Spinal Health and Development for Babies/Toddlers

By Dr Barry Decker

Part 1- Patient Story

My daughter, Justine, was born with a huge lymphatic growth (containing water) on the left breast. Her immune system was weak. She was always on antibiotics for upper respiratory infections. At two, she had the lymphatic growth removed and stayed in hospital for over 2 months. Her immune system remained weak and she remained on antibiotics.

Then Justine went to see Dr Decker for an examination and consultation. He pointed out her spine was not straight and recommended chiropractic adjustment. Justine is now almost six. She’s not been on any antibiotics since she was three.

On one occasion, she had a really bad cold, headache, fever and symptoms of influenza. I decided to see Dr Decker first before seeing a pediatrician. I have been educated that the body can heal itself and the healing is often much faster for children than adults.

Again, Dr Decker recommended chiropractic adjustment. After the adjustment, we went to her pediatrician believing that another course of antibiotics would be necessary.

Following the examination, the pediatrician did not prescribe any medication. He said the cold was not so bad after all. Meanwhile her fever had subsided after sweating profusely following the chiropractic adjustment.

D.L.
Hong Kong


Part 2- Birth Trauma

Traumatic Birth Syndrome (TBS) is estimated to be the sixth leading cause of infant death. Mostly underreported and misdiagnosed, it’s unlikely your doctor will have any clue, if you mention the subject.

Birth is a very normal biological process. Although it doesn’t require “management” as a disease, most physicians and hospitals treat it in the manner of a sickness.
My concern when dealing with pregnancy is the status of the mother’s spine and nervous system so that she can maintain a healthy pregnancy.

It’s important that all neural relays and connections are working optimally. This will ensure a mom has a good, uneventful delivery resulting in a health body.

An interference in the function of the mother’s nervous system will affect the manner in which the baby rotates and turns in the womb, for example. It will also affect the baby’s nutrition, development, and hence, it’s growth.

During the delivery process, a tremendous stress is placed on the head and neck of the baby and often this stress causes vertebral subluxations of the infant’s very delicate spinal bones. This, in turn, affects the spinal cord and parts of the nervous system of the baby and can produce a myriad of health problems. These can appear seemingly unrelated to the process of delivery and can affect your child months or years later – even as an adult!

Excerpt from Kid’s First- Birth trauma – Ogi Ressel, D.C.

Part 3

A young child has a recurring ear infection. Chiropractic will try to address the root cause and prevent further infection and surgical intervention. An impaired function of the upper neck area irritates the nerve connection to the nasal passage lowering its function leading to a weakened area and eventually some type of function.

Colic is another common complaint in the first 6 months of babies. A Danish trial compared chiropractic adjustments with standard medical care and found chiropractic was both safe and significantly more effective. In my own practice I’ve had many such cases helped with chiropractic.

Part 4- Patient Story

Since I have started to feed my baby with formula I had a few problems with him. He didn’t digest very well and he was quite nervous all the time. I took him to the chiropractic doctor who gave him an adjustment and he noticed some allergy points. After testing four different baby formulas (one of them lactose free and one hypoallergenic) it became very clear immediately to see the different reaction. I have started to use hypoallergenic formula and he is much better now: more satisfied, more relaxed and also sleeps better.
Thanks to the chiropractic adjustment!

Emmanuela Merlatti

Part 5

As your baby grows it will pass through certain developmental milestones where neurological reflexes will change. However, sometimes she will get ‘stuck’ in a reflux and not grow through this (what an referred to as retained primitive reflexes) and will slow the development. Often these blocked reflexes are the result of damage to the cranium, upper spine and nerves associated around that area. Gentle chiropractic adjustment can relieve any blockages allowing the communication to be returned and the body to health and develop normally.

Tips for a healthy strong spine for your baby

Tummy time

Everyday, have your baby spend time on the floor. For very young babies it may be for only a few minutes and up to 30 minutes for older babies. This will strengthen their neck first, then all of their back and also their arms as they begin to push up. This sets the stage for your baby to be strong enough to crawl.

With our first baby, we listened to the current wisdom of having him sleep on his back, which resulted in his head flattening and subsequent cranial work to rectify this. For our third baby, we returned to the wisdom of previous years of having her sleep on her stomach. Not only did this help soothe any tummy upsets, she slept well and had incredible strength and control of her hands by 5-6 months. ‘Cot death’ was not considered a high risk for us as from the reading I have done, it is associated with nerve irritation to the upper spine from Birth Trauma (which may affect the breathing reflex) and vaccination.

Crawling

Your baby must crawl to develop proper co-ordination and strength required to walk correctly. Do not actually encourage him to walk, he will naturally pull himself up and ‘cruise’ around. Do not hold his hands and make him walk; let him crawl for as long as possible (it will only be a few months difference but the benefits will be immense, not to mention it’s a lot easier for Mum and Dad to look after).

There have been a number of little patients that we have had to ‘reteach’ to crawl. If you let them they will be lazy and want you to do everything for them. Put them on their tummy and place something they want out of reach. Watch the fun! It’s also very worthwhile to get down on your hands and knee and play with them.