Cranial osteopathy for babies is a very gentle light technique which can give them a great start in life.
There are many causes for a baby to show signs of discomfort in the first days, weeks and months of life. Usually causes are divided into three areas. In-utero causes such as a baby lying in an awkward position. The affects of labour on their baby, including c-sections, ventous, a cord around the neck, back to back or forceps. And post-natal including injuries and accidents, infections and the affect of a poor suck.
Most babies are able to recover from many of these events with little affect on them. However babies that don’t can show signs of discomfort in many ways: these include crying and being irritatble or unsettled for long periods, difficulty latching and sucking, preferring to lie in a curled up position, a tendency to feed on one side, the head rotated to one side.
With cranial osteopathy we assess the baby first with a medical assessment including developmental milestones, then we assess them cranially to see what is physically happening within in the body. Once we have assessed them and found a restriction or pattern of restrictions we are able to treat the baby with a light contact which relieves any strain and and allows the body to function better.
Babies respond really quickly to treatment and usually they only need to have two or three treatments to fully resolve the symptoms. After treatment babies are usually more tired and sleep well for the first 24 hours. However some have a boost of energy that means they are more lively than usual with the occasional baby seeming to be more unsettled which usually only lasts for 24 to 48 hours after treatment.
