I have talked about the importance of Chiropractic care for pregnant women, but I want to talk about why your child might benefit from Chiropractic care.
Birth is difficult for the woman, but it is just as difficult for the infant. It can be traumatic for the infant to be pushed against the pelvis for hours during delivery and then again when it makes it way out of the pelvis.
Babies have very delicate spines. The bones aren’t bones yet and consist of cartilage which will later ossify and become bones. Their delicate spines can be injured during the birthing process. Noticeable injuries babies can have right from the start are shoulder dystocia and torticollis. You might not notice your infant has torticollis right away because, in the beginning, it might just present in lack of mobility in the neck, but then compensation patterns start and the presentation becomes more severe.
Spinal Alignment
There are other things that can be going on with your infant you may not notice or might be considered normal for an infant such as crying for many hours a day, gas, constipation, colic, reflux, difficulty breastfeeding from one side, and resting their head only on one side only. These are signs and symptoms that their tiny bodies aren’t functioning optimally. As mentioned earlier, their spines are very delicate and each individual vertebrae in the spine can move out of alignment. Having the spine aligned is very important because a nerve exists on each side at each level in their spines. These nerves can be affected when the spine is misaligned. The nervous system is very important in a developing infant. These nerves do not only go to muscles and tell them to contract. They go to every single organ in the body and make sure they are doing their job. When a nerve is affected it is not sending a 100% signal, and the organ will not work 100%. The baby can not tell you something is wrong, the only way they know how to tell you is by crying.
Ear Infections
As your baby develops, it might start experiencing multiple ear infections. The muscles that surround and directly impact the Eustachian tubes are linked to the top four vertebrae in the spine. Misalignment of these vertebrae can prevent drainage of fluid and interrupt proper function of the Eustachian tubes.
Abnormal Crawling
Another thing you might notice is an abnormal crawling mechanism. So-called bear crawling is very important to a child’s development because it helps the brain develop equally on both sides. When a child scoots on their bottom or crawls with one leg extended, you might think it’s cute, but it’s a sign that there might be something going on in their pelvis that is not allowing them to crawl symmetrically. It is important that there are no restrictions in their pelvis or lumbar spines when they are learning how to crawl and walk for optimal brain development.
It is never too early to get your baby checked by a Chiropractor. Friends and Family Health Centers loves taking care of pregnant mothers and their children. Contact us today to schedule an appointment.
