Countless parents we meet have kids who struggle with delayed speech or have been diagnosed with apraxia of speech. Not being able to communicate well with your child or understand their needs makes parenting even more challenging (as if it wasn’t already hard enough). At Thrive Chiropractic we’ve seen many kids under our care experience huge leaps in their ability to communicate and be better connected neurologically. To understand why this takes place, we’ve got to start with how we got to this point.
The Birth Process
Birth should be a beautiful and empowering experience for both mom and baby. Unfortunately, that is not the case for most people. Rather than allowing mom and baby to ‘call the shots’ and let the natural hormonal rhythm of birth take place, birth often involves interventions. This slippery slope ends with many parents not having the birth experience they were hoping for. Instead of the healthcare providers being there to simply catch the little one, there is often more force involved via C-section, forceps, vacuum extraction, or the providers hands pulling on the head and neck.
As common as those birth interventions are, when they take place it is a significant stress to the baby’s neuro-spinal system. As we all know, infants aren’t able to support their head and neck yet, so any amount of force or pressure while in the womb or during birth can lead to a misalignment and fixation to important areas of the spine and neurological development (at the top of the neck, surrounding the brain stem). This common birth injury sets the table for issues with developmental milestones down the road.
The Gas Pedal and Brake Pedal
When this birth injury takes place, the child’s nervous system and development is affected.
Your body had two modes – the gas pedal and brake pedal (sympathetic and parasympathetic system). The gas pedal is our ‘fight/flight’ survival mode. It’s great for when you’re being chased by a bear, but not so great for everyday life! The brake pedal is your growth and development mode, responsible for the immune system, digestion, sleep, and optimal development.
Because of the brain stem and the nerves at the top of the neck, little ones who experience stress or damage during pregnancy or birth end up being stuck in the gas pedal/survival mode. When this happens, it could show up as a kid who struggles to nurse well, has colic and reflux, gets ear infections, and misses neurological milestones like speech and communication.
The Role of Our Care
Using gentle and specific adjustments, we can help to restore balance to your child’s body. When the underlying stress is removed, optimal development and health returns. Improved brain connection, neurologic function, and motor control allows normal speech and communication to return as well. As this neurologic stress only gets more hardwired into the brain as the child gets older, the sooner we’re able to start with care, the quicker and more fully we’ll see changes!
Help Your Child Reach Their Full Potential
We’ve had the privilege of seeing many kids in our office whose speech skyrocketed after starting care and we want your child to enjoy the same success!
If you want to hear more about how our care might be able to help your child, check out Dr. Andrew’s video on apraxia and speech delay.