During your baby’s first year, they will experience the greatest amount of change compared to any other time in their life. In the first 12 months, your baby’s length will increase by 50%, while their brain will double in size. By five-years-old, their brain volume will reach 90%. This time of major growth and development may be affected by stress on their spine and nervous system, which can lead to delays in meeting milestones, and learning and behavioural issues. 

Babies

From the time they are in-utero, babies experience stress on their spine and nervous system. Their position in the womb and their birth experience, particularly in traumatic or assisted deliveries, can cause tension to develop in your baby’s spine, shoulders, pelvis, or jaw.

Regular Chiropractic care helps to monitor proper alignment of your baby’s spine during their initial growth stages.

Chiropractic care can be highly beneficial for newborns who experience:

• Torticollis (stiff neck causing head tilt and rotation),
• Plagiocephaly (flat head on one side attributed to torticollis),
• Colic
• Reflux
• Feeding and sleep issues
• Irritability

Young Children

As your child grows, they will no doubt experience physical stressors from falls, bumps, and grazes as they learn to roll, crawl, run, jump, and climb. They may also be affected by emotional and biochemical stress from their environment.

Chiropractic can relieve stress and tension in your child’s joints and nervous system

Spinal realignment works to:

• Alleviate symptoms of stress
• Improve mobility
• Enhance bodily functions
• Boost immunity
• Manage injuries and pain

Developmental Milestones

An important way to assess a child’s health is to look at their motor, cognitive, social/emotional, and speech developmental milestones.

Newborn Babies

Assessment of the primitive reflexes of newborns allows Chiropractic practitioners to ascertain the health of the baby’s central nervous system. As your baby’s brain and nervous system mature over the first few months, their primitive reflexes should become fully integrated. 

Postural reflexes – automatic movements that help to maintain balance, alignment, and co-ordination – appear once their primitive reflexes are integrated.

Babies and Toddlers

As your baby or toddler develops their postural reflexes, movements like rolling, crawling, sitting, standing, and walking will appear and be continually refined. 

Retained primitive reflexes and delayed milestones have been attributed to the following conditions:

• ADHD
• Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
• Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD)
• Emotional and behavioural dysregulation
• Sleep issues
• Fine and gross motor issues
• Learning difficulties

Chiropractic adjustments are safe for newborns and children

In March 2019, Safer Care Victoria (SCV) conducted an independent review of the spinal manipulation on children under 12 years.

• 99.7% reported a positive experience with chiropractic care of their children
• 98% said that chiropractic care helped their child, indicating improvement after their treatment

Correcting your child’s spinal misalignments through chiropractic care offers many health benefits that can improve their well-being.

Your Chiropractor will use gentle finger pressure to restore your baby or young child’s spinal alignment. This reduces pressure on their joints and muscles, improves the health of their nervous system, and improves their immune system function. Adjustments are not painful for your little one.

As a certified health-care professional, a Chiropractor is specifically trained to manage spinal issues that may cause your baby or toddler to experience discomfort, irritability, and nerve dysfunction. They can also help you to better understand how their environment may be beneficial, or harmful, to your baby’s spinal development.

Chiropractic care is an effective, natural, drug-free alternative that supports your child’s development and wellbeing. Speak to one of our Chiropractors to find out how we can help your baby or young child.