How Chiropractic Helps with Breastfeeding

Difficulty breastfeeding is something that brings a lot of young babies into our office. We see a lot of moms come in and they really want to feed their baby and to have a great breastfeeding relationship but they're struggling, either it's painful, the latch is ineffective or baby is nursing better on one side versus the other. 

For whatever reason, something or multiple things are getting in the way of that breastfeeding relationship from being fully established. And even in situations where moms have met with lactation consultants and they have tried everything, the improvements may be temporary. 

Chiropractic is posed to provide support in a unique way that we think more and more moms need to hear about. It all comes down to the alignment in the top part of the neck. When you think about the birth process, whether it's the compression going through the birth canal and then the traction or pulling on a baby’s neck during a vaginal or cesarean birth, there's a lot of trauma that young babies experience in the top bone in the neck. When that bone is shifted out of position and it's restricted in its motion it interferes with breastfeeding in four ways.

The first being the top bone (C1 or “atlas”) of the neck does not move as well. 80° of rotation (40° each way) relies on unrestricted movement of the top bone in the neck and if that bone is rotated in a specific direction, in chiropractic we call this subluxated, it's going to make it very difficult for that child to fully engage and sustain an entire breastfeeding session on one side versus the other. This is where you moms might notice that your child feeds better on one side and not the other or the latch is painful on one side and not the other. So it all comes down to how that bone moves.

Second, when that top bone is subluxated, it also affects the muscles: not only throughout the neck but even into the jaw, affecting your child’s ability to open and close their mouth. When you’re feeding, if the latch is painful, it feels like they're biting down or they're not opening their mouth wide enough, this might be the case. A successful latch requires not just getting the nipple and the areola into their mouth but some of the surrounding breast. It’s called breastfeeding after all, not nipplefeeding!

Thirdly, when that top bone is subluxated it compromises the cranial nerves that not only control the motion and movement of the jaw, they also affect the tongue, lips and the entire oral fascial connection. So what we see is if that top bone is subluxated, it compromises neurological communication to these structures which means the tongue may not move as well or your child may not have an appropriate sucking and swallowing reflex which is critical for comfortable and effective feeding.

Fourth and finally, because that top bone is the gateway between the brain and the rest of the body, if that bone is subluxated it can compromise movement of what’s called  cerebrospinal fluid or CSF. CSF normally nourishes and provides support to the brain and then goes down the spinal cord to the tailbone and then back up. When that bone is shifted it causes that fluid to build up in the brain. Then when babies start to latch and they really start to suck to try to facilitate the letdown it creates pressure and can cause a lot of discomfort and what we'll see is they'll pull off the breast and arch backwards. It can be very uncomfortable and is something that a lot of women experience so if you're in a situation or if you know somebody who's in the situation where you're breastfeeding and your baby has a preference of one side versus the other or the latch is painful or it's ineffective and your baby seems uncomfortable, those are all signs that that top bone in the neck may be subluxated. And that is exactly what pediatric chiropractic care helps with.

What makes pediatric chiropractic safe and effective for babies is that there's no twisting, popping or cracking when we're talking about adjusting little babies. Because the joint is so susceptible to shifting it's also so much easier to correct; they don't have the years of muscle memory and movement patterns that parents have. And as a result baby adjustments take about the same amount of pressure that it takes to test the ripeness of a tomato–it's very gentle but also very effective in correcting the subluxation, realigning that top bone. This allows babies to better engage the breast on both sides, it allows them to open their mouth to have good sucking and swallowing and it allows them to be able to do so without creating intracranial discomfort.

Chiropractic care provides tremendous support for moms and for babies to establish a better breastfeeding relationship, making the transition into motherhood more enjoyable and rewarding. 

To find out how we can help your child with breastfeeding, the first step to take is booking an appointment. We will take your child through our 3-Step Clinical Process to get a complete picture of what exactly your child is struggling with, the path forward for them and how we can help.

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