Taking a newborn to the chiropractor

Even within the first few weeks of birth, it is generally safe for newborns to receive chiropractic care. From colic to issues sleeping to other digestive problems, a pediatric chiropractor may be able to help straighten out whatever is troubling your newborn.

A newborn’s spine moves just like an adult’s – but in the first year, a baby’s spine can double in length. That’s a bunch of change happening in a very short period of time. As soon as your baby can lift his or her little head, curvature in the neck starts forming. And when they learn to sit, the curve of the lower back forms.

Ensuring proper alignment during these times is crucial to make sure that those curvatures develop properly. Pediatric chiropractors can help align the spine of your newborn, which can keep him or her on track for their milestones, and enhance their overall posture.

The birth process is traumatic – for both mother and child – and that trauma can affect the nerves in the body. Pediatric chiropractors are trained to align the spine to help recovery after birth.

In the mother, an adjustment can help identify nerve problems and misalignment that may have come from the birthing process. With the newborn, subtle manipulations can ease tension and strain, and make sure the nerves are functioning properly. Among the issues in newborns that a pediatric chiropractor might be able to help with are breathing issues, sleeping difficulties, acid reflux and colic.

Colic is one of the most common diagnoses that pediatric chiropractors deal with. There are many causes for colic, but it can be connected to indigestion and gas from a gastro-intestinal system that isn’t active enough. The gas can get trapped in the stomach, because the system might not be able to deal with it. The chiropractor can use some subtle techniques to stimulate the nerve flow and boost the motion in the stomach to allow the gas to pass through.

Colic is only one of many reasons behind general irritability in newborns. It’s hard to know what is causing fussiness in newborns sometimes, as they can’t tell you what’s troubling them. When illness has been eliminated from the mystery, a pediatric chiropractor might be able to help identify the cause.

One of the lesser known benefits comes to optimize the immune system - which relies heavily on a healthy spine. The immune system is built through lymph nodes, which are all connected to the brain directly through nerves in the spine. Proper spinal alignment can help improve the body’s ability to release the cells that battle disease throughout the body. This optimization to the immune system is important to all of us, but it’s even more important in newborns to promote healthy development.

For more questions about how pediatric chiropractic care might be able to help your newborn, contact Dr. Morgan Sheridan at Foundation Chiropractic and set up a consultation today.