I had an emergency c-section 12 days ago, and just wondering how long its recommended to wait until wearing my bub in a sling? I can't lift anything heavy than my baby for 12 weeks, and can't walk for more than about 10 minutes at the moment but my bub just loves being rocked to sleep, so I'd just be using one around the house for now until my wound has healed up. The slings I have are simple fabric (kangas from Africa) - there are pics here: kanga - a set on Flickr
although I will be wearing my newborn on my front with him kind of curled up against my chest, but the shoulder tie will be the same as in the pics.
Does anyone know how long I should wait before using it? I'd like to get bub into one as soon as possible but don't want to injure myself..
I think that you should be ok (someone please correct me if that is wrong though). If you're not meant to lift anything heavier than your baby, then having your baby in a sling should be fine.
I wore my little guy in a peanut type sling in the hospital after my last c/section and for far longer than 10 minutes at a time.
As long as it doesn't pull on your wound or cause you pain it should be all good, because technically wearing your baby gives you much better posture than nursing it.
You might find this thread helpful! I was wearing DD the day of surgery, as long as you take it easy you'll be fine. Is there any specific reason they've said not to lift anything heavier than your baby for twelve weeks? Just that it's normally fine to lift carefully much earlier than this - lots of women have toddlers etc that it's just not possible not to lift at all. I had to lift my 15kg toddler within a week of the surgery (very carefully mind you), and was back carrying him again by about 6 weeks. She's about 14 weeks now, and I'm pretty much lifting anything that I lifted prior to surgery, so unless you've had something beyond the norm, I would take the 'standard' advice with a grain of very careful salt.
You might also want to look at thebabywearer under the 'traditional babywearing' section for specific advice on wearing kangas (which are pretty much worn the same way as a rebozo) - but anything that is tied away from the wound site will be fine.
cool thanks guys, I just tried bub in one of my kangas, and it didn't pull on my wound at all.
suse, as far as I know there was no specific reason for not lifting anything heavier than my baby, it was just what the physio told me before I was discharged. I feel as though I could do more than I have been, but I've been a bit scared to as I want to heal as quickly as possible. That makes sense about lifting toddlers, and I suppose it just depends on the person really.. I mean the hospital is probably just covering itself with that general advice. I've looked at that site, its great! I actually posted my kanga pics on there ages ago, as I was lucky enough to be taught how to tie a baby in a kanga by some of the mamas I worked with while I was living in East Africa. I only got shown the back carry way though, so I just found a newborn simple front carry instruction and tried it out. It's a very similar tie, the baby just sits in a different position. I just read on a rebozo site that its not recommended to wear newborns in slings for extended periods until at least 2 weeks, preferably a month old.. does that sound right?
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