5 Reasons to Take Your Baby to a Chiropractor

Typically when the term “chiropractic” comes up it is automatically associated with back or neck pain, but if you’ve been reading our blog posts for a while then you know that chiropractors actually help with much more than just back or neck pain. If you missed the post about unexpected reasons to see a chiropractor, don’t worry, you can check it out here. You may or may not know that a small percentage of chiropractors are actually trained and certified to see a pretty special and probably surprising population… pediatrics!

As a CACCP (Certified by the Academy Council of Chiropractic Pediatrics) doctor of chiropractic, we receive a great deal of additional education specific to the rapidly changing anatomy and physiology of children. You may be asking yourself, why would a child need a chiropractic adjustment? Well that’s exactly why today we are talking about 5 reasons you might want to have your baby checked by a chiropractor.

1. Nursing or latching issues.

A new mom is already sleep deprived and adapting to the ongoing changes occurring in her body. Throw in painful nipples and/or a baby who is always hungry because they’re not efficiently nursing and it is a recipe for stress! A lactation consultant is a good starting place for help, but sometimes coaching mom and baby with their latch isn’t enough. Sometimes babies are experiencing positional discomfort where they actually have a difficult time turning their head to one side and therefore it is harder to nurse on one side than the other. A lot of times parents will notice that their baby tends to keep their head turned to one side more in general and this can also be a good indication that the baby’s neck may be restricted. 

2. Flattening of the skull.

We usually start to see babies for this issue once they’ve gone to a well-check with their pediatrician and it’s been suggested that they schedule a consultation for a helmet. Once again, I tend to like to look at the range of motion of the baby’s neck… if they prefer to have their head turned to one side over the other, then guess what? They are more likely to develop flattening on the side of the head they are turning to while laying down. The bones that make up the skull (cranial bones) are not fused together at the time of birth in order to allow for compression as they pass through the birth canal. While this is a beautiful thing for baby and mom at the time of birth, it does increase the chances of the head flattening during that first year of life. Chiropractic is great at addressing this because we not only work on the cranial bones themselves, but we also address the root issue (neck mobility) so that it doesn’t continue to happen!

3. Gassiness

While we certainly are not gastroenterologists, as chiropractors we are very familiar with the nervous and musculoskeletal systems, which directly affect the digestive system! When babies are experiencing symptoms such as gassiness or poor digestion, it is important to perform a thorough assessment. Assessing the spine and nervous system as well as checking for tongue/lip ties and obtaining a history regarding mom and babies diet allows for a pediatric chiropractor to get to the root of baby’s tummy troubles! If the cause  is not a chiropractic-related issue, we typically work closely with other healthcare professionals to refer you to!

4. Colic

In general, colic is defined as crying for three or more hours a day, three or more days a week, for three or more weeks. [1] While there have been a number of theories as to what causes a baby to be colicky, a majority of those concepts have not held up to evidence-based research over the years. The two strongest theories, as of recent, are that colic may be an infantile migraine or associated with an increased concentration of a potentially troublesome bacteria in the gut. Studies actually show that if a baby has a history of familial migraines, they are more likely to suffer from colic. Studies also show that if babies had colic, they are more likely to experience migraines later in life. Chiropractic can be very helpful in addressing migraines, which supports that it can be very helpful in addressing colic! 

5. Bodywork after a tongue/lip tie revision

Whether you have a tongue or lip tie revision performed by a dentist or ENT, they will typically recommend the baby receive bodywork afterwards to help the revision be as effective as possible. Pediatric chiropractors are a great resource to see for this bodywork since they have training and experience with the spine, muscles, and cranial bones. 

Many times a baby doesn’t have to have any of the above issues going on for the parents to decide they’d like get baby checked and adjusted. Whether it be a vaginal birth or a c-section, the process of being born can be very straining and stressful on the baby’s body, the neck specifically. By adjusting baby shortly after birth, we are able to help mitigate some of the situations mentioned above as well as allow baby’s nervous system to function and develop optimally. “Side-effects” may include better sleep, regular poops, and improved mood! And in case the idea of handing your baby to a chiropractor makes you nervous… not to worry! Adjustments on babies simply involve gentle pressure with the fingertips to where it’s literally no more pressure than you could apply to your closed eyelid while experiencing no pain. Often time newborns sleep right through their adjustments!

If you live in the DFW area and would like to have your baby checked, please schedule an appointment with Dr. Nikki at our Southlake or Las Colinas locations! If you don’t live nearby, but want to find a chiropractor who specializes in pediatrics, simply visit icpa4kids.org and search for a provider in your area. A doctor who has the credentials CACCP or FICPA is one who has completed the additional hours of continuing education!

Resources

1) Retrieved August 30, 2020) https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/colic/symptoms-causes/syc-20371074

2) 2018. What causes colic in babies: An evidence-based guide (Retrieved August 30, 2020)  https://www.parentingscience.com/what-causes-colic.html