Carpal Kid Syndrome

Here's a bit of hard won advice for new parents I fervently wish someone had given me 16 1/2 months ago: don't carry your child on the same side of your body all the time, switch it up. I feel like a complete nimrod because they're always drilling these kinds of balance notions into us in yoga, and I own perfectly good implements for taking some of the little guy's weight off my arm, shoulder, and neck. But between the sleep deprivation, the natural feel of the left side grip, and the fact that freeing up my right hand is the most multitasking–friendly way to go, I habitually tote him around with the same arm. The result is what I can only self-diagnose as a pretty wretched repetitive stress injury. This doesn't start to manifest itself until your bundle of joy is more like a bushel — too big for other carriers and too heavy for your joints to bear all the time without complaint. By that time, month after month of damage has had its way with you.

So switch sides frequently, or just bear in mind there's a lot they can do down there on the floor, too.