carrying will really prepare you if you’re ever in a beer stein holding competition. I’ve won and I’ve got the t-shirt to prove it.

-Monica