We took Henry to an osteopath today, Dr. Elliot Vlad works with babies and helps balance out their bodies. Our family doctor had noticed that Henry was getting a bit of a flat head on one side and had said if that continued, he’d have to wear a shaping helmet which I wasn’t too fond of. I mentioned it at my infant massage class and the instructor recommended Dr. Vlad.
He evaluated Henry and told us his pelvis and left side of his body were a little tight and worked on loosening his pelvis. He also worked on his thorax and his head. It looked like a bit firmer massage therapy but the results were almost instantaneous. Within the hour, after loosening the pelvic bone, Henry started rolling on his side, something he had never done before. Dr Vlad mentioned that we’ll have to keep a better eye on him, since usually after an adjustment, babies are able to move onto the next developmental stage, such as rolling over.
We have another appointment in 3 weeks and until then we have to help Henry strengthen his left arm by making him grasp our hand with it and helping him put his weight on it during tummy time. As for his head, that will take a few more sessions but he’s already turning his head more and his neck seems less stiff so now we just have to encourage him to balance out his head movement and where he rests it. We were warned that Henry might be fussy for the next few days due to the adjustment, so far he’s pretty much slept the entire time we’ve been back home which we were told could be another benefit of an adjustment: better, longer sleep!
I tried to find an osteopath here when Kate was waking up so often but I don’t think there are any. Boo.
Very interesting, never heard of such a thing.. glad to hear it is working out!