Chiropractic Care for Newborns and Children

At Life Balance Adjustments, we never hang babies upside down (yes, unfortunately one chiro did that!), or use the old-fashioned, stereotypical twist and crack techniques that are commonly associated with adult Chiropractic treatments. Due to the fact that infants’ delicate spines haven’t fully developed, they cannot simply be treated as little adults, they have unique needs that require a very individualised form of clinical assessment and treatment. Once the area that requires treatment has been determined, a very specific, yet very gentle treatment is applied to the area, not more pressure than can be tolerated on your closed eyeball. Most commonly with newborns and infants, we find that the pelvis is the area that requires an adjustment, and we feel that this is the result of being in such a confined space in utero and, of course, the birth process itself. Unfortunately, babies find it a little more difficult to notify us when they are uncomfortable. Signs to look out for include; feeding difficulties (one sided or both), holding head to one side, arching their backs, pulling their knees up, excessive crying, waking up crying, crying during tummy time, or being unhappy to ride in the car seat, just to name a few. With over 18 years of clinical experience treating infants, you can rest assured that your precious little child is in safe hands. Your child will receive a comprehensive assessment and treatment, giving you the peace of mind to enjoy watching your precious little child move through their developmental milestones and into adulthood, to the absolute best of their ability.

Why should a baby need Chiropractic Care?

Let’s face it……..the birth process is pretty traumatic for both Mum and Bub!!!! Let alone spending months being cramped up in such a small environment for the later part of pregnancy. A babies’ spine takes a lot of impact during the birth process, and these effects can be seen long after the child is born. At Life Balance Adjustments we are trained to assess your babies spine for these types of birth traumas and offer a very safe and gentle treatment to rectify these issues. Many Mum’s ask me if their baby escapes these issues if they were born via C-section, but unfortunately the answer is no! The mechanism of being tightly folded in the fetal position one minute, and then suddenly being straightened out the next, has similar significant effects to the babies spine as a traditional birth.

Image of a Skin Fold Assessment

What are some signs that a baby may need Chiropractic Care?

Given babies are unable to simply tell us how they are feeling, as parents, we can find it a little more difficult to pick up on the signs that our child might be in pain or experiencing discomfort. Some of the more common signs to look out for include;

feeding difficulties (one sided or both) and excessive vomiting
holding their head to one side
development of a flat head on one side
arching their backs
pulling their knees up
not wanting to be put down
excessive crying
waking up crying
crying during tummy time
being unhappy to ride in the car seat, just to name a few.

Signs to look for as your baby grows.

As your child starts to grow up we advise you to look for other signs that might indicate that a trip to the Chiro is needed, including:

Delay in reaching milestones
An ineffective crawling technique (ie. Bum shuffling or commando crawling)
Any asymmetry during walking (ie. one hip swinging out, a foot turned out, ankle rolling in etc.)
Toe walking

Is Chiropractic Care safe for a baby?

I cannot speak for the techniques used in other clinics, but at Life Balance Adjustments we use very gentle, yet highly effective treatment techniques to rectify your babies spinal and joint issues. A babies spine is very delicate and is going through a very rapid phase of development. Over 18 years of experience working with infants, has fine-tuned our skills of being able to effectively detect issues in infants and perform extremely precise adjustive techniques to bring their little bodies back into alignment, improving the function of the musculoskeletal system and preventing any physical hinderances effecting developmental milestone achievement. These adjustments are so gentle, that they often do not even awaken a sleeping baby. The maximum amount of pressure experienced by your infant during treatment, is no more pressure than you can comfortably bear on your closed eyeball. (We know you just tried that right?!)

What to expect on the first treatment.

A thorough birthing history is taken during the first appointment, with particular attention being paid to the birthing process itself. A complete physical assessment is performed talking you through each step as it is taking place. Once any issues are identified, all recommended treatments are explained, and the pressure demonstrated on yourself before we gain permission to perform the technique on your baby. Treatment is almost always offered on this initial visit, except in extenuating circumstances where further investigations are required. Depending on the area that we have treated on this visit, we may give some suggestions of things to avoid, or things to include into your babies routine to prevent reoccurrence or enhance treatment.

How often do I need to bring my child back?

In General, we would suggest to see your child one week after their first treatment. Some issues may require more than one adjustment. One week gives plenty of time for your child to have had plenty of feeds, been in and out of the car seat, been handled by many, etc., so if the area is going to need a further adjustment, it will have presented itself again within this amount of time. In my clinical experience, using the techniques that we do at Life Balance Adjustments, babies are extremely responsive to Chiro treatment, and only take a small number of treatments to be back in alignment. After the initial treatment, many families enjoy the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their child’s little spine is functioning effectively, and choose to bring their children in every few months during this rapid phase of their development. We call this health promotion care.

Life Balance Adjustments

Diamond Village Shopping Centre

Shop 14B, 78 Nepean St

Watsonia 3087

0411 170 426

dr.kez@lifebalanceadjustments.com.au