Newborns, Infants and Children

The time around birth whether it be the force of contractions or lack of, being birthed vaginally or pulled via cesarian section, the use of instruments, the length of labour, a low or high APGAR score, medicalized birth or an uncomplicated birth; all shapes the beginning weeks of a newborn.

Newborns will generally suckle, yawn and cry in the first few days to help naturally push out any strains from the birthing process. Sometimes as the weeks go on you may notice with your baby that they are unsettled, cry excessively, have a flat spot on their head, a preference for moving one side of the body, feeding difficulties or sleeping difficulties. These may be attributed in part to their birth and the unresolved trauma sustained. Osteopathy may be able to assist in releasing these strains and allowing the newborn or infant to have sufficient function of their musculoskeletal system to maintain healthier behaviours.

As the children grow and develop, reflexes are slowly integrated into conscious movements. These reflexes are present in a newborn to start initiating movement and to help with basic survival. As the random movements begin to become coordinated, the infant creates, strengthens and myelinates neural networks. Sometimes an infant or child will miss a milestone such as crawling or may show a lack of co-ordination or lack of core strength. This may mean a primitive reflex wasn’t integrated as well as it could have been. Victoria uses Rhythmic movement training to help replicate these innate activities and find rhythm again. This helps to improve the foundation movements of which the child can develop complex tasks from.