Babies

Babies can be treated from birth!  

Treatment is very gentle, does not involve manipulation of any joints or bones and is not painful for your baby.

The ideal is to treat babies as early as possible.  The earlier babies are treated, the quicker issues can be resolved and prevented.

As a physiotherapist, I was amazed when I took my 2 day old baby home and felt inflammation, muscle spasm and stiffness in her back – similar to that of an adult.  I always imagined that babies were born perfect and that their little bodies healed so quickly on their own.  After treating many more babies and children over the past few years, I now know that if we don’t address this inflammation, muscle spasm and stiffness, it doesn't just go away on its own.  

How do newborn babies end up with adult-like strain and inflammation in their tiny bodies?
Babies can suffer varying degrees of trauma, strain or sprain during birth (both by natural as well as caesarean delivery).
Even if babies have the most perfect delivery, they may already have already developed strain and stiffness in their tiny bodies from their time spent in the womb.  
If your baby runs out of space in the womb, gets stuck in one position, lies looking one way all the time, has a foot or hand against their face all the time, is lying breech, has a short umbilical cord which restricts his/her movement in the womb or has the umbilical cord wrapped around any part of his/her body, your baby can already be stiff and uncomfortable before he/she is even born.    
If Mom has been in an accident, had a bad fall, has her own pain or stiffness or poor alignment (eg scoliosis) this can also be transferred through to the baby in the womb.   

The good news:  By bringing your baby to Physiotherapy for Craniosacral Fascial Therapy, we are able to help your baby release strain from birth and being constricted in the womb.  As this strain releases babies become much more relaxed, happy and content.   
In addition, Dr Gillespie's research is indicating that by releasing this strain early, many ailments can be prevented in childhood as well as later in life.

How to know if your baby needs treatment

If one or more of the following describe your baby, they may benefit greatly from treatment now, as well as potentially prevent many other aches, pains and ailments later in life (including concentration issues, reading difficulty, learning disorders, ADHD, scoliosis, headaches, asthma).
 
1.    Feeding Issues

The first difficulty babies and parents usually encounter is related to feeding.
Correcting feeding issues early helps to prevent colic, painful gas / wind and cramps.

Treatment can help: 

  • If your baby cannot latch, suck or swallow properly  - baby may take in a lot of air with each feed which can aggravate tummy cramps, painful gas, reflux, colic
  • If your baby won’t latch or will only latch on one side – this may be because baby has a very stiff or painful neck and / or jaw and is unable to get into a comfortable position to feed
  • If your baby has a weak suck or painful jaw  - baby may tire easily, not complete her feed and then cry a lot simply because she is very hungry 
  • If your baby has difficulty swallowing milk or solid food
  • If your baby gags on the teat,  dummy or solid food later on
  • If your baby has a very high palate
  • If your baby is difficult to burp / wind ­
  • If your baby is only happy feeding from one side or greatly prefers feeding from one side

2.    Stiff / Uncomfortable babies

Many parents who bring their babies to treatment often comment that they can feel how stiff their baby is, or that their baby is only comfortable lying on one side or being held in a certain position.  This stiffness can be making your baby very uncomfortable or sore. It can also be affecting their digestive system, aggravating stomach cramps, reflux and colic symptoms.  It can even be preventing them from reaching their normal developmental milestones.

Generally these babies can be described with one or more of the following:

  • They usually only like to be held straight, they don’t like to cuddle or be curled into the foetal position – some only like to be held or lie with their head and shoulders arched back 
  • Don’t like sitting, but prefer to stand even from a young age
  • Can appear to have amazing neck strength from birth  
  • May arch a lot  
  • Often don’t like being put in the car seat or going in the car  
  • As they get older, they battle to get their toes into their mouths  
  • Often don’t like tummy time
  • May be slow to roll, crawl, stand, walk

Treatment can help:

  • If your baby feels stiff or is not a very cuddly baby – if you can’t curl your baby up into the foetal position or if they cry when you try to curl them up, change their nappy, dress them, pick them up, hold them in certain positions
  • If your baby only turns his/her head to one side or is only comfortable lying on one side
  • If your baby always seems to have his/her shoulders and arms pulled back and / or hands fisted a lot of the time
  • If it is difficult to dress and / or change your baby’s nappy, if his/her hips / shoulders feel stiff and / or ‘click’ often

3.    Misaligned hips / Uneven hip creases

Your paediatrician and baby clinic nurse will check your baby’s hip alignment.  If they pick up a misalignment or uneven hip folds, treatment can be very effective in gently realigning the hips, pelvis and spine, and so helping to prevent issues later on.

Treatment can help:

  • If your baby’s hip or leg folds appear asymmetrical or one leg appears shorter 
  • If your baby doesn’t weight bear evenly on both legs when in the standing position

4.    Spinal Curvatures  – C-Curve, Scoliosis, Torticolis

As with hip alignment, treatment is often very effective in gently releasing the tight muscles, soft tissue and neural system in the spine and neck, allowing the spine to align correctly.

Treatment can help:

  • If your baby’s spine appears to be curved in an S-shape or a C-shape 
  • If your baby only can only turn their head to one side or favours looking one way
  • If your newborn baby always ‘rolls’ over when you lie them on their back to change their nappy

5.    Niggly / Fussy / Cries a lot / Colic / Reflux

Niggly, fussy babies who cry a lot and don’t sleep well are often just very uncomfortable in their tight bodies. As their muscle spasm and stiffness reduces, they become much more settled, content, happy babies who sleep more peacefully.

Treatment can help:

  • If your baby cries a lot or won’t settle and the doctors cannot find anything wrong with him/her
  • If your baby has colic, reflux, constipation, painful gas
  • If your baby doesn’t sleep well, fights sleep, is a restless sleeper, moans / grunts a lot in their sleep

6.    Delay in reaching developmental milestones (eg. Rolling, crawling)

Delay in reaching developmental milestones can be related to stiffness and / or pain in muscles or joints which is preventing your baby from trying to move. 

Just think, if you ran the Comrades Marathon today, how easily would you be able to roll and get out of bed tomorrow morning? 

If neurologically your baby is ready to roll for example, but stiffness is ‘blocking’ the movement – when we release the stiffness in the body your baby will start to roll.

Treatment can help:

  • If your baby isn’t reaching his/her developmental milestones on time  i.e. if your baby isn’t rolling, sitting, crawling, pulling to stand, walking when they should
  • If your baby can’t bring their hands to the midline and / or grasp toys when they should
7.    Baby has had surgery / scar tissue

Any surgery, even laparoscopic surgery, causes scar tissue in the body.  We usually only consider a scar by the outward appearance on our skin, but the scar tissue in the body extends from the scar on the skin, through the tissues and fascia (connective tissue) to the site of the surgery.  This scar tissue tightens up the fascia and can eventually start to cause tension throughout the entire 3D fascial web in the body.  Releasing scar tissue prevents tension throughout the body, as well as improves circulation to the area.  

8.    General

Other indications for treatment are:

  • If your baby has an asymmetrical head shape, face or jaw
  • If your baby’s umbilical cord was wrapped around his/her neck or any other part of his/her body
  • If your baby has a squint, blocked tear duct / gummy eye or it appears that they can’t open one or both eyes fully
  • If your baby is unhappy doing tummy time 
  • If your baby arches a lot
  • If your baby has a club foot

What does the treatment involve?

So the big question is “Will it hurt my baby?”

Many newborn babies actually sleep through the treatment, so we may assume that it is not painful.  Treatment is very gentle.  It does not involve manipulation of the joints.  By gently treating the fascia (connective tissue), muscles and neural system, the joints, spine and skull bones will realign gently without manipulation. Your baby guides the treatment, so we can’t hurt your baby.  We don’t manipulate the bones of the skull, jaw, spine or any other joint in the body.  

Babies, who have a lot of strain in their bodies and who are generally unsettled and uncomfortable, may experience discomfort during treatment – similar to stretching a tight muscle.  

Generally, the smaller the baby when they come for treatment, the easier it is to treat them and the more compliant they are.  

What is Craniosacral Fascial Therapy (CFT) / Infant Driven Movement (IDM)?

by Dr. Barry Gillespie

May 3, 2014

A student recently wrote to her neonatologist describing CFT/IDM. It was soooooo perfect, I had to share: The work Dr Gillespie performed with my baby is called Craniosacral Fascial Therapy (CFT). It is a hands-on modality that is more gentle than conventional physical therapy. A practitioner basically allows an infant to stretch and provides support such that the baby is not limited by gravity or bedding, etc. Much like how infants stretch upon awakening, their bodies instinctively know what needs to stretch and will do so readily when supported properly. So this therapy relies on the innate wisdom of the body and thus does not push or force in any way. It has been called infant-driven movement (IDM).