Being an infant is hard! There are a lot of things to figure out. Newborns go through countless changes in their first year of life. They progress through milestone after milestone, and are developing over a million new neural connections every second. That’s a lot for one baby to handle. This is where Pinecrest Chiropractic comes in. We help infants’ nervous systems learn to integrate through these milestones at an appropriate speed. Sometimes that means we need to help speed things up and sometimes we need to slow things down. Many different issues can arise, from constipation, to improper sitting mechanics, troubles crawling or walking, or even trouble eating. All of these things can be helped and corrected through chiropractic care.
$99 New Patient Special
Includes consultation, exam, doctors report of findings, PosturePro analysis, and first adjustment.
How Our Care Plan Works
1. Better
No matter where you start, we can improve together. The first phase focuses on making progress in your current ailments. Typically, this means alleviating pain and helping you return to your daily activities as smoothly and quickly as possible.
2. Stronger
Now that you’ve made progress, how do we KEEP it? We’ve all experienced improvements, only to regress when our focus shifts. This phase empowers your body to sustain the hard-earned progress you’ve worked so diligently to achieve.
3. Healthier
True HEALTHcare! So often, we are only concerned with our sickness and dysfunction, seeking treatment only when we experience symptoms. This is SICKcare. During the healthier phase, we focus on your overall health and maintaining your well-being.
Common Infant Conditions That We Help in Fuquay-Varina, NC
Here are some of the most common conditions parents bring to Pinecrest Chiropractic.
Abnormal Crawling
Abnormal crawling is something many parents see as their infant becomes mobile. They may see their babies butt-scoot, bunny-hop, or tripod-crawl. Although these are common, they aren’t normal. Babies shouldn’t have a preferential side at this point in development. Most of these crawling variations are caused by some type of restriction within their hips or their pelvis. Ignoring this could lead to long-term issues within their pelvis or hips. These can be easily corrected with chiropractic adjustments. These adjustments are gentle and only take a few minutes, but with proper treatment can completely eliminate the abnormal movement.
Struggling with Solids
Food before one is just for fun, and baby-led weaning has become a very popular way to introduce babies to food. Overall this is great, but some parents note their child seems to struggle with solid food. They may just spit the food back out. This happens when a neurologic reflex is still present in the infant. An easy test to see if your baby is ready for solid foods is to put your finger gently on their lips. The neurologic reflex is that the baby will stick their tongue out. As a newborn, this is great because it decreases the likelihood of a baby choking, but this reflex isn’t optimal if you’re trying to introduce solids. This reflex should go away around 6 months (which is why baby-led weaning is suggested to start around 6 months). If this reflex is retained for a longer time period, consult with a provider who can help your baby’s reflex push through this developmental milestone.
Constipation
Although constipation is more common with newborns, it still happens for many children throughout the first year of life. For some this has been a struggle since birth, but others develop this as they introduce solids and other foods into their diet. Is this a chiropractic problem? Absolutely! Now, I want to be clear: not all constipation cases can be solved with chiropractic care, but many respond great. Your nervous system is responsible for controlling everything, including digestion. If there is subluxation in the lumbar spine, the brain may not be communicating with the intestines correctly, and this can lead to constipation. Gentle chiropractic adjustments remove this subluxation, and parents often notice improvement with a dirty diaper on the drive home.
Toe Walking
Toe walking and other changes in normal gait happen with many kids as they start to walk. It is common for first steps to take place after they turn one, but some kids start walking early. Walking on their toes, or toe-in or toe-out variations, can show a few different issues within their nervous system. These are often coming from one of two areas, either the top or the bottom of the spine. A subluxation in the pelvis often causes a bilateral change in the feet — meaning either both toes point in or both toes point out. A subluxation of C1, the top cervical vertebra, can create tension in the entire nervous system, causing the infant to walk on their toes. These parents often watch their kids walk into the chiropractor’s office on their toes, and walk back out flat-footed.
How We Treat Infants in Fuquay-Varina, NC
Comprehensive Consultation and Exam
Every single new patient who comes into our office at Pinecrest Chiropractic starts off with a complete consultation and examination, especially for infants. This consultation often means we sit down and ask about the birth story, about any symptoms the baby is having, and try to get a better picture of what that infant’s day-to-day looks like. Once we finish the consultation and hear that story, we move into an examination. During the examination, we check orthopedic, neurologic, and pediatric measures to understand how your infant’s nervous system is functioning. This helps us see whether those systems are integrating appropriately, too early, or too late. Looking at all of this gives us a better understanding of how your infant is functioning overall. We use that information to create a treatment plan for your infant. Every infant’s treatment plan is different, and this allows us to tailor the plan to the goals you’ve outlined for your child.
Infant Adjustments
Infant adjustments are one of the coolest and best things you can do for your child’s nervous system. That nervous system is taking in a lot of new information it doesn’t quite know how to integrate yet. And when we adjust them, it’s pretty anticlimactic. Watching a newborn get adjusted looks very similar to just holding the newborn. At Pinecrest Chiropractic, we find the specific segment in the spine that needs adjusting and use no more pressure than we’d use on our own eyeball. It’s very gentle and very calm. Many babies fall asleep or become very snuggly and calm throughout their adjustments. That light pressure helps that segment move better, removing the subluxation and helping the nervous system communicate better with the body. We meet the baby where they are. Sometimes that means they stay on the table. Sometimes we adjust while they’re being held by mom or dad. The entire appointment is focused on keeping that newborn comfortable and helping their nervous system function the best way possible.
What to Expect After Your Infant’s Adjustment
How your infant responds after their first adjustment often depends upon their symptoms before their appointment. For those coming in with symptoms, you will often see symptoms gradually go away with treatment. So, if your child W-sits, crawls with a hip out, or struggles with consistent sleep schedules, we will see steady changes in those symptoms following their adjustment. For those who are bringing their children in for maintenance care, there isn’t a big change directly following each adjustment. These children usually present as happy, content babies and seem to stay that way throughout treatment. If your child does have symptoms, we don’t expect them to go away completely with a single adjustment, but many parents do return for their second appointment amazed at the amount of change they were able to see. These parents often return excited at what they saw and excited to see their child continue to improve over time.
Infant Treatment Plans
Just like every patient who presents in our office, infants are given a prescribed treatment plan. The treatment plan helps outline expectations. Just like presenting to the gym with a goal of losing weight, parents present to our office with some sort of goal for their infant. Our treatment plans are the path from where the patient is now, to where they want to get to. Treatment plans are drastically different from patient to patient. These plans are presented on the second appointment following a thorough consultation and examination at their first appointment. Treatment plans can be anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. Expectations and the path to your plans will be clearly outlined.
Why Chiropractic Is Important During the First Year of Life
A lot is happening in the first year of your baby’s life. They go from being stuck in the inside and developing piece by piece to the chaos that is the world outside of momma. During the first year, babies are progressing through countless developmental milestones, and forming over one million new neural connections every second. Their brains are developing at an absurd rate, and chiropractic helps support every step of that progression. During your baby’s first appointment in our office, we go through a list of orthopedic and reflexive testing to see what reflexes are progressing appropriately. This is best explained with an example: many parents have heard of the rooting reflex. If you stroke your newborn’s cheek, they should open their mouth and turn their head towards your touch. This is there because they think you are trying to feed them. This reflex naturally goes away on its own, or at least it should. It should go away around 3-4 months of age. If a 10-month-old still has this reflex, it is called a retained reflex. This gives us a quick glance at the baby’s nervous system, and for some reason that developmental part of their brain still thinks they are only 3-4 months of age. Different retained reflexes can present with different symptoms, but if your child isn’t progressing through these appropriately, they may struggle to develop appropriately. This is one reason chiropractic care during the first year of life is crucial for helping each child have their best chance at success.
Check Out Our Location Near You
609 Attain St #141, Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526
Frequently Asked Questions
How soon after birth is it safe to adjust a baby?
Infants can be adjusted as soon as they are born. Because the adjustment is modified to each individual patient, it is safe to adjust infants as soon as they are on the outside.
How do pediatric chiropractors get certified?
There are many different post-graduate programs that certify pediatric chiropractors. The most common is the ICPA, the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association, and it is the largest chiropractic association in the world.
How do I know if my baby needs a chiropractor?
Birth is traumatic for everyone involved. All infants would benefit from some form of chiropractic. There are many infants who do seek out chiropractic care at Pinecrest Chiropractic for specific symptoms. Those symptoms can include things like colic, constipation, reflux, or struggling to progress through benchmarks.
How does chiropractic help with colic?
Colic is a baby who is often described as inconsolable. This baby is trying to communicate that something is wrong, usually within their nervous system. Many times it is due to a sympathetic overdrive — the baby is stressed. The best way to see their nervous system reregulate is through chiropractic adjustments.
Is pediatric chiropractic the same as chiropractic for adults?
Chiropractic for infants and pediatrics looks very different than it does with adults. We are often trying to achieve similar results, decreasing interference on the nervous system as well as improving quality of life, but the treatments themselves look very different. Pediatric adjustments are very gentle and calm. When we find a spot in the spine to adjust, we are applying gentle pressure in the direction of correction, pushing no harder than we’d press on our own eyeball (less than one pound of force). It is so gentle that many infants sleep through their adjustments.
What are the benefits of chiropractic for infants?
Initial benefits start with symptom relief, but progress to better integration of their growth and development milestones. When treated properly, adjustments from birth will help that child develop into the healthiest and best possible version of themselves.
Can my other children come to the infant appointment with me?
Yes! We never want our children to be a barrier to getting the treatment someone needs. Most of our Pinecrest Chiropractic families schedule their appointments at the same time and come in together. We keep the office stocked with toys and stickers to keep everyone occupied and content during the visit.
Do you “crack” the baby’s neck?
No. The cracking sound associated with adjustments is called a cavitation. The cavitation that happens with adult adjustments rarely happens with pediatric adjustments. This is because infant and pediatric adjustments are extremely gentle and slow, not creating a gapping of the joint as adult adjustments do.
Does it hurt the baby?
Not at all. Many babies will sleep through their adjustments. Occasionally, an infant will get fussy during their adjustment, but this happens when we hit a tender point in the spine, and crying is the only way an infant knows how to communicate. When this happens, we change the contact and help the baby relax once again.
$99 New Patient Special
Includes consultation, exam, doctors report of findings, PosturePro analysis, and first adjustment.
