County Osteopaths : Osteopathy for Babies

Cranial Osteopathy may help to ease the aches and pains or tension that may be one of the reasons why your baby cries.

Babies find Cranial osteopathic treatment soothing and relaxing. They often fall asleep during treatment and parents frequently tell us that they sleep peacefully afterwards too.

It is believed that more babies develop an uneven shape to their head nowadays because we put them to sleep on their backs. However, some babies are affected and others are not so why does sleeping on their backs affect some babies and not others?

In the UK all qualified osteopaths have DO (Diploma in Osteopathy – the four-year course completed before 1992), or BSc (Ost) (Degree in Osteopathy – the four-year course completed during or after 1992) or similar, after their names. Osteopaths will have had a minimum of four years full time or six years mixed-attendance-mode training. In May 2000 the Osteopaths Act came into effect to maintain standards within the profession. Since that date no-one has been allowed to practice as an osteopath unless they are registered with the General Osteopathic Council (GOsC). You can only register if you have either completed a recognized training course after 2000 or trained before 2000 and undergone testing to

show competence. Osteopathy was the first profession of “complementary” therapists to achieve statutory regulation.

Cranial Osteopathy is taught alongside all other types of osteopathy at undergraduate level with further skills developed by experience and through post-graduate courses.

Please see the section entitled About Us to see how each of us has trained.

All babies cry but if your baby cries excessively you will instinctively know this and recognise that there may be something out of the ordinary upsetting them.

Cranial Osteopathy is a safe and natural treatment for babies from birth onwards.

To find out more call us on 01905 45 45 50

Osteopathy can be used to relieve muscle tension, digestive problems and the inability to relax in babies.

Osteopaths think that these may be the reasons why some babies cry a lot or seem restless or wakeful.

Also, unequal tension in the neck can leave baby only able to turn one way. This may effect feeding and flatten the baby’s head shape. Cranial Osteopathy can gently release tension in baby’s neck muscles enabling full movement and preventing further problems.

The osteopath will ask in detail about various aspects of your child's symptoms Most babies come to an osteopath without having first been seen by a doctor. Osteopaths are trained to ensure that no serious problems are overlooked.

The cranial osteopathic approach is gentle and should not cause undue discomfort. The approach involves a steady, gentle hold of one of more areas which may include the abdomen, head and back. This allows the osteopath to diagnose disturbance in the cranial rhythm and treat it with a tiny amount of very sublte and carefully applied pressure. Most babies find this treatment relaxing, indeed many fall asleep during treatment and remain asleep for a good long nap afterwards.

It is common but not normal for babies to vomit or posset (possetting is when a baby regurgitates a mouthful with not much force).The causes include being overfull, trapped wind, reflux and lactose intolerance. Cranial Osteopathy may help with trapped wind by reducing excessive muscle tension in your baby’s tummy.

One reason for frequent vomiting in babies is Gastro-oesophageal Reflux (Reflux). The baby with Reflux typically cries after every feed (and usually vomits or possets frequently - although some reflux babies don’t bring up anything at all). Medication from your GP or Paediatrician will stop the pain. If they still seem

unsettled after this, Cranial osteopathy may help them rediscover how to relax.