Babies and Children Osteopathy

​Babies will often communicate there is a problem by being unsettled, irritable, or wakeful. Symptoms in a newborn baby to be aware of are:

• gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDS, colic, vomiting, 'silent reflux', sucking and swallowing problems)

• continuous crying

• difficulty feeding or a preference to feed from one breast

• sticky eyes

• sleeping difficulties

• stiffness of the neck muscles

• favouring the head to one side (torticollis and/or plagiocephaly which are good to get onto early for best results)

• a misshapen head (plagiocephaly usually caused by strain in utero or neck issues)

• tongue tie or jaw restriction (often affects feeding or weight gain. We can work to ease tight tongue tissues and with your LC to support your baby pre and post laser treatment if still required)

• recurrent ear infections or 'glue ear'

• 'failure to thrive' (a serious condition that we have thankfully been successful in treating many times)

A baby's passage through the birth canal is often a difficult process. Nature ensures that the bones of the skull are pliable enough to overlap to enable this to happen, however, sometimes the bones do not return fully to their normal positions after delivery. Strain of the baby's neck or spine can also occur and these issues are more likely to happen if the labour is very fast, unusually long, or fails to progress. Other factors include if a large baby is passing through a small pelvis, if a baby has a large head, or if intervention is necessary, for example, a forceps delivery or ventouse extraction. A Caesarian birth may involve trauma to a baby stuck in the mother's pelvis. Alternatively, problems of compression can occur in utero if there is insufficient amniotic fluid. Preterm as well as full-term babies can need help to recover from the process of their birth.

​When to Seek Osteopathy for Babies and Children:

When your baby or child is struggling with any of the above conditions. We are able to treat alongside conventional medical care to help your baby or child restore their health.

Many parents bring their baby in for a 'post birth check' as we can pick up specific strains and explain what we have found even before they have become a big problem for your baby's ability to function. If you have some questions regarding your situation, please call our front desk team and one of our paediatric osteopaths will call you back as soon as we are able.

Paediatric cranial and visceral osteopathy are approaches that can be very effective in treating a wide range of symptoms and conditions in babies, children and also adults. Our treatments are very safe and gentle, based on extensive clinical experience and research evidence. Our aim is to work with your baby's self healing mechanism to gently ease away any obstructions which are preventing the baby or child from recovering their healthy homeostatic function. Obstructions that may get in the way include restriction of  bone and muscle function, and/or of blood supply, nerve supply and venous and lymphatic drainage. Once these obstructions are eased away, the baby or child (or adult) is able to more easily recover their optimal health and feel better. Babies children osteopathy is research based with many years of clinical experience added to achieve excellent results quickly.

Please note, our Paediatric Reg Osteopaths who are experienced in Babies Children Osteopathy are Dr Melanie Young, Sebastian Tucker and Dr Giulia Buczkowsky.