Breastfeeding can be incredibly challenging especially when a baby's lip or tongue are held too tightly by a thick string.  It can feel like you need ten hands to hold the baby, your breast or bottle, the breast shield PLUS have to pump after THEN feed that to the baby and somehow eat, sleep and possibly take care of other children. Together we can help you solve most breastfeeding challenges and get you back to enjoying your baby.

Imagine your own tongue being tied down to the floor of your mouth such that you practically choke every time you eat or drink much less try to speak.  It makes it really hard to suck, swallow and breath when the tongue is not moving freely.So a baby gets quite resourceful and will use their jaw mucles to do a chewing type motion instead.  That creates a very chompy type of latch while feeding.  Ouch! Or worse, they can't even get latched on the breast or bottle.  They use all their energy chomping and fall asleep within mere minutes only to awake shortly hungry and crying yet again.
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Newborns can have a tough journey getting out of the womb. In fact, it is pretty tight quarters in there and sometimes they get stuck before they even try to emerge.  Breech babies, babies that are sunny side up (occiput posterior) and multiples (wombmates) get a bit more squeezed than others.  Some babies seem tense in their body right from the start. They might develop a head preference keeping their head turned more in one direction than the other.  Eventually that could lead to a flat spot on their skull or even a diagnosis of torticollis.  Other babies are tense and seem cranky or colicky most of the day. Having gentle chiropractic care by a chiropractor trained to work on babies can restore normal joint motion and release body tension.  Since the cranial bones of the head are not fused yet, the bones can shift during the first year of life.  Craniolsacral therapy can help ease the tension in the mouth, head, neck and body.  We combine gentle chiropractic adjustments with cranial work.  The hands-on care for a child is extremely gentle and never involves cracking, twisting or pushing like it might when an adult receives chiropractic care.

Infants will be placed in a cozy pillow and examined checking to see how their body moves right side compared to left. We will check their shoulder and hip range of motion as well as spinal motion. We will note any body tension or restriction as well as if the infant appears uncomfortable with any movements made. We will check infantile reflexes and make sure they are on track with motor development.    

Most of the infants we see at this office are struggling to either breastfeed effectively or take a bottle, maybe even both.  That could be due to body tension, jaw tension, oral ties, discoordinated suck patterns or weak oral  muscles as well as common issues like maternal milk supply, positioning, nipple pain and gaining and sustaining a deep enough latch.