Importance of Tummy Time

Lack of tummy time can result in learning delays and poor posture.

We all want what is best for our new precious bundle, but many babies hate tummy time. Why is tummy time so important?

Babies need to develop their spinal muscles and their core muscles. As their core develops, so does their brain and nervous system.

Tummy time recomendations:

One month of life -30 min per day

2nd month -45 min per day

3rd month -60 min per day

Tummy time does not include babywearing or holding baby upright. Tummy time is best on their stomachs, lifting their head up against gravity. There are different ways to help a baby who does not like tummy time, such as putting them on an exercise ball slightly deflated and rocking them in different directions. The rocking assists growth in the vestibular system, assisting neurological development.

Propping baby up on towels or a pillow on your chest elevates the baby and assists them with their visual development, especially those babies who place their heads down as soon as they are on their stomach.

The birth process and how the baby is positioned in utero can affect the neck and thus affect the child's ability to extend the neck and to be able to do adequate tummy time. A chiropractic assessment and gentle treatment can assist and determine if there is a lack of extension in the neck and proper range of motion in your child’s spine. You will also be given gentle stretches and exercises to do with your baby to encourage proper neck movement and better tummy time.

Core Muscle Strength

A baby’s natural response to the prone position (lying on the stomach) is to lift the head and neck. At first, they also raise the arms and legs. Even when it doesn’t look like they’re getting anywhere, the muscles along the core of their body are strengthening. Strong and well-toned core muscles are essential for alertness and attention. Weak core muscles lead to slumped forward posture, poor tone, and  school-age children, their heads resting on desks or fists on their chin for support. These children will also show signs of poor coordination. If their heads are drooping, you can bet their attention is as well.

Visual Tracking

As the core muscles strengthen, the child’s visual field evens out. When the muscles are weak, the head bobbing that results blurs the images around them because they’re unable to focus that quickly. When the muscles develop, the head bobbing decreases, allowing the visual field to even out and become more clear. The eyes and the neck then begin working together to locate objects and determine their location. These developments are not only priming good vision in general, but also visual tracking. Proper visual tracking improves reading skills and helps children copy information from a book or whiteboard.

Vestibular System

It is far easier for a baby’s brain to orient their position in relation to the ground when they are on their tummies. While on their backs, gravity pulls on them in a way that prevents most movement. On their stomachs, they can resist the pull of gravity by doing things such as lifting the head and extremities, which activates the vestibular system. The vestibular system is responsible for balance and coordination. Children whose vestibular systems aren’t functioning correctly struggle with coordination, discrimination of objects, and even self-regulation. This can lead to behavioral problems, attention span issues, and a whole host of other issues in the classroom.

Dr. Joelle Johnson B.Sc., D.C., focuses her practice on prenatal care, postnatal care, and pediatric chiropractic care in Red Deer Alberta. www.familyfirstchiro.ca 403-347-3261 at 142 Erickson Drive.

Why Choose CranioSacral Therapy for your Infant

Why choose CranioSacral Therapy for your Infant or Baby?

Well, whatever your baby lacks in talking skills, she definitely makes up for by communicating in other ways!

Infants and babies can’t help BUT communicate. They cry when they’re hungry, tired or just sore. Their discomfort comes through quickly in the forms of infant eczema, rash, colic and many other “stay awake at night” types of symptoms (for both baby and parents!).

Some infants have had a comfortable and natural birth, and yet show some of the symptoms above. Other infants have worked their way through a lot of birth complications and show them too.

I have seen CranioSacral Therapy at its most effective when working on Infants, babies and toddlers - in other words as early as possible in the lives of your loved ones.

I'd like to give some examples of approaches to infant health using CranioSacral Therapy for a variety of conditions but first I'd like to run through some background as to how (and why) craniosacral therapy can be a very effective intervention to restore your baby's well-being.

Key Areas that CranioSacral Therapy Addresses

Some babies endure long and difficult births which necessitate the use of drugs to start or speed up labour. Many may then need intervention (vacuum, forceps or C-section) for their safe delivery. A baby’s head and body is adapted to compression during labour and indeed benefits from this pressure. What leads to difficulty, are the excessive forces of artificially-induced contractions or the use of medical instruments. These place overwhelming pressure on the delicate bones and membranes of the baby’s head and body. These interventions, while necessary for a baby’s safe delivery, can result in unwanted side effects which lead to a cranky and unsettled baby. The light touch of craniosacral therapy is appropriate and effective in relieving these compressions and allows the baby’s systems to balance and relax.
As a trained craniosacral therapist I address the following principal areas:

·         Cranial base: The area where the back of the neck meets the head, is an area that is most susceptible to distortion during birth. Compression in this area irritates the vagus nerve which provides the main parasympathetic nerve supply to the digestive organs. This nerve is responsible for the body’s ability to rest and digest. Its compression can lead to overstimulation of the nerve causing spasm of the digestive organs and, consequently, colic. Also located at the cranial base is the upper sympathetic ganglion. This nerve supply runs along the whole spine providing sympathetic nerve supply to the viscera. It seeks to close down digestion and close food pathways. Compression on this nerve causes restlessness, over-stimulation and hyperactivity. So, when both the nerves are restricted simultaneously the body is getting a mixed message to relax and be stimulated at the same time. The result is conflict, obstruction and spasm, and the many manifestations of colic.

·          Mouth, Neck and Shoulder Strain: In delivery the baby’s neck and shoulders may be forcibly rotated leading to soft tissue damage and strain. If there has been a strain on neck and mouth these nerves may become inflamed and irritated making sucking and feeding problematic. Many babies with colic are often suffering from irritation of the nerves of the neck and mouth. These babies have difficulty in latching on, will only use part of their mouths to suck, gulp their feed and pull suddenly off the breast. They will also show a preference in lying on one side and so favouring one breast.
Working lightly with the bones of the upper palate frees up the mouth by releasing bony restrictions, relaxing muscle tension and facilitating nerve release. This improves the “suck, swallow, breathe” pattern for the baby and assists breastfeeding. Freeing up these strain patterns clears up wry neck (torticollis) and allows the baby to feed comfortable from each breast.

·         Overrides: After vacuum or forceps delivery, or resulting from the position baby lay in the womb, babies may have pronounced bumps on their head. These are overrides where the underlying cranial membrane tension has caused the cranial bones to ride over each other. While many of these bumps disappear naturally, others need assistance to release the underlying tension that is holding the bones in an unnatural position.
With very delicate techniques, the craniosacral therapist can palpate where the strain in the tissue lies and follow this strain pattern, sometimes travelling from the cranial membranes along the dural tube down the spine.

Restoring the balance in the baby’s head and body is important for future health as craniosacral therapists note that these unresolved strain patterns in children lead on to overactive children ,who cannot sit still in school and may have learning difficulties. As babies their ability to fight infection, especially of the eye, ear and throat is compromised. Increased pressure on the temporal bones during delivery reduces the functioning of the Eustachian tube and hinders the ability of the sinuses and ears to drain mucus leading to re-occurring infections.

Key Conditions that Craniosacral Therapy Addresses

Any condition where the body’s self-healing mechanism can be supported through improved fascial flexibility. That covers the majority of conditions that involve pain, restriction, increased susceptibility to infection, and poor circulation and breathing.

Early evaluation and treatment of newborns is recommended as colic, feeding difficulties and hyperactivity will often be quickly reduced or eliminated. Strains introduced before, during or shortly after birth are quickly eliminated which may otherwise lead on to later dysfunction which would take much more time with a less fluid and flexible mature adult.

Summary

As craniosacral therapists we are concerned with evaluating and helping to restore the flexibility of the whole of the facial system. We gain insight into the body state through light touch and listening to the craniosacral rhythm. By listening and feeling this fascial wisdom we are taken to the deeper causes of pain and dysfunction instead of being distracted by symptoms and their apparent causes. Put simply, we treat as we find.

Jeannette Raskin is at Family First Chiropractic on Wednesday evenings and Saturday. 403-347-3261. 142 Erickson Dr. Red Deer. family1stchiro.ca