When a baby is born, he or she needs to be checked by a chiropractor that specializes in working with children.  Adjusting a baby is very different than adjusting an adult. In our office, we gently check for proper spinal movement, muscle tone, ligament flexibility, as well as assessing the infant for normal reflexes and any cranial imperfections. In addition, gentle computerized spinal scans may be performed to assess variants of temperature and muscle imbalances along the child's spine.  Any abnormal findings indicate the need for the baby's spine to be checked by a chiropractor.

Chiropractic is one of the safest forms of health care. Most pediatric adjustments involve cranial-sacral technique and or the activator technique. Both of those techniques utilize extremely low force. Since a baby's spine is very supple during the first few months of life, chiropractors apply only a slight pressure to make spinal adjustments.  In fact, infants have been known to occasionally sleep through an adjustment!

Occasionally, parents ask why an infant would need to be adjusted at all.  Consider for a moment THE most strenuous and stressful event you have ever experienced.  Birth is designed to be head first, unassisted by technology that pulls on an infants delicate spine.  An infants head and neck are built for compression, which is the normal force exerted during a natural birth.  Assisted treatment, whether with forceps, vacuum extraction or a more forceful C-section all require a pulling strain on the infants under-developed spine.  Consider how the doctor later hands the infant to the mother - with two hands, one under their body and one under their head, because the neck is not built to withstand gravity, yet.  While every newborn needs to have their spine checked, ANY child born with ANY assistance requires a chiropractic evaluation to assess for proper spinal alignment and joint range of motion.  Waiting until their spine grows, tightens and develops abnormal patterns of movement are the worst decisions a parent can make regarding their child's health and nerve system development.

A normal, healthy nervous system is crucial for a developing infant - especially while they are still in the womb!!!  Within 7 hours after conception, the growing embryo begins the crucial steps of creating a nervous system.  This immature nerve system then begins to create all the other systems of the body.  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.  Being the ONLY organ system completely protected in bone not only lends merit to its importance, but also to greater clarity as to how and why problems can exist.  With protection and stability come limitations to motion and flexibility.  Maintaining proper flexibility to the spinal joints maintains proper flexibility to the spinal cord, which ensure normal, healthy function.  This is as true on day one as it is on the last day of a person's life - and every day between!

Your nervous system creates the optimal environment for your baby to realize his or her greatest potential. Many women who get adjusted throughout their pregnancy notice the benefits of chiropractic care and educate themselves on the importance of a properly functioning nervous system.  This becomes especially true for their developing infants and children. Even natural births can stress a baby’s spine. Breastfeeding problems can arise if the baby has a subluxation and is unable to comfortably turn its head to one side.

Mothers can rest assured that their infant will receive safe, highly specific and gentle adjustments to correct subluxations. Actually, the pressure used to make an adjustment to an infant is the same pressure you would use to test the ripeness of a tomato. A chiropractic adjustment is no more dangerous to a child than a regular check-up with a pediatrician. Similarly, periodic spinal check ups are needed as the infant transitions through various milestones throughout the first year and beyond.  Interestingly, most mothers’ remark at how their baby relaxes during and after the adjustment, oftentimes falling right to sleep.