Would you let someone pick up a newborn baby just by his or her head and carry them across the room?
As a parent you would probably tackle anyone that even tried to do that. But that is essentially what happens to your newborn during the ‘normal’ birth process. The amount of pulling on an infants under-developed spine has been shown to be approximately 60-90 pounds of force during the ‘normal’ birth process; so it is incredibly important to get their spines checked to ensure proper alignment after such a long and dramatic process!
New mothers are often fearful of getting their newborn adjusted, but rest assured that the adjustment for a baby looks nothing like that of an adult. During the exam we are looking for proper spinal movement, muscle tone, ligament flexibility, misalignments of the spine, and other infant reflexes.
When adjusting a newborn or baby, a very gentle amount of pressure is applied. Much like the pressure you use when testing the ripeness of a tomato at the grocery store. Many pediatric adjustments also utilize a cranial-sacral technique as well as the use of an activator, both of which are as equally gentle.
Many parents often ask why and infant needs to be adjusted at all. Take a second to consider the process that newborn has just been through – birth.
Birth can sometimes be a rather dramatic event for such little bodies, especially if a great amount of force was used to assist (i.e. forceps, vacuum, C-section).
As the master system of the body, the nervous system is the most important system in the body, which is why its development and function are so critical to a healthy life. The nervous system creates the optimal environment for your baby to realize his or her greatest potential.
Ensuring that the nervous system is properly functioning can assist in the event of breastfeeding problems, digestive issues, infantile colic, sleep issues, and so much more! Regular chiropractic adjustments also help boost your child’s immune system, which is so vitally important during those first few months of life.
One thing that we always like to share and remember is this:
“It is far easier to create strong children, than fix broken adults.”
If you are looking to find a chiropractor near you that specializes in pediatrics, take a look at the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association’s (ICPA) website for more information. Doctors of chiropractic who have been certified through the ICPA have extensive knowledge on how to best care for families, pregnant women, and especially the most important little ones in our lives!
She’s a Mom, has Doctorate in Chiropractic and loves helping people move from pain back to a healthy and active lifestyle.