Parents turn to chiropractic care for their babies to address various issues, including sleep disorders, colic, ear pain and infection, plagiocephaly, and sucking dysfunction. For instance, chiropractic care helps solve a baby's inability to latch on properly during sucking due to a communication failure between the brain and reflexes that enable sucking. Notably, chiropractic treatment clears the irritation in the central nervous system, opening up the necessary communication pathways for coordination between the tongue and throat muscles.

The ultimate goal of infant chiropractic care is to restore proper motion to a baby's joints and tissues to ensure that everything is biomechanically sound. In this sense, infant chiropractic care helps to reduce tension, enabling optimal growth and development of a baby.

Here is a beginner's guide to infant chiropractic care.   

1. It's Safe

Pediatric chiropractic is different from treatment administered on adults for safety reasons. A chiropractor adjusts their techniques, depth, and contacts to ensure that treatment is effective and safe for infants. For example, the thrust applied in infants is shallow and entails less force compared to adults. Also, the contact area is smaller for joints preservation since an infant is not yet fully developed. Most importantly, gentle manipulation by a chiropractor does not hurt a baby. However, a baby might cry because of being placed in an awkward or unfamiliar position. Therefore, parents should trust that pediatric chiropractic care is safe for babies. 

2. It Addresses Ear Pain and Infection

Babies are prone to ear infections because of fluid accumulation in the middle ear cavity. The fluid gets trapped because of spasming of ear muscles near the Eustachian tubes.  However, the fluid buildup creates the perfect haven for viruses and bacteria to thrive. The standard treatment for ear infections is the use of antibiotics to kill the bacteria. However, the treatment does not stop the fluid from accumulating. Chiropractic treatment aids in draining the fluid by dilating muscles surrounding the eustachian tubes, unblocking the tubes and relieving pain.

3. It Can Address Colic

Infants develop colic symptoms mainly due to an underactive or immature gastrointestinal system. While such symptoms are usual, they can cause a baby to become fussy and cry most of the time. The root cause of colic is a misaligned spine, which leads to improper functioning of the gastrointestinal system. With adjustment and gentle manipulation of the spine and muscles during chiropractic care, a professional relieves accumulated pressure and enables a baby to digest food properly.