Myth: All babies need to be held

Does your baby ALWAYS have to be held?

 

Video Transcript:

 

Hi, Christian Bates here – Osteopath and Naturopath. I want to do a quick video on back arching in your baby. Now, lots of parents come in and they mention about how their baby has a strong neck, and of course, parents are very proud and say: ” Oh yes, when we hold off baby its head comes up and turns both ways and they’re looking around and very aware.” 

 

Now, should a baby have a strong neck when they were a couple of days old? Probably not! They should be fairly floppy or weak really and then strengthening over time. So, what I find is babies that have strong necks.

 

if that’s their arching a little bit through their back so rather than being a strong neck they’re actually arching with colicky pain and by arching I mean that they’re in the back they’re getting a bit tight through the back and that can come from a delivery especially when they’re coming out back like this. 

 

It just maybe how they’re laying in the back but the baby would tend to arch back into a comfortable position and when they’re colicky, having a colicky attack, that classic knees up some babies do the opposite and they can be arching right back and often they arch back and then off to the side And like I’ve mentioned before, this can make it hard for them to breastfeed when they have to turn this way. 

 

So, with osteopathy treatment, I gently work between the shoulder blades and try and just ease out this arching, and then get them nice and floppy like this and the classic is as well when you have your baby and you’re holding them like this their head stays up like this. It doesn’t flop, and they’re arching back up like this, and at a couple of days old, really you probably want them lovely and soft and flopping this way. So, if your baby’s very up like this and sometimes they can really get away from you and you’re having to hold them up like this to stop them flying out of your arms. 

 

 I think that’s from the tightness between the shoulder blades. I call it back arching and I think if you loosen that off it can be really helpful and just on the side, that area between the shoulder blades the nerves to there actually come down and supply the stomach. 

 

So, if you’ve got a baby that’s refluxing a lot, then I think that a lot of that comes from being tight between the shoulder blades, because those nerves just come down and affect the stomach, and a little valve there will stay closed and they reflux up. So, a short video on arching of your baby’s back. Thank you.