Infants and Chiropractic Care
All photos by Dr. Gabby
AN ARTICLE BY FAMILY CHIROPRACTOR, DR. GABBY GOLDACH OF THE INSIDE SPACE
But first, a blurb about my postpartum experience and Everett’s infant adjustments with Dr. Gabby.
Everett and I have been visiting Dr. Gabby of The Inside Space for chiropractic adjustment and nervous system alignment for several months now. As someone who has had chiropractic care for nearly a decade, during pregnancy and all, I was eager to find someone to visit regularly here in Columbus. And to find someone who I trusted with my new baby!
After a very serendipitous meeting with Gabby at a SISTAIN event, I knew she was the one. We immediately connected over sustainable lifestyles, intentional well-being, and thoughtful care for the brain and body. Week after week, visit after visit, I am feeling my body coming back into alignment after birthing sweet Everett. I breathe easier and deeper, and I am able to exercise to my full capacity again. Everett is sleeping better, having more regular bowel movements, and continues to get stronger. This is noticeable in his posture, his strength during tummy time, and his ease when being put to sleep in the crib. Mind you, we’re on a whole journey with his sleep patterns, and it’s not easy, but Gabby is making it better.
I truly couldn’t recommend her more. Keep reading for her philosophy on infants and chiropractic care, and if you have any questions about how she can support you, as an adult, please reach out!
WHILE TODAY’S WORLD IS BEAUTIFUL AND MAGNIFICENT AND ABSOLUTELY AWE-INSPIRING IN SO MANY WAYS, IT IS ALSO FILLED WITH UNPRECEDENTED MOMENTS THAT WE HAVE EACH EXPERIENCED DIFFERENTLY AND DIFFICULTLY, YET TOGETHER.
We have experienced epic highs perhaps contrasted by some unequivocal lows, all through which most of us have survived, adapted, and continued on in the best way that we know how.
Despite existing through this unparalleled season of life divided yet unified through it all, there is one fact that we can certainly all come together on: our children, both the newest of the new and those quickly approaching adulthood, have been heavily impacted by the boldness and intricacies alike of the last two years.
Parents have started to ask new questions about how exactly they can help their children better adapt and thrive once again in this new world that is 2022. They’ve seen that the things that may have worked prior may just not be cutting it these days.
They are wanting something more, something deeper, something at the root. As pediatric chiropractors, this is where we like to plant a seed of hope.
As chiropractors, what we care about is your nervous system—the very system that controls everything in our bodies and perceives our entire world, both inside and out.
This part of our physical makeup also regulates how gently (or not so) we adapt to the newness that life throws our way.
In addition to perception of how we are feeling and what we need, this system also perceives whether or not we are safe in our bodies and beyond.
So, think about this: baby incubates and grows and develops within mama’s dark, warm, cozy, quiet, and very safe belly for forty weeks before, as divinely orchestrated by the innate intelligence of the body, making an appearance earth side in this bright, loud, unbridled and completely new world.
That is a lot adaptation all at once, no matter how old or young.
Adults have practiced and cultivated this exquisite tool called language that can be used to articulate that our ability to adapt is maxed out—that there are unmet needs creating feelings of dis-ease and perhaps some chaos within the confines of the skin that holds us together. Our littles are good, don’t get me wrong, but they typically have some years’ worth work to do in order to catch up to the headway we’ve made throughout our lifetime.
So how does this large degree of adaptation express itself in babies and children?
It can show up in our newborns and infants as difficulty latching, colic, constipation, reflux, projectile vomiting, immune system challenges, inconsolable crying, not napping, torticollis, skipping milestones, and more.
It can show up in our toddlers as difficulty focusing, tantrums, recurring ear and sinus infections, constant need to fidget and squirm, ADHD, sensory processing challenges, bedwetting, excessive allergies and food sensitivities.
This is just to name a few.
SO NOW, LET’S GO BACK TO THAT SEED OF HOPE.
The role of chiropractors, as mentioned previously, is to work with the nervous system. When we go into a tremendous state of adaptation, beyond what we can handle, our nervous system shifts into a state of what so many refer to as “fight or flight”. Just like us adults, our babies can hang out (and get stuck) there, too. It is the job of a chiropractor to help shift baby’s nervous system out of a state of alert and defense, and into a state of “ahhhh”, formally known as a state of increased vagal tone.
As we shift baby out of a state of alert and into a state of restored comfort and ease in the body, healing can commence.
We see time after time that as we address all that is catalogued by the nervous system and the body that houses it, healing happens.
Healing happens for children as their body starts to soften back into all that they are meant to be—without the colds, the coughs, the colic, the constipation. All through holistic and conservative care.
Recuperation happens as a sense of internal safety is restored to our kiddos as we shift away from survival and into straight up thrive—all because brain and body are able to work synergistically, just as they were always meant to do.
Our children can operate with greater resilience in moments of newness and nowness, pouring all of their boundless energy into learning and growing and absorbing.
And to us, there is nothing more beautiful than watching babies grow into healthful children who live and exude the very philosophy of vitality, mindfulness, and trust in the very bodies that carry them every moment of every day.
There is a saying in chiropractic that the best time to start chiropractic is at birth, and the second best time is now. So if you’re reading this and kicking yourself for not knowing the value of taking your little one to a chiropractor from day one, take the pressure off. Give yourself grace. Take a breath in. No really…breathe. It is never too late to start holistic chiropractic care for your babes. We would be happy to help you find the best fit for you and your family.
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