Carrying a child

Hi Oze,

Great question! I have been carrying around my 3.5-year-old a lot lately. It is hard work! But the Gokhale Method makes it so much easier. I see you’ve put this post in hip-hinging, which is right on track. When bending down to pick up a baby or toddler, hip-hinging is a great way to protect your back. However, you want to be absolutely sure that you have good form, and have built up lots of strength in your Inner Coset and back muscles, before you do any heavy lifting in a hip-hinge position. If you haven’t already taken the Gokhale Method Foundations Course, or feel a bit unsure of whether or not you’re maintaining your J-spine when you’re hip-hinging, reach out to one of our teachers for a refresher.

In terms of carrying a toddler, carrying on the back is a really comfortable way to do it. Here is a link to a video of Esther showing how: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q8Ng02ajwrc

If you are carrying the toddler on your hip, you want to hold them as close to your spine as possible so that their apparent weight is less. See this blog post on carrying handbags for inspiration: https://gokhalemethod.com/blog/60365

And of course whenever carrying anything heavy, keep your Inner Corset muscles engaged to protect your discs.

You might also like to be mindful of your toddler’s posture while you are carrying them. Make sure you aren’t accidentally tucking their pelvis with your hand/arm/carrier material. 

I hope this is helpful!

Tegan Kahn

Gokhale Method teacher, Canberra, Australia