Lifting while pregnant

[Chocol4te]

Chocol4te

Hi all, I have a quick question, we have a french bulldog who has back pains so usually in the morning I was lifting him and carrying him the stairs, so literally 10 stairs, 20 seconds, only once per day, he is like 13-14 kilos, I should be fine, correct?? It hurts my soul to see how's in pain when he's coming down the stairs ☹️

My weight limit at work is 10kg but I use my discretion. My own dog is 13kg and I lift her quite often. I think if you were doing it pre pregnancy and you still feel comfortable, lifting wise you should be fine.

However I do worry about carrying him on the stairs. Especially as you get bigger you will likely find your centre of gravity changes and may lose your balance more easily. So it's not so much the lifting itself, it's more the risk of falling, especially as I know from experience dogs can be quite awkward to carry down the stairs.

I think the general guideline regarding exercise of most kinds of exercise is if you were doing it pre-pregnancy you should be ok to carry on. But double check with your midwife if you aren’t sure :)

Thanks for replying!

He is used to carry him on the stairs and I'm not actually having him in front, I am carrying him on the side, like taking him underarm if makes sense so he's on the hip mostly, yeah I will pay attention as genuinely is 20 seconds only in the morning, in the afternoon husband is home and he's doing it

He probably weighs similar to my two year old. I'm still carrying her around 😁

Lots of pregnant mums are lifting toddlers of a similar weight, I wouldn’t worry about it as long as you don’t feel like you’re straining or about to lose your balance.
My almost 2YO DD weighs about 13kg and often has to be carried from the street up the stairs to our raised ground floor front door, and I also have to carry the pushchair and nappy bag.
Or you could get a stairlift for him, which would be hilarious!

I'm heavily pregnant and have a heavy toddler. Sometimes I sit on the stairs and go down on my arse step by step, he sits on my knee. It's like a ridiculous stair lift! Always an option if it gets too much

You'll be fine, that's not that heavy a weight. Just make sure you're lifting correctly especially as you get bigger - bend at the knees and keep your back straight.

And obviously, be careful on the stairs.

I love frenchies :)

I’m still carrying my 17kg toddler around.

When I was pregnant I was warned about lifting things. I had always thought it was because there could be a risk of miscarriage BUT I was then told it can cause damage to the spine etc as the body prepares for labour.

My mother was dairy farming and lifting bales and feed bags until she was 8.5mths, it’s not unusual to be aggressively active in pregnancy in many parts of the world.
Pregnancy isn’t a disability!! That said, be mindful of the centre of gravity shifting, as per pp, and listen to your body.

Hope you have a more long term solution for your poor pup

redwoodmazza the risk is ligament damage due all your ligaments softening in preparation for birth. It also puts a strain on your body as you already carrying extra weight due to pregnancy.

As Bambamber says just be careful towards the end of your pregnancy when your balance is totally off anyway. I fell over when I was 37weeks pregnant with DD, just grazed my shins and palms, but I know of a few ladies who twisted ankles. You sort of turn into the wobbly policeman from noddy

I have a smallholding so took the view that if it was about the same weight as a toddler I would lift it and I found as time has gone on I've naturally stuck within my limits- I feel fine at 38 weeks but I won't carry a single bucket of feed now because as others have said my balance has gone a bit- I split it into two buckets so I'm more balanced. It's amazing how your body tells you 'nah, that's enough of that for now' and self-preservation kicks in.