Osteopathy and Babies

 

Osteopathy is becoming increasingly well known for the treatment of children, including newborns and growing babies. Gentle, effective and non-invasive techniques including cranial osteopathy can be very helpful for an irritable baby.

 

Babies undergo an enormous amount of pressure & compressive forces whilst in the womb as well as during the birth. 

 

Depending on the type of labour, the length and other external factors, they will have a higher degree of retained compressive moulding in their cranium and their body. An assisted birth using forceps, ventouse or any manual handling will add to this and the baby will have more compression to process once born.

 

This means that they won’t be able to process these forces, which may lead to tension in the membranes of the skull, affecting the growth of the cranium and surrounding tissues. This can lead to irritability, digestive issues and issues listed below.

 

Signs that there may be retained compressive moulding from the birth that Osteopathy may be able to help with are:

• preference of head & neck position

• torticollis or wry neck

• feeding issues - latch, tongue tie, preference of side, fussiness, colic

• signs of discomfort such as hitting their head/ears

• asymmetric shaping or flattening of the head

• irritability & difficulty with settling

• sleep issues

 

The other thing that Osteopathy can be helpful for is balancing their autonomic nervous system which often is in shock from the birth.