Is Chiropractic Safe For Babies?

There are a lot of emotions and excitement around the newest addition to your family. The trauma of childbirth affects both mother and child, and the newborn can experience a variety of complications as it comes into the world. A chiropractor can help with a number of those issues, and can set the child up for a healthy start.

It is safe for newborns to visit the chiropractor, even within the first few weeks following birth. Your pediatric chiropractor applies gentle pressure to subtly align the spine. This helps get the nervous system communicating the right way, allowing the body to fully heal itself. Childbirth can affect your baby’s nerves, and the gentle manipulations ease any strain or tension on them. This can help lessen or eliminate symptoms of colic, reflux, or any difficulties sleeping.

Those colic symptoms are not only painful and troubling for your baby, but stressful for everyone in the house. Colic often stems from indigestion gas building up in a baby’s underactive digestive system. The gas is trapped inside the baby’s stomach, which can be painful. A chiropractic adjustment through soft manipulations of the spine can help get those nerves communicating correctly, helping to push that troublesome gas properly through the digestive system. That makes the baby less fussy, which decreases the stress level of the whole family.

Along with helping recovery following birth, ensuring proper spinal alignment by taking your baby to the chiropractor can support physical development. There are countless changes that happen quickly for a newborn. The spine starts to form its natural curve as they begin sitting up, and lifting their head on their own. If those curvatures don’t develop correctly, it can affect physical development.

Giving birth is a difficult process, and your newborn’s living accommodations are quite cramped right before they enter the world. There’s a lot of pressure being placed on the child’s head and neck when they’re born. That can lead to a misaligned spine, which can have more effects than what’s listed above. Physically, there could be injuries to nerves and/or joints. Most babies can heal and adjust on their own, but even the slightest, softest adjustment can boost that healing in the right direction.

It’s important to stress that chiropractic adjustments with newborns is very gentle and subtle. Many people associate an intense hands-on approach with chiropractors, but that isn’t the case with little ones. Babies are resilient, but they’re fragile, too. That’s why even the slightest misaligned spine can cause issues, and why it is important to deal with them gently. Most spinal alignments are done with gentle nudges which many times are a gentle touch of a finger. Don’t hesitate to ask your chiropractor’s opinion on whether or not it’s right for you and your child.

Even the slightest misalignment can cause pain and discomfort, and giving your baby his or her best chance at wellness offers plenty of benefits. For more information on how chiropractic care can help infants and every member of your family, reach out to Dr. Morgan Sheridan at Foundation Chiropractic today.