Chiropractic Care for Babies and Children

It’s a common conversation that I have with patients and friends: “you can really do Chiropractic on babies?” the answer is yes, and it’s astounding.

During my five years of training to be a Chiropractor, I undertook extensive training in anatomy, physiology and biomechanics with particular emphasis on the musculoskeletal system and nervous system. With this as my ground base knowledge, I completed extra training in paediatric care. This, together with my experience in voluntary work for the Feeding Clinic (a free service ran by chiropractic and midwifery students to help mothers achieve exclusive breastfeeding), is where my passion for helping babies and children began.

Chiropractic care for babies and children is safe and gentle. The techniques used are modified to accommodate the infant’s soft and forming skeleton. For babies in particular it is important to note that pressure will only be applied to your baby that is similar to the pressure that you would use to place your finger on your eyeball. These very gentle manipulative techniques could help to soothe and relax your baby.

Like adults, no infant or child is treated without a thorough and focused examination. Your Chiropractor will ask a lot of questions and undertake a thorough musculoskeletal and neurological examination. For babies, this will also check to see whether their primitive reflexes are present or gone which could impact on their development.

Research tells us now that 90% of babies experience birth trauma of some kind, and here at Joint Space we believe it is so important that any new baby’s musculoskeletal system and nervous system are checked. New-borns can be brought in to the clinic for check up from three weeks old. This is purely to ensure that you have enough time to bond with and to get to know your baby. These first few weeks are such precious time for the family but it will also allow parents to become accustomed to any normal or abnormal behaviors of their little one.

Taking into consideration the wide array of reasons that a baby will come into see a Chiropractor, it can take on average 4-6 sessions for a baby to get better. When we have reached the stage where both myself and the parents are happy with the progress made, we will book a final check up 4 weeks post this point to ensure that there has been no regression.

Should you have any more questions about Chiropractic care for babies, or for pediatrics in general, please do not hesitate to get in touch.