January 23, 2024
Every human has some degree of mechanical, physiological, and emotional challenge to being born. Impediments from tight positioning within the womb or strains caused by passing through the birth canal can stress our immature body tissues. There may be a need to adjust or recover from medical interventions, or we may experience toxins, or our bodies can develop amidst environmental or parental stress. A great deal of science exists on the impact and imprinting of such stressors upon all our nervous systems within the first few weeks of life, though much more remains to be understood.
The first weeks and months post-birth are critical periods to adjust and balance all our body systems to become ready to interact, adapt, and cope with the world. Our bodies' ability to correct and stabilize is a characterization of physiological resiliency that supports bonding with parents and engaging with others. We need time after birth to acclimate from living in a water environment into a world requiring gas and air exchange in our lungs and blood vessels. The process of oxygen uptake and circulation without adverse resistance gains a structural balance of the autonomic nervous system in relationship to every organ of the body, even the smallest arteries and veins. There are many false assumptions that we, as babies, thoroughly adjust from the confinement period in the womb and the birthing process. For over twenty years, I have been offering health and wellness services for new babies to help them release from retained mechanical and tissue compromises that translate to common struggles of infancy.
There are few stressful situations as impactful to new parents as a baby who does not nurse well, who does not poop regularly, or who has lasting colic. Despite following the usual advice of waiting for the baby to grow out of it, inconsolable crying creates a sense of helplessness, sleep deprivation, and stress for the whole family. It is not difficult to empathize with all the parents who desperately handed me their fussy baby who is struggling with breastfeeding, not gaining weight, or requires significant efforts to calm and soothe. Parents can feel inadequate when another recommended tip or advice fails to help the baby become calm, happy, and well-fed. Maybe the baby was struggling with digestive system functions or needed help relieving torticollis of the neck that interfered with ease of swallowing. Perhaps there was a tongue tie that interfered with a good latch and sucking on the breast. Pressure intensifies within the family unit when such difficulties persist (and the baby turns into an older infant and still has not grown out of the behavior). Maladaptive behaviors can evolve into childhood from such challenging beginnings.
Many people have shared accounts of older children in their families who had struggled to be tranquil and well-adjusted babies. When they learn about the benefits of bodywork, they often exclaim, "I sure wish I had known about bodywork when my kids were younger. My kid suffered for months, even years, with irritability and being high maintenance to appease." One mom arrived in our clinic with her screaming three-week-old, thrust him into my waiting hands, pleading, "Fix him!" Her infant son had colic and reflux and slept less than an hour at a time. A whole-body palpation assessment suggested a twist in the fascia throughout his mesenteric tissue (the tissue surrounding the intestines), a compressed pyloric sphincter, and tight liver ligaments. (These issues were soft tissue remnants of the umbilical cord and visceral fascia restrictions underneath and extending off the belly button). The self-corrective response to bodywork with proper hand placement at visceral structures reduced the colic and reflux (by 80% with the assistance given of one treatment). Treatment to fully decompress organs and blood vessel masses occurred in a second session, along with a revealed need to treat tightly restricted psoas muscle tissue that was restricting the intestinal fascial field.
Another mother sought treatment for her two-month-old, who had been struggling to breastfeed. Despite already having a tongue-tie revision, the baby was clenching his jaw and injuring her nipples to the point of bleeding. One bodywork treatment relieved this baby's compressed mandible, maxilla, cranial base (where occiput meets upper cervical spine), and cranial nerves. At the end of the 45-minute treatment that treated his whole body, the mother put her baby to the breast. His jaw and latch had changed entirely. His mouth spontaneously opened wider, achieved a proper deep latch, and the jaw clenching fully resolved. His suck pattern normalized (and the clicking sound disappeared) with gentle treatment of the tongue and soft tissue, suspending the bones within the mouth. This mother immediately nursed her baby and, for the first time, did not need to use the thick, plastic nipple shield. When the mother was leaving, she circled back with tears streaming and exclaimed, "Can I hug you? You have no idea how this change in breastfeeding is going to help our lives at home! I am overjoyed and so relieved!" These are routine situations that occur by my learning how to help using these various bodywork methods therapeutically.
These and other babies (and their families) struggled with blocks to complete self-correction of compressions held in fascia and other soft tissues. A fair number of babies also experience a level of birth trauma, reflected in misshapen heads or tension through the neck, shoulders, and spine. Though colic, reflux, and fussiness have long been considered common ailments of infancy, these issues communicate the state and adaptation of the autonomic nervous system. Learning, coping, and behaviors embedded in our personalities reflect the balance between the parasympathetic and sympathetic branches. The degree of the body's tissue and organ tone can determine and reflect the state of the autonomics. Releasing structural tensions is a definite way to achieve the parasympathetic state (rest & digest), raising the quality of babies' readiness to occupy their time for their jobs of growing and developing.
During the first few months of life, a baby's future skills are dependent upon the integration of these five primary occupational tasks:
Maximize the state of BEING by maximizing respiration's mechanical and physiological quality. Optimal breathing translates to the ease of expansion of 24 ribs, 66 inactive and weak intercostal myofascial layers, strata of pleura fascia, and flexibility of the respiratory diaphragm' motility. Breastfeeding and self-soothing are often challenged when restrictions exist.
Master state control and SELF-REGULATION of all organs and blood vessel masses. In addition, visceral tone caused by fascial restrictions around or near organs can perpetuate a sympathetic state. This can directly hinder the rest and digestion state babies need to be in to feed and sleep well. All organ systems work best when fully decompressed and free to expand and vibrate without structural resistance. This state supports the body's ability to return to parasympathetic tone quickly when alerted or alarmed.
Begin to master MOVEMENT AGAINST GRAVITY and other sources of resistance. Move head and body against gravity and surface resistance while working towards body symmetry. Asymmetry of structures causes internal resistance, which can interfere with reflex integration. Also, fascial pulls at organs and vasculature masses can adversely affect body posture. Torticollis and head misshaping can directly result when such tissue restrictions persist.
Begin the SENSORY INTEGRATION journey. All babies must manage the complexity of the sensory information to gain emotional regulation, coordination and balance, social engagement, and communication. Sensory processing optimally occurs when signals travel along nerve pathways with minimal resistance. The cranial nerves and their pathways, along with the sensory columns of the spinal cord, all play a significant role in a baby feeling okay with sensations. With compression, the sympathetic response to sensory input can persist until nerves are freed from such resistance. All eating and nursing require fully intact cranial nerves. Yet, sadly, those babies who struggle with breastfeeding often are found to have compressions at osseous exit sites from the skull.
Master the synchronicity of SUCKING-swallowing-breathing to maximize [breast]feeding. Mouth control is a whole-body function, needing core alignment for proper swallowing to equal sides of tongue/mouth/throat sensing, moving in sync, and discreet adjustments to milk flow. Bodywork can address the first four points to help directly or indirectly improve sucking patterns (though bodywork is not considered feeding therapy).
Bodywork for infants can consist of a fusion of a variety of methods. Any professional with a license to touch can embrace bodywork training that applies to infants. Craniosacral therapy (Upledger), visceral manipulation (Barral), and lymph-fascia mobilization (Chikly) are three main methods that complement each other well. The touch of CST perfectly matches the delicacy that babies' tissues demand. CST fused with visceral listening techniques helps create a fresh explanation for blending and melding with tissues. "Responsive Hold" using a static touch (and not a massaging touch) has yielded the results described here for over two decades. A common denominator linking these methods is fascia's underappreciated structure and behaviors.
A baby is a perfect subject to demystify the nature of all the connective tissues and the role elastic, and collagen have on the autonomic tone and tension of organs, blood vessels, and muscles. Bones can compress the fascia matrix, and craniosacral therapy is a perfect match to elevate osseous restrictions of the fluid matrix that makes up the meninges' fabric.
Babies who received bodywork have demonstrated time and again to help with challenges such as colic, sleep disturbances, self-regulation problems, reflux and gastric discomforts, misshapen head, facial and body asymmetries, movement disturbances, low muscle tone, and lagging development. Bodywork can focus on the typically well-baby for routine post-partum care to assist the baby's self-correction of tissues. The well-qualified practitioner can also apply these methods to medically challenged or premature babies. No longer does the recommendation of "growing out" of issues naturally and advising parents to "wait out the colic" have to be the prevailing practice. The entire family benefits from the improvements a baby gains from receiving bodywork. By reducing the stress associated with such issues, we help the homeostasis of the family.
Different professions can embrace pediatric bodywork if the use lies within the scope of their practice license. Midwives and doulas, obstetric nurses, obstetricians, and lactation consultants are front-line professionals who welcome babies into the world and make a positive, early impact for successful nursing, caregiving, and thriving. Physical, occupational, and speech-language therapists work with babies in early intervention settings. Chiropractors with pediatric training provide preventative and remedial interventions to achieve structural and whole-system wellness for babies. Massage therapists, Reiki practitioners, and acupuncturists may be particularly interested in working with babies. Many of the bodywork training courses allow attendance and include these various professions.
Evidence-based practice supports using craniosacral, myofascial release, lymphatic drainage, and visceral manipulation across multiple populations. Empirical evidence demonstrates safety and low risk of injury for infants, including tongue-tie management and premature babies receiving craniosacral therapy. Practice-based evidence remains the primary driver of early stages of clinical research based upon decades of observational outcomes. The author's opinions are based upon her observations utilizing these methods on an estimated 25,000+ client encounters. Professional judgment dictates that formal training be obtained before embarking on bodywork practice for infants. But the rewards of helping babies' bodies become ready to take on the demands of life are self-evident.
Susan Vaughan Kratz, OTR, CST-D, has practiced occupational therapy for four decades and has utilized these bodywork methods for half her career to help clients reach their goals. The reason is simple: because these methods work. The outcomes are often quick and profound. Susan is the author of the book Bodywork for Babies, which serves as a complementary guide for formal training from well-established institutes.
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