Baby & Toddler

Many believe that babies & children have no structural stresses or strains in their bodies, because they are ‘so young’. However this is not always the case. The reality is that birth is one of the most structurally challenging events of our lives.

Luckily nature designed us to meet this challenge by making the bones of a baby’s skull a lot more flexible than an adult skull. During the birth process your baby is subjected to enormous forces it responds to these forces by moulding or distorting his head as it is squeezed through the birth canal. In the first few days after delivery as he suckles, cries and yawns your babies utilises his skull flexiblility and re-moulds (shapes) his head.

However, in many babies this un-moulding process is often incomplete, particularly if the birth has been difficult. This often means that the baby is uncomfortable and because they can’t tell us they usually express by crying and being unsettled or irritable.

As Osteopaths we find that where the un-moulding is impeded often relates to a baby’s complaint e.g. areas of tension at the base of the skull often relate to colic, areas of tension in the hip often relate to constipation. Your Osteopath, using a refined sense of touch called palpation, can identify if and where this un-moulding is present in your baby and using precise gentle manual techniques can release these restrictions enabling your baby to be more comfortable and unimpeded in his ability to continue grow and develop with ease.