Can lifting/lowering a toddler cause diastas recti?

[Sawa75]

Im 20 weeks and had my 13kg son in my arms and he tried to get down using all his weight to dive forward so I lowered him gently. Felt it in my upper abs. Could this action cause separation or make it worse? It's happened before and hard to avoid if he decides to shift all his weight to try get down

I'm not sure of the answer but I'm 29 weeks and can feel about 2 finger separation. I have a two year old and definitely feeling it sometimes in my abs. I had it last time though and it healed well so not worrying and don't know how I can avoid lifting my daughter!

I heard that pushing/lifting heavy can lead to it.

it can definitely make it worse, build up you core slowly by doing trans ab activation exercises & building from there! it is reversible ☺️

There’s 23 months between my kids and my tummy muscles separated when I was heavily pregnant and lifting a toddler. I could feel them unzipping 😢

All women's tummy muscles separate during pregnancy, they have to, to accommodate the growing womb. To protect your core as much as possible, make sure you tighten your core when you do any heavy lifting like lifting your son and practice other pregnancy-safe abdominal muscle exercises. Generally, the separation does heal well within a few months or so of birth, but anything up to a permanent 2-finger gap is considered within the realms of 'normal' for someone who has had a baby. Also, the separation does tend to be bigger the more kids you have, as a pregnancy itself is what has the biggest effect.