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I have been going to the chiropractor religiously for a little over 5 years. I believe in chiropractic care so much that I pay for it out of pocket and if that weren't convincing enough, when I became ill in 2017, before we knew what was going on, my first stop was to, yup, you guessed it, the chiropractor. I believe in the general power that this practice provides and make it a monthly ritual to check in with my body and to get aligned.
I found myself at the chiropractor shortly after giving birth to my first daughter Wisdom. I had this spot in the lower middle of my back that was always aching. It felt like someone had punched me in the back, but when I would have my husband, Ike, look at the spot, he could never find anything.
I went to the chiropractor to deal with hip pain and one day I asked Dr. Mike (who is pictured below) about this spot on my back. His response "have you ever had an epidural?" We discovered that achy pain I had been living with for two years after labor was the culprit for both my lower back and hip pain, and we went to work on undoing that damage that had been done.
Dr. Mike had done such an exceptional job taking care of me that when I became pregnant I knew I wanted him working on my body for the duration of my pregnancy. I saw such a tremendous difference in my labor experiences and I credit a portion of that to the care I was given by Dr. Mike, but that's for another day.
One day, when waiting for my own appointment, I noticed Dr. Mike working on my friends newly born baby. When he finished up, he told me that my friend had brought all of her babies to him when they were first born and I asked him for a little more information about why. He explained the benefits and his experience working with babies and I knew that I wanted him to be the first stop I made with my new baby, when they (she) arrived.
Now I recognize that the jury is still out in the medical world on the benefits and necessity of a infant receiving chiropractic care and I know that it can be controversial depending on who you talk to. I have had my own share of push back regarding my choice to take my very small child to the chiropractor, but I also acknowledge that there are people who want to be educated on why someone would make this choice and I am hoping that my experience will lend itself to providing a resource for you on why I have found it to be valuable and that alone is the only reason for this blog post.
This in no way represents a medical opinion and I have not been paid to write this blog post.
I do also want to issue this disclaimer and say - DO YOUR RESEARCH and make the decision that is best for your baby. Pay attention to how they respond and make sure this is the best fit for you and your family. (My chiropractor specializes in pregnancy infants & newborns care and is highly trained in this area).
Benefits of Chiropractic Care For Babies
1. The Journey Through the Birth Canal - being born is an experience and the birth canal can sometimes be a speedway. When Courage was born, I pushed her out in under 5 minutes and she spent the following 24 hours after birth sneezing and coughing out amniotic fluid. Babies can sometimes experience misalignment coming through the birth canal and checking in with a chiropractor early on can be an ideal option to get or keep them on the right track.
2. Improved Sleep Quality - it is believed that gentle massage and spinal adjustments can improve the sleep of a baby/child and we all know that sleep is so important to a growing baby
3. Colic - chiropractic care is a natural way to ease colic symptoms and reduce crying because it works to help with digestion and good digestion means less gas, and less gas means less fuss for the baby
4. Supports Nursing and Digestion - there are specific areas of the spine directly connected to digestion and when those areas are out of alignment the body responds. Chiropractic care is a benefit in this area because once the spine is aligned, digestion is resumed - in addition, when it comes to nursing being able to turn your head from left to right and latch onto each breast is a huge part of a successful feeding experience. Chiropractic care can sometimes easy the struggle of a baby finding their way to the breast in nursing ( that was my personal experience).
5. Growing - babies and young children experience so many things learning to walk, crawling on their knees, actively playing - its natural that the body would find itself out of alignment and chiropractic care can ensure that the body is in proper position as children grow.
You can check out more benefits of early chiropractic care here but I encourage you to do your own research and to make a decision around care that is best for you based on the research that you find.
Courage's first visit to the chiropractor she was 6 days new. She was only nursing on one side and wasn't looking to the left at all, even when we would call her. Dr. Mike taught us different things to do to get her to start turning her head on both sides and getting used to rotating her neck and head from left to right. These are things we may not have noticed of been cognizant of had we not had chiropractic care as part of our postpartum care plan.
I generally take Courage monthly with me to my appointments. Dr. Mike sees me first, adjusts me and then adjusts Courage. What I love about watching him work with her is that he walks her though the process and tells her everything he is going to do to her before he does it. He let's her see all of the equipment, touch it and play with it and he's so gentle and kind with her.
Check out the below video of Courage receiving chiropractic care during one of her first appointments:
and is a recap of our last adjustment from start to finish. Courage is 8 months old in the videos below:
If you have ever considered taking your infant/baby to the chiropractor but needed more information or details about the process or how it all goes down, I hope you found this blog helpful. If you live out of the South Sound and are looking for a chiropractor, make sure they have experience and have been educated to work with the population and that you can read reviews of real people who have used the services. For those of you who are local who are looking for an incredible chiropractor, check our Dr. Mike and his team at Renaissance Chiropractic Center here in Tacoma.
with strength, courage and wisdom,
Tash
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