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pooka
	Age: 33 Country: Canada Province/region: BC City: Cranbrook Partner: Sean Children: Yes, 4 Pregnant: Not anymore Occupation: sahm
	Online: More than 3 months ago Last updated: Nothing added yet. Member since: 1975 days
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12-9-2009 - Chiropractic Care for Infants

My mood while writing this blog:
Ok

My experience with chiropractic infant care began sort of like, “Are you %$@#’ing kidding me? You want me to let someone crack my newborns spine?” Needless to say it took me a long while to trust or believe it was something of benefit and swallow my fear even long enough to talk to a chiropractor let alone visit one with my child. When my oldest was born, almost 15 years ago, he had severe torticollis. At the time I was a new mother and with the exception of breastfeeding and co-sleeping I was not consciously ‘holistic’. My son would only breast feed on one side, which you can imagine made things a tad difficult for me despite his perfect growth and weight gain. I constantly had to squish milk out of one side for comfort. It was suggested I take him to the chiropractor and my response was less then enthusiastic. I was somewhat of a paranoid mother I think he was 5 weeks old before I was comfortable letting someone hold him and almost a year before I let him out of my sight, and yes I do mean that literally. So in the end we endured months of ‘rehab’ which included hanging his poor new born head off the kitchen table and rolling it from side to side while he screamed and I bawled. Happy to say however his neck did finally correct itself and he doesn’t seem to have any long term issues from being dangled off the kitchen table.

By the time my third was born I had gained a healthy respect for chiropractors. Three pregnancies will change a person! With my second son I had horrible back pain after delivery and made my first appointment to discover my hips do not spread well and one leg was actually shorter then the other. After a few weeks they had me walking without a limp and I was hooked. Luckily my son had no issues that were apparent and did not need a trip in. When my third came long, 11 years after my second, it became obvious he was having some serious issues breast feeding on one side. Fearing another round of head dangling exercises I took him right away to the chiropractor. Yes I was nervous, this was still my brand new son and I had that lurking paranoid mother inside me ready to pounce. As I handed over my son, okay I actually held him the whole time, but put him in her hands to work on I watched a most amazing occurrence. With extremely gentle manipulations she worked on his neck and back. Using a small clicking device she showed me did nothing more then a finger tip like touch she adjusted his most tiny spine and neck. The amazing thing to me was how responsive he was. She explained that in her experience, specializing in children and infants, most babies will actually show her where they are hurting. They will move into the adjustments and shift against her fingers. This is exactly what I was seeing. With his lack of muscle control he was actually shifting into her, pushing gently and not a peep. As soon as the adjustment was over she explained he would likely fall asleep and if he slept longer then ‘normal’ not to be concerned. Also that when he woke he would likely be extra hungry and boy was he ever, breast feeding like a champ on both sides and way more settled and comfortable. She also explained especially c-section babies, their small bodies go through a lot of trauma during birth. They pull c-section babies out by their heads so you can imagine!

So needless to say I was now a believer. She explained the many things that could be treated via chiropractic care on a new born. Colic, sleep issues, torticollis, breast feeding problems, and last but not least ear infections. Which is exactly what brought me for my sons second visit, a night of screaming lack of sleep and obvious pain, a trip to the ER which confirmed he had an ear infection we left with a prescription for an antibiotic and a promise he would be feeling better in 2-3 days but that he might have diarrhea from the medications, lovely. Needless to say our next stop was the chiropractor. My son had not slept more then a few hours, he would not nurse without pain and he was exhausted and hungry. I expected this to be a horrible visit. Instead as soon as she started to work, while explaining that if your neck is misaligned there is pressure and the ear tubes get shifted which causes build up of fluid and can lead to infection. So once more he wiggled and shifted and happily let her correct his neck. I watched amazed as not only did he not cry, he also promptly wanted to breast feed and fell asleep! Needless to say we decided to not use the antibiotic and his ear was all cleared up after one visit.

So I can honestly say I am a true believer in infant chiropractic care! Next time I think it will be our FIRST visit when an ear infection arises, which he has not had since.

Benefits of Chiropractic Care in Infants.

Studies have supported benefits in:
• Improvement in reflex actions such as sucking, swallowing and elimination (including constipation)
• Improvement in over all sleep.
• Colic may be prevented or greatly reduced.
• Reduction and/or elimination of ear infections, strep throat, bronchitis, and asthma.
• More rapid recovery from injuries, including injury to the spinal cord and neck from childbirth.

Good Resources on Infant Chiropractic Care

http://selfgrowth.com/articles/Chiropractic_care_for_children.html (this is a GREAT article!)

http://selfgrowth.com/articles/asthma_and_the_chiropractor

http://chiroweb.com/mpacms/dc/article.php?id=41406

http://babiestoday.com/articles/guiding-babys-development/chiro...

1 Comments on Chiropractic Care for Infants

aprilmcspadden - Saturday, 26 Sep
Ive heard about this but was also leary and I think Im going to look for one to treat both my boys~behavior issues among other things in one and not gaining any weight with the other one! Glad I stumbled upon this~ THANKS

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