If holding your car seat has been a pain in the neck (literally), you may want to watch this viral video.
Emily Puente, D.C., CACCP, a chiropractor who works with Bridge Family Chiropractic in Mansfield, Texas, shared a video on Facebook in which she demonstrates a technique for carrying car seats that could change your world.
"It’s not going to hurt your shoulder, it’s not going to hurt your hip, and you’re not going to have to use your knee to swing like I had to do with my two [kids]," she says in the video. "Someone taught me this before, and it’s been the greatest thing."
AdvertisementADVERTISEMENT
Rather than hooking the car seat on her elbow or cradling it in both arms, she simply slides her hand through the handle towards its bottom, and twists her wrists to lift it from the bottom.
"As soon as we switch to this, it’s a completely different change in how I’m using my body, to be able to use and distribute this weight from this carrier to be able to carry it around," Dr. Puentes says in the video.
Dr. Puentes tells Refinery29 that she discovered the technique through a fellow mom, and discovered that it "reduces the stress on your body and helps to stabilize the weight."
In the video's description, however, she cautions that this technique might not work for all car seats, and might not work for everyone who tries it.
"This was merely an attempt to pass along a creative idea that was shared and works incredibly well for the majority of those who attempt it," she wrote. "I suggest being cleared by your medical professional prior to trying any new regimen if you would like to ensure you are fit to perform actions like the one shown here."
Welcome to Mothership: Parenting stories you actually want to read, whether you're thinking about or passing on kids, from egg-freezing to taking home baby and beyond. Because motherhood is a big if — not when — and it's time we talked about it that way.
Read these stories next: