Chiropractic and the Development of the Baby’s Brain
During the baby’s first year, the brain continues to develop at an amazing rate. The cerebellum triples in size which appears to be related to the rapid development of motor skills and milestones in that first year of the child’s development that occurs during this period. 1,2 As the visual areas of the cortex grow, the infant’s initially dim and limited sight develops into full binocular vision. So much occurs at that very first year of life so it’s important to get checked by a Boise and Nampa pediatric chiropractor as soon as possible to see how their milestones and primitive reflexes are progressing.
Have you wondered what could happen if the motor skills and milestones in your baby’s first year of birth is delayed or it’s not inhibited when they get past the age of 3?
This may mean that there isn’t an effective communication between the left and right cerebral hemispheres (brain) and in turn, it may not allow your child to integrate information from specialized centers and to coordinate a planned response. What this means is that they may get learning challenges, have trouble with speech development, movement-muscle tone may be low, social skills and behavior, sensory integration, visual and auditory processing, allergies and addictions, bladder control, aging and healing are all also being affected. For example, some learning challenges may be difficulty understanding direction, difficulty with reading, lack of crawling, weak sucking in infancy, problems with learning to swim or riding a bicycle, difficulty with organizational skills, or being impulsive. So, if the primitive reflexes fail to inhibit, the more sophisticated neural structures of the brain, along with the postural (adult) reflexes cannot develop properly.
Why are these reflexes retained and why do we see retained reflexes in children and adults?
Why are these reflexes retained and why do we see retained reflexes in children and adults?Retention of primitive reflexes appear to be due to some sort of stress like trauma whether it be physical, chemical, or hormonal. It could also happen in-utero, during birth (the birth process which can be traumatic) and during the first year of life. Some of the causes include at-risk pregnancies, birth trauma, and infant illness. If the mother is stressed or has an illness, that would pump adrenaline and other hormones into the fetus’ system. Babies born by C-section are at high risk for retained reflexes because they bypass the activation of these vital reflexes. When mom is pushing baby through her vaginal canal, the reflexes get activated as they are born. C-section babies don’t have that activation, so they have to activate it on their own after birth.
At what age should is recommended to see a Boise and Nampa pediatric chiropractor to check if these baby reflexes advanced into the adult reflexes?
It is recommended to bring in your baby to see a pediatric chiropractor when they are just born- this could be as early as 1 minute of birth! Remember that these reflexes are either getting activated through the vaginal canal or they are learned on their own, so we want to make sure that your baby’s reflexes are activated right away. If there’s any delay, we can detect and work with the baby and their loved ones to get those reflexes activated as soon as possible to allow effective communication between the left and right brain.
REFERENCES
1 Herschkowitz N. Neurological bases of behavioral development in infancy. Brain & Development. 2000;22:411-416.
It’s never too early to get your child started with chiropractic care. At Modern Chiropractic we offer all-natural, non-invasive options to keep your children healthy and developing properly. Schedule a FREE exam and consultation online or give us a call at (208) 314-1357
