Did your baby come into this world through a challenging delivery like a c-section, forceps, or vacuum extraction? If so, they are more likely to experience neuro-motor dysfunction where the brain 🧠 does not properly communicate with the muscles in the head and neck.

When babies are born through these types of interventions extreme pressure is placed on their head, neck and shoulders which can lead to tense nerves and excessive stress💥in the nervous system. When this stress is not removed it creates interference in neural communication pathways between the brain, muscles, and body, potentially leading to the following symptoms:

• Stiff neck or a tilted head (Torticollis)

• Favoring one side to look towards

• Poor muscle control of the head and neck

• Trouble latching

• Flat spot on the head (often stemming from a stiff neck and poor muscle control in the head and neck)

• Fussiness or colic (from tight neck muscles or trouble feeding)

Some of these symptoms can even develop in babies 👶🏾born without interventions as the labor and delivery process still places a high amount of pressure on a baby’s spine and nervous system. These issues can be prevalent from day one or develop over time due to a stressed nervous system that’s unable to properly send and receive messages to the muscles, tissues, and nerves required for healthy motor development.

➡️ If your baby displays some of the signs above it’s a good idea to have them checked and adjusted by a pediatric chiropractor who can relieve the tension in their nervous system which will naturally improve their stiff neck, muscle control, range of motion, and latching skills — avoiding the development of flat spots and the need for a baby helmet!

Listen here as Dr. Kyle explains how chiropractic care gets to the root cause of Torticollis and the other health concerns listed above.

Wondering if your baby’s symptoms could be a result of a stressed nervous system? Let us take the guess work out of it for you and have them scanned with our neurological insight technology. Depending on your child’s age we perform 2-3  scans that look at different aspects of the nervous system. This helps our doctors identify where and how severe subluxation (nerve interference) may be at play and if your child’s autonomic nervous system is stuck in “fight or flight” mode.

3 Things You Can Do so Your Baby Does Not Develop a Flat Spot on Their Head

1. Get them adjusted by a pediatric chiropractor as soon as possible after birth. Early adjustments help to relieve any stress from birth, keep nerves activating properly 💫, and relaxes any tense muscles so baby can easily turn their head to the left and right equally.

2. Avoid lying baby on their back all the time by babywearing and doing skin-to-skin whenever possible. Less time on their back = less pressure on the same spots of their head. Plus, being close to mom's familiar heartbeat is calming, and getting skin-to-skin time with mom or dad helps to regulate their sleep cycle. Win-Win! 🙌

3. Practice tummy time and side-lying play. Tummy time gets all the hype, but side-lying play not only keeps pressure off the back of the head & alternates between sides, but it also helps to build up important abdominal muscles needed for getting up on all fours, reaching, and crawling. 🌟

At Restore Chiropractic we LOVE 🥰 helping infants who have difficulty turning their head both ways, have a slight head tilt, or trouble latching. Give us a call if you want to have your baby’s nervous system scanned for subluxation (nerve interference) and adjusted to prevent flat spots on their head, avoid a baby helmet, and improve your child’s motor skills development and happiness.