9 Mama and Baby Yoga Poses to Try at Home

Finding time to exercise after having a baby can feel almost impossible, especially in those early weeks when your baby wants to be held constantly and a shower feels like an achievement. Mama and baby yoga gets around that problem neatly: instead of exercise being something that pulls you away from your baby, your baby becomes part of the workout.

You don’t need a studio, a class fee, or even a proper yoga mat to start. A carpeted floor, a towel, and ten or fifteen minutes while your baby is awake and reasonably content is plenty. It’s also a genuinely good way to look after your own mental load as a new mum, not just your body.

A Few Safety Basics Before You Start

Before you get stuck into any of these poses, it’s worth checking with your GP, midwife or health visitor about when it’s safe for you to start exercising again, particularly if you had a caesarean, a difficult delivery, tearing, or any pelvic floor concerns. Most women are advised to wait until after their six week postnatal check before doing anything more strenuous than gentle stretching, though light breathing and posture work like Easy Pose is usually fine much sooner. If you notice any bleeding, dragging or heaviness in your pelvis, leaking, or pain, stop and get it checked out rather than pushing through.

If you had abdominal separation during pregnancy (diastasis recti), ask your health visitor or a women’s health physio to check this before doing squats, bridges or backbends, since some core work can make it worse if it hasn’t healed properly.

For baby, a few of these poses work best once they have decent head and neck control, usually from around four to six months, and one or two are easier once they can sit unaided. I’ve noted this against each pose below. Always support your baby’s head and neck yourself if their control is still wobbly, keep a hand free to catch them, and do this on a soft, non-slip surface. Take off dangling jewellery and tie back long hair, since babies grab anything within reach.

Mama and Baby Yoga Poses

1. Easy Pose (Sukhasana) or Lap Hold

This is the gentlest place to start, and honestly the most useful one in the early weeks postpartum when you’re not up to much beyond sitting down and breathing properly. It’s also suitable from day one, no matter how you gave birth.

Sit cross-legged with a cushion under your seat if your hips feel tight, and settle your baby on your lap facing you. Let your hands rest on their body and simply breathe: slow inhale through the nose, longer exhale out. Try counting to four on the in-breath and six on the out-breath. Two or three minutes of this can genuinely lower your stress levels and it’s something you can do even holding a newborn who just needs to be near you.

2. Legs Up the Wall (Viparita Karani)

This is a favourite among midwives and physios for a good reason: it’s brilliant for tired legs and swollen ankles, which can linger for weeks after birth, and it takes pressure off your lower back.

Lie on your back with your bottom close to a wall and swing your legs up so they rest against it, knees soft rather than locked straight. If your baby is old enough to sit or is happy lying nearby, you can prop them against your shins or let them lie on your chest for a cuddle while you hold the position. Stay here for two to five minutes. If you’ve recently had a caesarean, keep this gentle and stop if you feel any pulling at your scar.

3. Tree Pose (Vrksasana)

Tree pose is a balance posture, and adding a baby to the mix makes it considerably harder, in a good way, because you have to engage your core and stabilise through your standing leg.

Stand tall and shift your weight onto one foot, then place the sole of your other foot against your inner calf or ankle (avoid the knee joint itself if balance is tricky, since pressing on the side of the knee can strain it). Hold your baby against your hip or chest, supporting their back and bottom. This one works best once your baby has reasonable head control, from around four months onward, since you’ll need both hands and can’t always guarantee a perfectly steady hold. Stand near a wall or sofa the first few times in case you wobble.

4. Cat and Cow

Cat-Cow is one of the best moves for a spine that’s been hunched over feeding, carrying a car seat, or bent over a changing table for months. Practised regularly it can genuinely help with the lower back ache so many new mums carry around.

Lay your baby down on a soft mat or blanket where they can see your face, and set up on all fours over them (not directly above their body, but close enough for eye contact). Move like this:

• Inhale as you drop your belly towards the mat, lift your chest and gaze gently upward: that’s Cow.
• Exhale as you round your spine towards the ceiling, drawing your belly button in and letting your head drop: that’s Cat.
• Keep the movement slow and linked to your breath rather than rushed.

Ten slow rounds is plenty to start. Talk or sing to your baby as you move; they tend to love the changing view of your face.

5. Downward Facing Dog

Downward Dog stretches out your hamstrings, calves and shoulders, and gently decompresses the spine, which is welcome relief if you’ve been hunched over a Moses basket. Lay your baby underneath you on their back where they can look up and reach for your face or hair (watch for hair-grabbing here). From all fours, tuck your toes and lift your hips up and back, pressing your hands into the floor and letting your heels reach towards the ground without forcing them flat. Keep a soft bend in your knees if your hamstrings are tight, which is common in the postpartum period. Hold for a few breaths, then lower back down for a kiss or a wriggle break.

6. Goddess Squats

This one works your legs, glutes and core, and doubles up nicely as baby-wearing time if you use a sling or carrier, though it works just as well simply holding your baby in your arms.

Stand with your feet wide and toes turned out slightly, then bend your knees and lower into a squat with your back straight and chest lifted, holding your baby close against your chest. Push through your heels to come back up. Keep your knees tracking over your ankles rather than caving inward. If you’ve had any pelvic floor issues or a significant diastasis recti, check with a physio before adding much depth or repetition here, and don’t hold your breath through the movement; breathe out as you rise.

7. Bridge Pose with Baby

Bridge strengthens your glutes, hamstrings and lower back, all areas that take a beating during pregnancy and the early months of lifting a baby in and out of cots and car seats.

Lie on your back with knees bent and feet flat, hip-width apart. Press into your feet and lift your hips until your body forms a gentle arch, then, once you’re steady in the position, have your baby sit on your lower belly or pelvis (not your ribs) for extra resistance. This works best once your baby can sit up fairly steadily on their own, usually from around six months, and always keep both hands on them rather than letting go completely. If you have any diastasis recti or pelvic floor weakness that hasn’t been checked, skip the added weight for now and do the pose without baby until you’ve had it assessed.

8. Warrior II with Baby

Warrior II builds strength through the legs and opens the hips, and it’s a nice one to do with your baby propped on your hip since it forces you to keep your core engaged for balance.

Step your feet wide apart, turning your front foot to point forward and your back foot roughly parallel to the back of the mat. Bend your front knee so it stacks over your ankle (you should be able to glance down and see your big toe just past the inside of your knee), while your back leg stays straight and strong. Hold your baby on your hip, arms outstretched if you like, or keep one arm supporting them and the other reaching out. Hold for a few breaths each side.

9. Naptime (Shavasana)

Every yoga session, mama and baby or otherwise, should end here. It’s the pose where all the benefit of the rest actually settles into your nervous system.

Lie flat on your back, arms loose by your sides, palms up, and let your whole body go heavy. If your baby is calm, let them lie on your chest or beside you and simply breathe together for a few minutes. It’s a genuinely good way to reset a stressful morning, and if you both drift off for a few minutes, even better.

A Final Word

None of this needs to be perfect or Instagram-worthy. Some days your baby will be a willing yoga partner and other days they’ll cry the second you lie down, and that’s completely normal. Keep sessions short, go at your own pace, and check with your doctor, midwife or health visitor before starting if you have any doubts about your recovery.

Do you have any other mama and baby yoga poses that work well for you? Share them with us in the comments.