Why Infant Chiropractic Care Matters for Your Baby’s Health

Why Do Infants Need Chiropractic?

Chiropractic care for infants focuses on supporting their developing musculoskeletal and nervous systems. Gentle, non-invasive adjustments can address misalignments from birth processes, such as vaginal delivery or cesarean section, which may cause discomfort or affect neurological development. By promoting proper spinal alignment, chiropractic care may help infants achieve optimal growth, improve feeding and sleep patterns, and support overall well-being, as supported by studies like those in the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics (2012).

Chiropractic care ensures that each infant’s body is neurology working without interference, so that each precious little one can grow and develop optimally.

Rest assured that we adjust infants very gently. Utilizing about the same amount of pressure to check a tomato for ripeness.

Female patient receiving gentle chiropractic adjustment on neck by male therapist, emphasizing non-invasive treatment techniques for musculoskeletal support at Insight Chiropractic.

Frequent Infant Conditions

Infants may experience several conditions that chiropractic care can address, including:

  1. Colic: Excessive crying and discomfort, potentially linked to spinal misalignments, can be alleviated through gentle adjustments, as noted in a 2019 systematic review in Chiropractic & Manual Therapies.
  2. Torticollis: A condition where the neck muscles cause the head to tilt, treatable with soft tissue therapy and adjustments to improve mobility.
  3. Feeding difficulties: Misalignments in the upper cervical spine may affect latch or swallowing, which chiropractic care can help correct.
  4. Sleep disturbances: Spinal adjustments may promote relaxation and improve sleep by reducing nervous system irritation, per clinical observations in pediatric chiropractic.
  5. Birth trauma-related misalignments: Gentle techniques can address subtle spinal issues from delivery, enhancing comfort and development
Female therapist providing gentle spinal adjustment to male patient in a rehabilitation setting, emphasizing chiropractic care for improved mobility and comfort.

Benefits of Infant Chiropractic

Chiropractic care offers infants benefits like improved nervous system function, which supports healthy development, as evidenced by research in Journal of Pediatric, Maternal & Family Health (2016).
  • Improve breastfeeding
  • Less fussiness
  • Reduced gas
  • Better quality sleep
  • Less cholic symptoms and improved digestion
  • Better natural immunity
  • Improve Developmental Milestones
  • Resolve trauma’s that may occur in childbirth.
  • Resolve Infant Torticollis
  • Resolve Hip Dysplasia
  • Resolve some Skull malformations

What do we examine?

In infants, chiropractors perform gentle, non-invasive examinations to assess spinal alignment, muscle tone, and neurological function. This includes checking for asymmetries, reflexes, and mobility in the neck, spine, and hips, using light palpation and observation.
  • Infant Milestones, standardized health criteria for infants.
  • Nerve interference in the full spine, with a focus on the the upper and lower cervical spines which are most neurologically important.
  • Ratio of Head Circumference to Chest Circumference, to detect hydrocephalous or similar conditions.
  • Newborn/First Visit Hip Motion to detect and correct hip dysplasia
  • Skull shape, to detect and correct deformities that can occur before or during childbirth.
Physiotherapist performing gentle neck massage on a patient in a chiropractic clinic, emphasizing low-force techniques for spinal alignment and nerve function.

How do we treat?

  • Infants’ bones are in the early stages of forming. Treatment is very low force. Correction may include a mild vibrational and directional correction to align the bones and joint properly for function and least nerve interference.
  • Did you know that an infant’s skull takes up to one full year to close fontanelles and lock in joints that shape the skull. During this time some, even significant, malformation is treatable. We use low force Chiropractic techniques that subtly adjust the positions of skull bones and sutures.
Chiropractor gently adjusting the back of a patient on a treatment table, illustrating infant chiropractic care techniques.

Helping You and Your Infants Feel Comfortable

We do everything possible to help you both feel completely at ease when you are here. Every step is explained to you, and the doctor love to hear and respond to questions.

Contact us today to book an appointment!