One common reason we see so many littles in our practice is difficulty latching. This can occur due to stress on the babies skull/jaw and or spine. Stress in these areas, including during the birth process can create difficulties latching.
As a chiropractor we check the spine first to see if there are any areas in the spine, especially the upper neck to see if there is a vertebrae and adjacent tissue and nerves impacted during pregnancy and birth. The injury can cause the upper neck to stop moving as it should impacting how the nerves control the muscles in the jaw/mouth and tongue while nursing.
Too cranial bones, or bones of the head may have not set themselves properly after birth and may need some gentle chiropractic care to assist with latching.
In order to determine what is required a thorough health history is first completed, a physical exam of the baby’s entire spine looking for flexibility, and segmental motion of all vertebrae is assessed, including reflexes, muscle tone, opening and closing of their mouth, ear position, head shape, and overall movement. An inter oral exam too will be performed looking for shape of babies roof of their mouth, looking for ability to roll their tongue, an lip or tongue tie.
Once all areas are reviewed and if a problem is found in any area chiropractic care may be utilized to assist the babies ability to restore their normal movement and in this case ability to latch.
Some home exercises to may be provided to the parents to assist.
For any questions or for more information please do not hesitate to reach out it.
