Breastfeeding and Chiropractic

Recently, there have been a few parents who have brought their infant children into our office for assessment and chiropractic treatment because the babies were not feeding well or were very fussy when feeding. It is important to stress that chiropractic care is modified for infants to ensure safety and efficacy.

Breastfeeding seems like the most natural thing in the world, but it is true that some children struggle to maintain secure latching, have especially prominent reflux symptoms, exhibit distress when turning to one side only, or have colic and other symptoms. Breastfeeding is often a learning process for both mother and child. Even though it may be difficult, breastfeeding is considered so important for baby's health that it is worth getting to the cause of why breastfeeding is difficult, rather than simply abandoning it for bottlefeeding. Bottle feeding is indeed sometimes appropriate for some families, but it should not be used merely because breastfeeding is difficult at first.

Sometimes your baby might have trouble turning her head to one side because of a simple joint problem in the neck, or because of a tightened muscle on one side, or because of a traumatic birth process. Sometimes children have difficulty latching because of a tongue-tie, neck muscle constriction, or reflux. The baby cannot tell the parent that he is in pain, but parents are always able to tell when something just isn't right.

Many of these problems can actually be addressed in the chiropractor's office. Some reflux symptoms can be treated by gently modified chiropractic adjustments to the baby's midback. Some neck joint problems can be successfully treated by very gently adjusting the baby's neck or simply applying pressure to certain areas of the body.

Chiropractors have known for decades how effective infant adjusting can be. Now, it appears that some of the evidence is being collected in the medical literature. The evidence is limited, but it points to positive results correlating chiropractic adjustments and improved breastfeeding. There are not yet enough clinical studies to (in research language) definitively show that chiropractic adjustments can help babies breastfeed better, but if you were to talk to the parents of the babies that recently visited my office, you'd hear the same thing.

I'd encourage all breastfeeding parents to read the original article. If some of the symptoms mentioned in the article apply to your family and your situation, you may want to consider having a chiropractor assess and/or treat your baby. Please also check out the positive reviews of Johnson Family Chiropractic as written by patients of our office.

H/T Chiro.org