Cranial Osteopathy - does it work?

[IzzysMum20]

Hi all, this is my first post. My daughter is 17wks old. Had a difficult labour/birth and she was delivered via forceps. From day one she would not sleep and cried and cried. At times she has gone 36 hours without sleep! Doesn’t nap in the day, just cries unless you physically rock her to sleep and keep her in your arms. Even then the naps are only 30 mins. Night time she only sleeps 1-2 hours and it take about 4-5 hours to settle her each night. She is exclusively breastfed. Seen a dietitian and no allergies. Diagnosed with silent reflux and on omeprazole but no better and now being sick as well. Her cry sounds like she is in pain. Paediatrician only suggested upping omeprazole and infant gaviscon but she’s still not sleeping. Thinking of taking matters into my own hands and trying cranial osteopathy. Thoughts?

Gosh that sounds so hard OP, my heart really goes out to you. Sleep is oh so precious for you both! I struggle to remember what mine were like as tiny babies (think Mother Nature makes you forget tbh) but I def remember times when they would only sleep if I rocked them, drove them around in the car.. or if we laid their crib near to the dishwasher so the repetitive noise lulled them eventually. I imagine you’ve tried all these things already after 17weeks.
I’m not sure about the cranial osteopathy, babies heads are so delicate I’m not sure about having someone outside of the NHS do anything. But I’be seen posts where others have found them useful but I’d be super cautious. Sorry, not sure if that’s any help, didn’t want to r and r.

Did for me. If you can afford £50 to lose why not try it?

I think you are at the stage you should go for it if you can find someone you trust. My eldest was an assisted delivery too and very similar... It was only mentioned to me as an option years later but I definitely would have tried it if known at time...

It depends who you see, the first person I took my little boy to said there wasn't much wrong with him, I trusted my gut and found someone else and she's been amazing. Totally transformed him and went from a very frustrated grumpy child (with a headache) to a happy comfortable little boy in days. Was well worth it for me!

Thank you, it has been challenging! And yes we have tried so many things in the last 17 weeks.
I’ve done some research and found some reputable osteopaths. I won’t take any risks with her, she is too precious.

cranial osteopathy is working as well as homeopathy. i.e. placebo effect only.
however that placebo effect make it seem like it's working for you.

No, had similar with ds after a forceps birth. It did nothing but take money of us when we were desperate and exhausted.

There’s a recent thread on this In Parenting with lots of different views.

Worked for my son who slept for 45min stretches for 16 weeks and I was on my knees with exhaustion. He got wedged on way out and was born with a swelling on his head. He had 3 sessions with osteopath and slept longer after each session. On the third he fell asleep on his knee and from then on he slept brilliantly

There's no science to it but if it makes you feel calmer your baby will be calmer. It's a made up thing though and I'd be wary letting them mess around with baby's neck.
I would try a sling and a dummy. I had 2 gripey babies and they both needed to suck constantly and only slept on me (one would only sleep whilst latched!)
Sleep breeds sleep so do what you can to encourage naps in the day. Don't worry about feeding /rocking to sleep it's all very normal. Use a sling as much as possible to keep them upright in the day.

Best 75 quid I'd spent and 100% convinced it worked

I would look for someone who has done post graduate qualification in pediatric osteopathy. It helped my babies....

I would also not rule out food intolerances, she is uncomfortable for a reason and while reflux is due to the underdeveloped stomach allowing food to come back up into the esophagus, but food intolerances are often implicated.

Worked well for us. Our baby (now nearly 6) would wail every time we put him to lie on his back.
After a few sessions he was much more comfortable and we could even see the difference in his face. The area around his eyes was much less puffy - noticeable in his pictures.
I'm pregnant again and will factor at least one session into our planning. I also found it really helpful for me too as I had some discomfort in my hips and walking was tricky which they were able to help with.

Worked wonders for DD here. When born she could only look one way and only feed from one boob. A course of treatments fixed her and sleep improved massively. It is not anything like homeopathy, there is a huge amount of science behind it. The placebo effect comparison is also rubbish, IMO. The physical improvement was obvious in DD.

Yep, worked for our son too, who was born several weeks early via C section due to me having pre-eclampsia.

I think we had 2 sessions (maybe 3), and DS fell asleep each time during it. Massive improvement in his sleep pattern immediately.

The osteopath also suggested dairy intolerance (DS had horrid nappies), and suggested goat milk and/or rice milk instead of formula/cows. That also worked wonders.

The osteopath gave us so much good information, he was worth every penny (and he was cheap anyway, only about £50 in total). He was the one who told us to work with his expected due date when it comes to "milestones" rather than delivery date, whereas our midwife made our life hell by harrassing us about weight & other development based on delivery date (i.e. weight too low - feed him more, blah de blah).