When I tell people I adjust babies, people look at me like they just saw a ghost. Yes, babies have spines too, crazy right? The next thing I hear is, ‘why in the world would you ever adjust a baby?’ my question back to them is why would you not? I have adjusted babies as early as 2 weeks old, I know people that have adjusted babies the day they are born, how lucky are they?! Think about the pregnancy process and a growing baby, there is not a whole lot of room for baby to stretch its arms, legs, or entire body out. Some babies have a really hard time growing in the small space. In that time frame that they are growing and trying to move around, the spine and their joints can become very restricted. It’s not like the baby can say, hey mom my back is killing me! This can cause a lot of issues for the baby. I have had babies with allergies, acid reflux, ear infections, trouble sleeping, trouble eating and gaining weight, trouble laying on their back or stomach, and issues with being able to hold their head to a certain side. Most of the time moms come in because they have no clue what else to do and they feel helpless. They figure at this point, they may as well try a chiropractor because their cousin went with their baby and they had amazing results…
Now let’s go into the birthing process, whether it be a C-section or natural, this is a pretty traumatic experience for the baby and mom. Lots of pressure and pulling, shoving and gripping to bring that sweet baby out into the world. That’s a lot happening to the baby that was just curled up growing inside mom for 9 months. Do you think this could cause some issues throughout the spine?
Did I mention your spine protects your spinal cord, which your nerves branch off of, that lead to everywhere in your entire body-controlling its function? So maybe there is something going on in the baby’s thoracic spine that is causing he/she to be so unhappy that laying on their back and stomach puts even more pressure on it, causing them more discomfort than they are already in.
The way I adjust babies is completely different than the way I would adjust an adult. It is very gentle and babies respond and bounce back so quickly it is amazing. When I have a mom that tells me after 3 visits that I have changed their entire life and they can’t believe it is the same baby, to me, that is better than anything in the whole entire world.
If you have any questions or would like to have your baby looked at, please feel free to contact me!
To you and your baby’s health,
Dr. Katie