When did you actually start lifting your toddlers etc after an elcs?

[soppypreggyloon]

Dd is 8 days old and I'm making most of not being allowed to lift ds while I still have dh at home.

However dh won't be here for the magic 6 weeks they say it takes to recover so when did you start lifting?
How did you know/ feel you were ready?

TIA :)

Hiya, my dd1 was 2 when dd2 was born by elcs and i have to say i picked her up a few days after the birth. i spoke to my midwife about it and she said it was ok but just to be careful. i always tried to hold her close to me rather than out at arms length and i mostly came off my painkillers so i could feel what i was doing. i did it because dd1 was really struggling with new arrival and i was worried she would be feeling rejected. it didnt hurt me at all (well coming off painkillers did but not the picking up!) but i had recovered really quickly from cs.

My hefty 2 year old learned to do the stairs by his own big self but I was lifting him again after about 3 weeks. I made sure I was lifting his weight with my arms rather than my abs, and carried him high up.

DS was 15 months and I was definitely lifting him by 8 days after as had to take him to nursery then and DH was back at work.

I lifted DS1 onto my hospital bed on day 2; not that I would recommend it!

Was lifting him again by day 7, but only occasionally e.g. into the car.