As a parent, nothing can prepare you for the distress of seeing your baby cry inconsolably for hours on end. If your little one is crying for more than three hours a day and seems impossible to comfort, there is a good chance they are experiencing colic. This diagnosis affects about 25% of infants, leaving many families feeling overwhelmed and helpless.

It’s important to understand that colic isn’t just regular fussiness or tummy troubles that babies outgrow. It’s not just gas pains, food sensitivities, or issues with tongue and lip ties. Instead, colic often stems from deeper neurological imbalances and disruptions in your baby’s nervous system signaling and digestion. 

Research has shown that colic isn’t something babies grow out of, and is a condition that requires attention and understanding. It is in no way your fault as a parent, nor is it a reflection of something you’re doing wrong. Understand that colic is a neurological imbalance and dysfunction that disrupts aspects of an infant’s well-being. Including sleep, digestion, and soothing mechanisms, can help you find the right care for your baby. 

So, if you’re a parent who is overwhelmed by your baby’s persistent crying and you suspect there’s more to it than just typical infant behavior, this is for you. We’re here to offer insights beyond traditional medicine and to introduce drug-free solutions. Neurologically-focused chiropractic care has helped numerous families find relief for their little ones. 

Exploring Colic’s Root Causes

As mentioned, colic often originates from something called subluxation and vagus nerve dysfunction rather than just gas pains or food sensitivities. Subluxation refers to areas of misalignment and tension in the spine. Vagus nerve dysfunction can disrupt vital functions such as digestion, immune response, and relaxation. Understanding these underlying issues is crucial for effectively addressing colic and promoting your baby’s well-being.

The Science Beyond Surface Symptoms

Colic affects approximately one in four infants, leading to prolonged crying episodes and challenges with traditional soothing methods. The origins of this neurological dysfunction can often be traced back to pregnancy. Maternal inflammation or a high-stress pregnancy can shift a baby’s nervous system into a state of dysautonomia. Where the fight-or-flight response dominates, affecting crucial functions like sleep and digestion.

During childbirth, birth stress and interventions such as forceps, vacuum extraction, or C-sections can further exacerbate these issues. The upper neck and mid-back area houses and protects the vagus nerve. A vital nerve responsible for sleep regulation, digestion, and relaxation—can experience misalignment and tension. This leaves your child’s nervous system trapped in sympathetic fight-or-flight mode, hindering their ability to find comfort and calm.

The Road to Relief From Colic

The journey to understanding and addressing colic can be daunting, especially when conventional wisdom may suggest that colic is a passing phase. The truth is that unresolved colic can lead to other health challenges, such as constipation, ear infections, and developmental delays. However, there is hope! 

Specialized care protocols, including advanced technology like INSiGHT Scans, can guide precise care plans. These scans provide invaluable insights into your baby’s nervous system function. Pinpointing regions of dysfunction and subluxation and guiding the development of a precise care plan tailored to your child’s needs. 

Once armed with this comprehensive assessment, we start with gentle neurologically-focused adjustments aimed at restoring proper nervous system function. While activating the vagus nerve and alleviating digestive issues associated with colic.

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Taking Action for Your Baby’s Well-Being

If you find yourself exhausted, yearning for real answers to the root causes of your child’s colic, we’re ready to take that next step with you. Please reach out to RCW today to schedule a new patient consultation and exam for your baby. Restoring nervous system function brings fast relief, helping your baby thrive!

As parents and dedicated pediatric chiropractors at Rochester Chiropractic and Wellness, we have witnessed the struggles that countless children face – battles against unresolved anxiety, poor sleep, low immunity, and inflammation, despite the tireless efforts of you parents striving to support your child’s health. This struggle leaks into their behavior, marked by frequent meltdowns and an inability to self-calm or regulate. These persistent challenges may be indicative of a constant activated stress response causing struggles for their delicate nervous systems.

The alarming truth is that over 77% of today’s youth suffer from chronic health conditions, with neurological and mental health disorders standing out as the most prevalent. The latest clinical research points to dysfunctional nervous system patterns that serve as the main drivers when it comes to these conditions.

Specifically, when your child becomes stuck in “fight or flight” mode, the cascade of stress hormones disrupts vital processes like digestion, immunity, and development. The restorative parasympathetic “rest and digest” activation becomes suppressed, spiraling into a relentless cycle known as the “Perfect Storm.”

If your child is stuck in the “Perfect Storm” of symptoms, leaving you feeling helpless in your pursuit of solutions – rest assured this is a scenario that resonates with so many parents, and it’s crucial for you to recognize that you are not alone. Understanding that these challenges are linked to the nervous system is pivotal in navigating the journey toward better health for your child.

How Kids Get Stuck in a Fight or Flight Stress Response:

Your child’s nervous system, like a switch, goes between active and relaxed modes. When there’s a short-term danger, it goes into “fight or flight” mode. But problems happen when the stress reaction stays for too long.

The Vagus Nerve’s Function

At the heart of nervous system regulation is the vagus nerve, controlling the activation of the body’s “rest, digest, and regulate” parasympathetic nervous system. This critical nerve regulates digestion, breathing, heart rate, and inflammation and is more tied to restoration. We also know that the vagus nerve is essential to social and emotional regulation, speech, and so much more. 

Impaired vagal tone traps your child in fight or flight, leading to a condition called dysautonomia. Dysautonomia (or out-of-balance autonomic nervous system) can then lead to a host of other chronic health challenges in kids.

What Getting Stuck in Fight or Flight Looks Like in Kids

Here are signs that your child may be stuck in fight or flight mode: 

• Heightened baseline anxiety, worry, and panic responses
• Frequent emotional meltdowns and outbursts
• Disrupted sleep and nightmares
• Loss of appetite or overeating
• Increased food sensitivities and allergies
• New onset headaches or body aches
• Overreaction to minor frustrations
• Poor focus and concentration troubles
• Frequent illnesses and decreased immunity
• Persistent fatigue or hyperactivity

When your child’s nervous system gets overloaded and stuck, churning out stress chemicals, it turns into a range of symptoms that can disrupt health and development. Leading to: 

• Anxiety and Mood Changes
• Cognitive and Behavioral Challenges
• Physical Hurdles (including): Headaches, body tension, abdominal pain, low energy, and immune weakness
• Growth and Development Delays

How to Get Our Kids Out of Fight or Flight Long Term

Parents, you hold immense power in nurturing your child’s well-being at home. It’s always a great idea to engage daily in breathing exercises, helping with the relaxation response. You can try gentle movements like yoga to process cortisol. Ensure optimal nutrition to replenish drained reserves, and consider natural supplements for gentle inflammation modulation. Prioritize restorative sleep for holistic health.

However, time and again, we meet parents who have tried everything under the sun to help their child learn to calm, regulate, and balance their emotions and nervous system, but to no avail. 

In cases where the nervous system seems stuck in fight or flight, the crucial first step is Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care. 

These adjustments target vagus nerve stimulation and release pent-up stress within the sympathetic nervous system, proving way more impactful than traditional methods.

As adjustments start to help restore better sleep patterns and enhance neurological health for your child, you can then introduce breathing exercises, calming activities, and nutritional programs. 

So, if your child is expressing symptoms tied to a stuck-on, fight-or-flight nervous system, and you’ve exhausted every avenue without success, consider addressing nervous system dysregulation and subluxation as the missing link. 

Like so many other developmental challenges in kids, witnessing your child struggle with speech delay can be such a heartbreaking and frustrating experience. It not only affects their communication skills but also leads to social and emotional challenges as they find it difficult to express their needs and emotions. 

Whether your child has been diagnosed with a speech delay or you suspect one, this blog aims to shed light on the science behind speech delays. Additionally, if your child is receiving speech therapy services but is still struggling or has plateaued with their results, we’ll get into how often traditional therapy is fantastic but not able to fully address the root cause. We’ll break down the neurology behind speech delays in kids and provide actionable steps to address the root cause. 

Understanding Speech Delay

As parents, your child’s first words are so eagerly anticipated. Few things can compare to first hearing your little one say “Mommy,” “Daddy,” and “I love you.” So as time goes on, and those milestones are missed, disappointment and confusion set in. This is a common scenario for parents dealing with speech delay. 

Speech delay occurs when a child’s language and communication skills develop more slowly than expected, which is actually an indication of stress or interference within their brain and nervous system. Children with speech delay may have individual words but struggle to string them together and form clear sentences. 

Traditional pediatricians often attribute speech delay to “bad luck” without providing a comprehensive explanation. Speech delays are most commonly an issue with the “physical” formation and execution of speech, especially once other neurological disorders or hearing challenges are ruled out. 

The Role of Birth Interventions (Trauma) and Speech Delay

By far and away, the most common but massively overlooked correlation we see with speech delays in our practice is the connection between birth interventions and trauma. Birth interventions such as forceps, c-sections, vacuum extraction, and induction can contribute to speech delays, especially in severe cases like apraxia of speech.  Chronic ear infections, torticollis, and plagiocephaly, often linked to birth interventions, play a crucial role in understanding the root cause.

These types of delivery methods put tremendous pressure and physical tension on the cranial nerves, brainstem, upper neck, and vagus nerve. This results in a neuromuscular dysfunction known as subluxation. Subluxation is a neurological dysfunction that creates interference or disrupted communication between the brain and body, specifically affecting the nerves and muscles that control speech perception, formation, and execution. 

The Role of Pediatric Chiropractic Care in Speech Delay

At Rochester Chiropractic and Wellness, our chiropractic approach doesn’t aim to treat or cure your child’s speech delay. Instead, our focus is on addressing the root cause – neuromuscular dysfunction and interference. We collaborate with you and other providers to create personalized care plans rather than recommending and doing the same thing for each child simply based on their delay or diagnosis. We know that each child is unique.
While witnessing your child struggle with speech delay can be disheartening, addressing the root cause with Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care can be so rewarding. To learn more and ensure your child gets back on track, schedule a consultation with our PX Docs at Rochester Chiropractic and Wellness. If you are not local to us, be sure to check out the PX Docs directory to find an office near you. We are ready to help you unlock your child’s full potential by getting to the root cause of their speech delay.