Does Cranial Osteopathy work on fractious babies??? What's the difference between Osteopath and Chiropractor?

[rowanrowow]

Hi sorry for long title. Just after any stores of people using Cranial Osteopathy on babies who cry A LOT and struggle to feed etc. Been recommended to try it but not sure if it's worth it and what's treatment to go for. Thank you.

Some people swear by it. I have yet to see any actual evidence beyond anecdote that it is effective.

In desperation with DC2 I paid for cranial osteopathy. It seemed like snake oil to me and had no noticable effect on her crying or behaviour. The mechanisms by which it was supposed to work made no sense. Thankfully things improved as she got older anyway.

YES it works!! DD had colics and was crying nearly non stop. We were recommended a cranial osteopath and frankly I didn't understand/want to consider someone manipulating my DD (first born)'s skull. In the end I was at my wits ends. Phoned one and he had a cancellation. I went there in a flash. Never understood how it worked as it is VERY gentle (so no worries re skull manipulation!!). The first session I thought the guy was a charlatan as he had is eyes close and was kind of humming. But DD felt supra relaxed there and used to do massive poos. Some of her first smiles were for him and after two sessions we saw the difference, after a few more the crying stopped and she started sleeping through the night. I still to this day don't understand it but I have decided that just because I can't understand it it doesn't mean that it doesn't work.

I would really recommend it and if you are in London or Beckenham I could recommend the one I saw.

Pesto how often did your dc have it done? As in how many sessions? Worked fantastically for ds2 but he was older and it was for his behaviour.

Op have heard of it working for colic etc.. so worth a try imo. Wish I'd known about it with ds1 as he had colic for months, seemed to cry and not sleep for a year!

lifeistooshort I'm in London and would be interested in your CO recommendation, although we've already started going to the centre in Wandsworth. (We are near Richmond, but could get DD seen there quickly whereas CO closest to us was on holiday for next fortnight, and we didn't want to wait...)

Curios I think it was weekly for 6 weeks.

That is a fair amount then PP. Shame it didn't help.

I can recommend a good cranial osteopath in mortlake. Definitely helped Dd's feeding and general grumpiness...

I took DS2 to these cranial osteopaths after many recommendations, worked wonders for him. This link explains the theory behind the treatment.

www.churchdownosteopaths.co.uk/babies.html

Thank you everyone. Very helpful link jellycat. I have emailed a fairly local osteopath who deals specifially with babies and children so I am hoping to make an appointment for this next week and see what happens. I am not holding ym breath but it would be nice to think it could help.

Pleas update us and good luck

Please*

Ooo good luck rowan

sorry rowan, I cannot find him on the internet. I think he was called Martin Stokes or something like that but can't find him it was 7 years ago though

Thank you everyone. Don't worry lifestooshort, I appreciate the effort! I have made an appointment for the first consultation on Thursday. Looking forward to it but a bit scared to pin my hopes on it being a miracle cure for whatever is making him so unsettled. I'll let you all know how it goes. xxx

Well today we had our first appointment. Apparently DS has jammed nerves or muscles etc in his neck at the base of his skull due to being a big baby and a fast labour also she felt he has digestive trouble but have got an appointment next week for that as she spent so long sorting his head out but the good news is that next week is free so I am sure she was genuine. She said how DS was probably in a constant state of shock and needed to just be allowed to relax by freeing off all the tensions etc. I don't fully understand it myself but that doesn't mean she doesn't know what she's talking about. I am willing to believe anything at the moment!

I didn't actually tell her too much today as the sceptic in me wanted to hear what she could 'feel'. I basically just said I wanted hom checked over as he was a very grumpy and hard to soothe baby. She felt around his tummy and said 'he suffers from wind and digestive troubles doesn't he? Probably feeds a little and often and takes in a lot of wind' She hit the nail on the head with that one. Also when feeling his head and neck she said that he probably doesn't latch on very well as his jaw and the nerve to his gut was so tight- again absolutely spot on but I suppose a lot of it could hve just been what most mums go to her with newborn babies for. Anyway, ds did seem to relax on the table and did a humongous smely poo while she was working on him but she did admit that it was probably just coincidence as she hadn't really worked on his tummy yet. Anyway, we'll see what happens. I suppose any improvment will be a huge bonus and in the mean time at least I feel I am doing something to help him.

I swear by it. DS1 had a bad wheezy chest from 5 months - he was referred by GP to paed asthma specialist (as I have it) who wanted to do an op to remove tonsils and adenoids and start on quite a high level steroid. DH was shocked (as was I) but I refused to accept the diagnosis and requested a delay on treatment. We were treated like child abusers for not doing as we were told and I was fed the line that I was putting his life in danger, but I instinctively knew he wasn't asthmatic. In desperation I took him to the Osteopath and 5 sessions later he was completely 'cured'. She said his diaphragm was just 'squashed' and he could not fill his lungs properly. I sent stinking letter to paed, but of course did not get a reply. Needless to say he has been fine ever since, never even had a cold or a cough.
DS2 - reflux and very restless, although she couldn't fix the reflux, she certainly eased it and sorted the restlessness out - apparently due to the fact he was born in 10 minutes (beginning to end!) which was a big shock to him (er - and me!!!).
I would highly recommend it - we used the teaching school, so, although we had a student, the teacher was there and it was about 25% of the price!! I'm sure there are instances when it doesn't 'work', but everyone I know that has used them for babies are very impressed - much better than taking them to the doctors... who are frankly, in my experience, useless.

Took DD1 - worked in 1 session when weaning her. Had it myself in pg 1 when I had pelvic floor pain and it helped. Had it in pg 2 to prevent pain (and didn't get any!). Am booking DD2 in next week. I work in medicine - and a clinical trial kinda girl, evidence based an all that. Don't understand cranial osteopathy (but I don't understand Wi-Fi either ) but totally believe in it.

Ahh very interesting post Fiolondon thank you very much for explaining chiropracy to me! I feel a bit more clued up on osteopathy now too, it all seemed a bit like black magic to me when she placed her hands on his neck and head but I couldn't really see what she was doing with her hands but I suppose it's so gentle that I probably shouldn't have seen her actively crunching him in to place lol! He seemed to not mind the treatment anyway after the first minute of crying he seemed fairly relaxed. Just hoping she can help with his tummy troubles next week. He is a terrible eater for a big baby he doesn't eat and his feeding technique is terrible.

Just to add another experience, didn't work for us. Expensive too as you need several sessions to tell if it's working e.g. our first session was taking a history and doing an examination rather than any actual work, then each session was a different part.

There is no evidence that cranial osteopathy works. There's plenty of anecdotal evidence.. but there's also plenty of anecdotal evidence that homeopathy works and we know that's complete and utter quackery.

If you're interested in the evidence, rather than the opinions of a random group of people on the internet, google "cranial osteopathy evidence". I'll give you a starter with this website

I'm very much in favour of osteopathy, and improving the movement of joints and spine. We've all had a stiff neck or backache, and I don't doubt that joints can be helped by being manipulated so they move freely. When I first visited an osteo myself about head and neck pains, he commented in the first few minutes "I see you were a breech birth" (which my old mum later confirmed) and I am perfectly ready to believe that the skull, bones and joints of a baby can get squashed, over-flexed or misplaced during birth.

However the description in nocake's link of what is meant by the term "cranial osteopathy" sounds quite different to what I consider osteopathy to be.

All my babies have had CO, has helped them all.

If your ds is still have trouble feeding and has wind problems, I think you should also get him checked for tongue tie - it's often overlooked and can cause these problems.