Chiropractic care for an infant? Many people may think that sounds crazy. Today we’ll explain why it’s not.
This is our new addition to our family, little Alexis. She’s 6 weeks old and today we’re going to talk about how you would assess your newborn to see if they are a good candidate to get chiropractic adjustments.
Signs That Your Newborn Could Benefit From Chiropractic Adjustments
Trouble Nursing
Our daughter, Alexis, was born at home. It was a totally natural birth. Nobody yanked on her head to come out, but as soon as we started to try to nurse with her, she wasn’t quite latching onto my left side.
We assessed her and adjusted her and right away she started nursing.
Baby Prefers Feeding From One Side
Is your baby favoring one side over the other when nursing? Even if they bottle-feed, do they prefer to be fed on one side versus the other.? Those can both be indications that your infant would be a good candidate to get assessed, and adjusted by a chiropractor.
Other Physical Indications
Some other things that you can look for are:
- A tendency to lean to one side
- Not turning their head during tummy time
- Colic
- Reflux.
I know, reflux is kind of a common thing and when you go to the pediatrician, they will talk about babies having acid reflux all the time. In some cases they’ll even prescribe antacids for little newborn babies!
Reflux is simply caused because their digestive systems are immature still, and their sphincters are not quite strong enough to keep the food down. Mothers have reported to us is that they’ve seen dramatic improvements with reflux once we start addressing and adjusting the subluxations in that area.
It Doesn’t Take Much Trauma To Cause Subluxation
Alexis So had a totally natural birth yet we found some subluxations in her spine.
If the doctor pulled on your babies head when he/she was born or if any devices were used, or even if they had a cesarean, likely there has been more trauma introduced to the birth, and so they definitely need to be checked and assessed to see if their spinal nervous system is being affected at all.
Be sure to watch for our next video. We’re going to be showing you how we actually assess and adjust an infant.
Have Questions on Chiropractic Treatment for Kids?
Have you had the opportunity to join us at one of our community education events yet? During the community education events, Dr. Tim sifts through all of the knowledge out there to bring you key information about how to get healthy and stay that way and shares answers to frequently asked questions on chiropractic care.