10 fingers & 10 toes! The sweetest of smiles and a cute little nose!
Watching our sweet little babies grow up into big kids with big dreams is one of the most amazing experiences! From the moment they open their eyes, start using their little hands, exploring their feet, the first time they roll over, sit up, and walk…
All of these little developments mean so much to us! It just makes your heart explode and fills you with joy!
And guess what!? These little moments mean so much to your baby boo too! Not only are they having fun exploring but their brain is BUSY developing at a rapid pace. A baby’s brain doubles in size in the 1st two years of life. Watching each one of these milestones, and if our children are accomplishing them well gives us a peak into if our children are having normal brain and body development.
Signs that your little one’s neurology ++ brain body connection ++ may be struggling:
- Delayed (late to accomplish) Milestones
- Distorted Milestones
- Skipped Milestones
Some children take longer to develop a skill, some will develop it but in a distorted way, and others may end up skipping a milestone all together!
Delayed Milestones
It’s true! Every child develops at their own pace ++ it’s not a race! However, these are some early signs that their brain body connection is struggling and may prevent them from reaching their developmental timeline!
- Poor eye contact.
- Poor head and neck control.
- Difficulty tracking objects.
- Muscle stiffness or floppiness.
- Limp or awkward posture.
- Excessively stressed.
- The constant need to be held, need motion and noise.
Catching these signs early can give you the opportunity to help reset your child’s nervous system helping it to become more calm and connected.
Delayed vs Distorted vs Skipped Milestones
Delayed
Delayed means they are “late bloomers” and late to roll over, sit, walk, eat etc. They do it but it took them a long time to get there! And it wasn’t easy!
Distorted
Distorted means they may roll over but they struggle, its awkward, they never seem to really get it down right. The way they roll over may be difficult and not seem quite normal.
When they start crawling, they may crawl backward, army crawl, bear crawl, crawl with one knee on the ground and one foot on the ground. Although it’s super cute, these signs are huge red flags that something isn’t going quite right!
When they start walking, they may avoid putting pressure on one leg or the other, they may toe walk, have one foot or both rolled in, have an excessive forward lean, be extremely clumsy.
Extremely picky eaters, prolonged gag reflexes, aversions to eating solids can all be a sign of developmental challenges.
Changes in speech such as stutters or too little speech can be a red flag as well.
Pay attention to those “mommy instincts.” If something doesn’t look right, it most likely isn’t.
Skipped Milestones
It is a myth that skipping a crucial milestone like rolling over or crawling is NO BIG DEAL.
Yes, our littles won’t remember, they may go on to hit their other milestones more easily, and it’s not the end of the world BUT each milestone is a direct reflection of how our children’s neurology // brain development is going ++ each milestone serves a purpose!
Tummy time + crawling creates the secondary curves in our spine like the one in our neck and our low back. Rolling over helps connect both sides of our brain to each other.
Being upright and walking helps develop the nervous system tracks in our spinal cord that feed our brain with the info it needs to control emotions and motor function.
Skipping a milestone is no bueno and we should always have our kiddos check and help get them back on the right path!
What Can You Do?
So what should you do if your little one is on the milestone struggle bus or if you just want them to have a healthy start and skip over some of these possible challenges!?
Have your child checked by an expert in normal skeletal and nervous system development, a Pediatric Chiropractor? Chiropractic specializes in assessing the spine: the area of the body where the brain becomes the spinal cord and nerves and the superhighway between your baby’s brain and body are connected.
As your baby’s brain developed in the womb it formed a brain stem (at the top of the neck), and spinal cord (housed inside the spine), and nerves (exit the spine and go to the organs and muscles). This superhighway of information is how your baby’s brain connects to its body and its environment.
When there is stress in the spine from a stressful pregnancy, birth trauma, other traumas and even normal childhood experiences there can be a change in optimal skeletal alignment and optimal nerve and brain function.
When a baby’s body is in stress mode normal development takes a back seat. And survival takes a front seat. With a gentle, effective and safe chiropractic adjustment a baby’s spine and nervous system is brought to peace, that communication highway is restored, and normal development has the best opportunity to occur.
This is why we recommend all babies be checked after birth, and throughout early childhood for optimal development. It’s much easier to stay on track and healthy & happy then to recover from delays and other health challenges down the road!
After all, all our kiddos deserve to have the best shot at life! And their health, wellness and development is the most important thing! Contact us today!