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Newborns
Chiropractors see babies for all sorts of reasons.
Birth can be very traumatic for both mum and child, especially when intervention is needed, and extra force is used such as C Section or Forceps. Although they are great tools and some babies and mums wouldn’t be here without them they can cause a lot of stress to a new baby.
We often see symptoms such as colic, reflux, trouble latching, constipation - These issues are the bodies way of telling us that something isn't working properly. Your chiropractor will make gentle adjustments to remove any nerve interference that could be contributing to these issues in your new baby.
Here are some signs that your baby is uncomfortable in their body.
Having a strong neck. Head control should come in around the 4 -week mark for newborns. So, if your baby has always had a strong neck it could be muscle tension that is allowing this to happen.
Always sleeping with the head turned one way or unable to turn head both way freely. Again, if your baby can’t freely turn its head or favors one side this could be a sign of joint dysfunction and muscle tension.
Stiffness when bending legs up at change time. We should easily be able to push a baby’s knees into its chest without meeting resistant, if you struggle with nappy changes because his/her legs are stiff this may suggest too much tension in their body.
Arching of the back / dislike for tummy time. Arching suggests again that there is built up tension in the spine and again if babies resist tummy time this could be due to muscle tightness making this position uncomfortable.
As a chiropractor we are trained to remove stress from the body and restore proper movement to those joints in the neck and spine, we even do cranial work as well. We do not ‘crack’ babies and the force we use is about the same as you would comfortable touch your eyelid with or check the ripeness of a tomato – which I think we can all agree if a baby can handle the birth process they will cope with that pressure just fine.
If you would like more information or to see if your baby could benefit from chiropractic care fill out our contact form or book online.
Further reading: Click the links below for evidence based research.
Article 1: Well adjusted - Dr. Jennifer Barham-Floreani
Article 2: Colic
Article 3: Breastfeeding
Article 4: Safety for children and babies
