Is Chiropractic Safe for Babies?

Is chiropractic safe for infants?  

Here at the office, we joke that chiropractic for infants is like a baby’s first mini spa treatment. Chiropractic care for infants is nothing like chiropractic care for adults.  We use very light holding techniques to help the muscle relax and improve baby’s range of motion. The gentle stretch of the muscles and light touches release tension on baby’s muscles and they just relax into the treatment.  Baby’s muscles can finally relax and they can begin to move their bodies better. Most babies even sleep right through the entire experience. 

So, why in the world would you bring a baby to a chiropractor, and how do you convince Grandma that it is both beneficial and safe? Conditions that bring babies into the office include pain with latching, jaw tension, colic, constipation, torticollis, and ear infections, but ALL babies need adjusted.  Imagine being crammed upside down for months in a tiny space then being forcefully pushed out without any regard to how your body will respond afterwards.

Baby’s first experience into the world can be quite difficult.  In vaginal deliveries, baby can be pushed through contractions while head down for hours.  Imagine the stress that baby’s head and neck go through just to make it into the world.  With C-sections, babies can be pulled out by the neck, shoulders or waist.  The body never experiences the extension of the head at birth and can continue to stay in a chin to chest position. This can cause tension in the neck and back, and cause difficulty nursing, constipation, and colic symptoms.

Chiropractic care for infants is safe, gentle and very effective.  We can help relieve the pain with breastfeeding, help babies sleep better, and incorporate physical therapy exercises so that we maximize baby’s response to treatment. If baby is causing you pain when they latch, tilt their head to one side, refuse to nurse on one or both breasts, or if baby is constipated and is uncomfortable, call and schedule an appointment to have baby evaluated.