Osteopathy is a safe treatment method for babies and children. During the general examination, if necessary, the osteopath performs specific safety tests to rule out issues and techniques.
The osteopath treats with gentle techniques. Double-folding your baby or cracking vertebrae in your baby and children is absolutely not part of the osteopathic way of working.
A 2006 study by Hayes and all. on the safety of osteopathy in treating infants and children showed that osteopathy is a safe treatment method.
Reference: Hayes NM, Bezilla TA. Incidence of iatrogenesis associated with osteopathic manipulative treatment of pediatric patients. J Am Osteopath Assoc. 2006 Oct;106(10):605-8.
Children are in full movement and development, each child in his/her own way. Each stage of a child's development therefore requires a specific approach and each child has its own unique approach and treatment within osteopathy.

Babies and toddlers

The birth of a baby is a special event. At the same time, it is a stressful moment for mother and child. During labour, enormous forces act on the baby. The mobility of the body and the skull generally ensure that these forces can be absorbed well.

Sometimes childbirth does not go smoothly due to, for example, the absence of contractions, a non-optimal position of the head in the birth canal, a breech presentation, too fast labour, a vacuum pump, forceps delivery or caesarean section . These extra forces naturally also act on the baby. If these forces cannot be processed by the small baby's body, it can lead to various complaints or possibly disrupt the child's development in the future.

The osteopath will take anamnesis (questioning) through the parents/carers: after all, an infant cannot verbalise his symptoms himself, but he will express it by crying a lot, restlessness, a lot of needing to suck, cramping and/or overstretching. By asking targeted questions, the osteopath can explore this further.

Babies who cry for a long time, are easily irritated, have sleep problems, have problems sucking or swallowing, suffer from intestinal cramps, spit up excessively, have throat-nose and ear problems, babies who frequently overstretch, have a preferred posture or babies with a flattened skull are complaints for which an osteopath can often provide a solution.

The osteopath uses his hands to examine your baby's skull and body for possible tensions and blockages. These will then be treated using gentle and safe techniques. The treatments are not painful for your baby.
The aim of treatment is to restore natural mobility in the body and optimise your baby's overall development.

The osteopath is specially trained to assess and treat complaints in young patients (from 2 weeks to young adult). In particular, it is examined whether all structures of the body are moving properly. This includes checking the mobility of the spine, pelvis, skull, muscles, joints and organs. Gentle techniques are always used when treating babies.

During treatment, children react differently. Some children cry during the treatment, while others fall asleep. As the tissues start to relax, the stimuli to the brain start to change, to which the child responds.

Indications babies and toddlers

  • Children with deformed skulls, flattening of the skull (phagiocephaly/brachycephaly).
  • Asthma
  • Allergies
  • stomach / intestinal cramps
  • Eczema
  • behavioural problems
  • Throat, nose and ear problems
  • artificial delivery
  • Prolonged crying, crying babies
  • problems with sucking or swallowing
  • reflux complaints, difficulty burping
  • constipation (blockage) or diarrhoea
  • unrest
  • overstretching
  • sleep problems
  • preferred position, crooked posture
  • KISS syndrome
  • sucking problems
  • flatulence

I also have good contacts with baby consultant Amstelveen. Her name is Mariëtte Bosman and she is a specialised nurse. She has a lot of experience with babies and is trained to answer a variety of questions about babies. She can be reached at www.babyconsulentamstelveen.nl. She also works in hospital Amstelland and this also ensures that the lines are short to consult with a paediatrician, for example.

Ook werk ik samen met lactatiedeskundige Nienke van den Ende.  Zij werkt als gespecialiseerd verpleegkundige in OLVG West.  Zij is te bereiken onder www.nienkelactatiedeskundige.nl.