The World Health Organization recommends that babies be exclusively breastfed for the first six months of their life. They state that breast milk is the ideal food to provide the right vitamins and nutrients to ensure proper growth and development of infants. There is really no true replacement for the nutrition a baby receives through his or her mother’s milk.
While many mothers plan to nurse for that amount of time, quite a few end up giving up for reasons that seem to have no solution. On top of that, many practitioners have difficulty pinpointing the exact cause of the problem. Leaving both mom and baby confused and very frustrated. Quite often these unidentified issues actually reside in your baby’s spine as a result of a birthing trauma to the cranium and neck. Weather it be poor latch, improper weight gain, low milk supply, or pain and discomfort for the mother; these can all be explained by improper alignment.
Key Indicators of Breastfeeding Problems:
- Babies that can only nurse in one position
- Babies who cannot latch firmly
- Babies who can latch but have trouble sucking, swallowing, or breathing
- Babies who have trouble feeding from bottles as well
- Babies who constantly seem hungry and never satisfied even just after nursing
- Babies that seem to have pain, cry, or pull at their ear while trying to feed
Steps to help resolve your breastfeeding problems:
- Check for tongue and lip ties: This could physically prevent your baby from being able to properly latch. After your child was born, the hospital will check to make sure your infant does not have a tongue or lip tie. However, quite often can be missed by practitioners until your baby is a little bit bigger. Even if it was checked once, get a second, or third opinion.
- Have your baby checked by a pediatric chiropractor: As previously mentioned, there may be very small misalignments in your baby’s neck or cranium that can make feeding a challenge.
- Monitor your milk supply: If your baby doesn’t seem to be getting enough food, it is imperative that you do all that you can to keep your milk supply up. It is vital that you get enough calories throughout the day from healthy foods including fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, HEALTHY carbohydrates, and plenty of water. This way, once your feeding issues have resolved, your milk supply will not have depleted.
- Help your baby to stretch and strengthen their jaw muscles on a daily basis: Just like adults, babies need learn the proper biomechanics of their body in order to thrive. Regular and VERY GENTLE stretching and exercising of the jaw and cervical muscles can help set you and your baby on the right path for long term success.
If a misalignment is the source of your breastfeeding issue, an adjustment or series of adjustments may be indicated to correct the problem. As a mother of a seven-month old baby boy myself, I am fully aware of how terrifying that could sound! But believe it or not, an adjustment for an infant is incredibly gentle. The amount of pressure needed in order to make a correction, is about the same pressure you would use to check if a tomato is ripe.
If you are one of those mom’s who truly desires to exclusively breastfeed for the first six months but are contemplating giving up due to complications, please don’t give up until you have a conversation with me. Your persistence can have positive lasting health benefits that will continue with them well into adulthood. They will thank you one day.
Dr. Kristin Moore, DC is a prenatal and pediatric chiropractor at Align Healing Center in Danville, California. She offers a complimentary 15-minute consultation to the readers of ALIVE Magazine. Call Dr. Kristin at (925) 362-8283 to schedule your appointment.
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