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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Cranial osteopathy

29 replies

c00kiemonster · 15/06/2011 17:09

Our hv is suggesting we consider this for our grouchy (but lovely) dd who is almost five weeks old. Has anyone tried this in the past and is it worth the money? She's quite colicky at times and doesn't find it easy to settle (our dd, not the hv ;). She's on colief at the moment and has improved since she started taking it. Thanks in advance

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Owlingate · 15/06/2011 17:21

I'd exhaust other options before paying for anything, er, unproven tbh. Does she have any symptoms of silent reflux? Sometimes this is misdiagnosed as colic. Other babies fell asleep satisfied after a feed, my DS1 screamed louder, woke every 20 mins screaming... oh the joy. Niece had colic and it started at 6pm exactly every night and she just screamed continuously until she passed out at 10pm - it was a totally different thing.

What are her symptoms of colic? Could there be anything in the way she feeds taking in too much air e.g. poor latch, fast letdown, trying different bottles? Is her digestion ok otherwise?

Original poster

c00kiemonster · 15/06/2011 18:03

Thanks for the reply. In short she finds it very difficult to settle. If she's not feeding and not sleeping, she's rarely content. But this is out first little one so that might be totally normal. The one thing that does chill her out is a sling. She was forceps delivered if that makes any difference and she's feeding great and putting on weight

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samoy · 15/06/2011 19:53

Hi cookiemonster- that sounds just like my ds. We considered osteopathy as it was recommended to us but thankfully he turned a corner before we got round to it. If he was nt feeding or sleeping he was crying and it was tough going but things started to impove about 10 weeks and now at 19 weeks he is a much happier baby. He was forceps delivery too. A friend used a cranial osteopath and swears by it.

Owlingate · 15/06/2011 19:57

How are you feeding her? Does she find it difficult to sleep anywhere but on you? Is your sling good enough that you could keep her in it all day? TBH lots of 5 week olds are unhappy when not sleeping or eating because they are only awake when they are hungry and they are tired after being awake for about 30 mins! They hate being dressed, bathed, changed, put in and out of sling / pram, sun in their eyes, wind on their face...They do not play or look at anything or bloody do anything for ages. DS1 was basically in the sling all day.

There are a few placid babies, I have seen them at toddler groups, who lie in their car seats looking at stuff and then drop off all by themselves. Not managed to have one of those yet though. Grumpy babies are often soothed by rocking, have you got a crib that rocks or could you put her in the baby bouncer and gently bounce it? Sometimes that's why they like the sling, because it is moving around.

DialMforMummy · 15/06/2011 20:09

CO was bloody awesome for DS. Totally worth it IMO.

Original poster

c00kiemonster · 15/06/2011 21:01

Owlingate, she's breastfeeding and Eating well although she can be fussy on the breast. To be honest, we're conscious of her age and we always wonder if we're expecting too much of her. She almost always drops off in the sling and can sleep for up to four hours in her Moses basket but it's usually a result to get her to stay down for an hour.

Dialformummy - just out of interest, how old was your lo when you started the co? Ours would be 30 quid a session which wouldn't break the bank for a few goes but we couldn't afford to keep it going for a long time.

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CarGirl · 15/06/2011 21:03

If it is going to help you will notice a difference quickly. Absolutely fantastic on my dds.

DialMforMummy · 15/06/2011 21:11

He was 3/4 weeks old I think. You don't need many sessions. We just had two, the second 2 or 3 weeks after the other. Not everybody finds it effective but as you said at £30 a session it's not going to break the bank. And will be well worth it if it works well for your LO.

Kiwiinkits · 15/06/2011 22:09

A friend did it with her DD. She SWEARS by it. She said the change was immediate.

jsp56 · 15/06/2011 22:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bitzermaloney · 15/06/2011 22:50

We used it for ds1, total waste of money. We were desperate as ds was so unhappy, and asked the CO if he thought he might have silent reflux. Definitely not, says the CO, and spouted stuff about just needing to be in alignment. Weeks later at hospital ds was diagnosed as having silent reflux and treated successfully with proper medicine.

CarGirl · 15/06/2011 23:03

You def want to go by recommendation as like all things in life there are good and poor ones.

My CO said there was something up with dd's stomach at 6 weeks old, it took the gp until she was 6 months old to recognise that she could have silent reflux and give me the medicine for it of course then the all day/night screaming stopped!

Mine had treatment mainly because they couldn't open their jaws/mouth wide enough to latch on without pain which only took about 3 treatments to sort. They all had very squashed temples - big babies and rapid delivery, they were battered and bruised!

MadameGazelle · 15/06/2011 23:09

Yes, We took DS when he was 3 weeks old, very fast labour and ventouse delivery. 2 sessions and he was like a different baby. Our chiropractor specialised in the treatment of babies, try and get a recommendation, as others have said there are good and bad practitioners. HTH

TeaAndToast68 · 15/06/2011 23:29

I was very surprised when I first visited an osteo about headaches and he said after starting the examination "ah, I see you were a breech birth"

Had to ask my old mum to find he was right.

He made some adjustments but said it is all much easier and more effective with a baby.

I don't know how you find a good one. I think I was lucky.

Perhaps find one with some years experience under their belt, especially of cranial if that's what you're looking for. if they taught at the London school that's a good sign.

Original poster

c00kiemonster · 16/06/2011 06:55

A lot of helpful comments, cheers. Our hv has recommended someone and I think we'll give it a bash. Interesting and useful to know that any positive effect should noticeable fairly quickly

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TheBride · 16/06/2011 07:00

If she's not feeding and not sleeping, she's rarely content.

Um, I think this is just 5 week old babies. Weeks 5-8 are a complete PITA because they're awake a fair bit, and when they are they are generally pissed off with life and grizzling. After 8 weeks it improves and by 12 weeks they're quite fun.

Original poster

c00kiemonster · 16/06/2011 07:03

Thebride - see, this is the thing. A lot of the time we kind of wonder if she's just a typical baby. But the suggested co after listening to us talking about her grouchiness. I kind if think that £30-60 is worth paying if it helps but I'm not ready to fork out hundreds of pounds on this

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TeaAndToast68 · 16/06/2011 07:26

the head does get quite squashed out of shape, and this might help with headaches now and in the future. much easier to do while the bones are still young. I would have thought a good osteo can tell you if they can see a problem (you can tell I am a believer). The training and qualification route is very long and thorough and they are registered and recognised.

just my two penn'orth.

LostInTransmogrification · 16/06/2011 07:42

Hi there, I took my DS for this at six months ( he was waking up 3 - 5 times a night still). Took two sessions, after first one he slept straight through, after the second I met with friends who commented that he was visually much more relaxed. If I had known how effective it was I would have taken him much earlier and if I had another dc I would take them in the first couple of weeks. Two sessions cost £75 in total, well worth it! The osteopath said the tension DS had could prevent children progressing in their development. He was the last in a group of eight to roll/ sit up. He rolled over the following week and he is the first to walk by a couple of weeks. If I were you I would give it a go, if there is no difference at all after the first appt then make a decision on whether to go back again.

Original poster

c00kiemonster · 16/06/2011 08:15

I think that's what we'll do - see how the first session goes and then take it from there

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Original poster

c00kiemonster · 24/06/2011 13:29

Well, we took our little one to a session of co yesterday and she screamed through most of it. I'm at work today and the reports from my wife are that she's not had a good day at all. We're rather hoping that this is the storm before the calm but six weeks of a very unsettled little girl have warned us against being optimistic. Another co session planned for tuesday. You sometimes wonder if you'll ever get to grips with things.......

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CarGirl · 24/06/2011 19:26

Yes it can make them worse at first, I really hope it works for you. 3 of my babies were all completely chilled from birth and it is such a different experience of parenthood to have a baby that is so unhappy.

If it really makes no difference after a few sessions then I would check out all the symptoms of mild acid/silent reflux.

Original poster

c00kiemonster · 25/06/2011 08:12

Thanks for the advice cargirl, she's on infant gaviscon at the moment. To be honest, I don't resent the fact that she's unsettled because she's so adorable but I'd love her to be happy.

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Sophiesworld · 16/10/2011 20:54

I'm considering this for dd who is 7.5 weeks and very similar. She feeds and sleeps constantly because when she's awake and not feeding she cries. Someone on the thread here suggested it could also help with constant feeding.

I realise this is fairly normal baby behaviour, but if it helps I'd be willing to pay for maybe 2 or 3 sessions.

I'd be really interested to know if you'd recommend it c00kiemonster and how dd is doing now.

Original poster

c00kiemonster · 17/10/2011 20:16

In all honesty it seemed to make a big difference. It wasn't quite an overnight solution but our little one became much happier and more content very quickly after two sessions. Tbf to the oesteopath, she told us after season two that there was no need to come back so it wasn't like she was bluffing or trying to bleed us dry. What she did was basically very gentle massage up the spine and around the base of the neck. Made sense for a baby who'd been forceps delivered.

As I said in a previous post, for 30 or 60 quid it seemed worth a try. We basically went from having a baby who seemed to be permanently grouchy and uncomfortable to having one who started having fun. I do accept that this might have been a coincidence and that she might just have been on the up anyway but I don't think so.

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