After my second baby was born, I developed an immediate vitriol for her infant carseat. Like, I really hated the darn thing.
It was the same one we had used for my son, one of those “baby buckets” that snap right in to the base in the car.
That part, genius.
But the other part—lugging it around—felt like absolute torture to me. Holding it in front of me, I ended up hunched over and my lower back hated me. Dangling in the crook of my elbow seemed precarious and made me feel off balance. Our carseat weighs just over 10 pounds and adding in a 12 pound baby, I was carrying a lot of weight in a VERY awkward position.
Maybe, as a mom of two, I was more tired. Maybe, being slightly older, I was weaker. Whatever it was, I HATED that darn carseat.
One day, I complained about it to my toddler’s preschool teacher. She mentioned she’d heard about an alternate way to carry a carseat. She sent me a couple videos. I watched, I tried it, and—holy moly—it was a game changer.
Here’s the video (from Dr. Emily Puente, a doula and chiropractor from Texas) that helped me the most:
The downside of carrying the seat this way is that you do take up more room, which meant at the beginning I bumped into a lot of doorways (and a lot of people. Sorry, people!). As I got used to it, though, I began to get more graceful. Now, I’m a pro.
I hope this method might help some of you. As for most things that require heavy lifting and new movements, it’s always a good idea to check in with a medical professional to make sure this method is appropriate for your body! This post is definitely not intended as any kind of medical advice.
So, have you tried this method? Do you have any other tips for parents lugging around that awfully awkward carseat? Please share in the comments below.
