Why Kids and Babies Need Chiropractic Care
Chiropractic adjustments help ensure proper brain balance and development, improving your child’s overall health and ability to reach their full potential. When the brain and body communicate well, children can adapt to their surroundings more effectively and develop optimally.
While bumps and falls are what many parents associate with physical stress, the true stressors begin much earlier—during pregnancy and birth.
In today’s fast-paced world, children are exposed to more physical, emotional, and environmental stressors than ever before. When these stressors build up, the body has a harder time adapting, potentially leading to developmental delays, behavioral concerns, and nervous system dysfunction.
Our team has completed years of postgraduate training through the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA), using the most advanced, gentle techniques for infants and children.
🌿 The Role of Chiropractic in Early Development
Pediatric chiropractic care helps babies and children:
✅ Improve brain-body communication
✅ Support milestone development
✅ Reduce nervous system stress
✅ Assist with colic, reflux, and sleep disturbances
✅ Encourage better balance and coordination
Chiropractic care provides safe, gentle support for your growing child, ensuring they function at their highest potential from the start!
🔹 Is Chiropractic Safe for Babies & Children?
Absolutely! Pediatric chiropractic adjustments are:
🔹 Extremely gentle—applying only the same light pressure used to check a ripe tomato
🔹 Non-invasive and safe, even for newborns
🔹 Effective in supporting early neurological development
At Safe Haven Chiropractic, we believe chiropractic is essential in the first year of life. The brain is rapidly forming connections, and early neurological milestones play a key role in higher learning, sensory processing, and motor skills.
📍 Fact: Studies show that chiropractic adjustments performed by a trained Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) are one of the safest healing practices available.
🔹 Understanding Developmental Milestones
The neurological, motor skill, cognitive, and social development of a child is directly linked to the maturation of their nervous system. Pediatric chiropractic care helps ensure that primitive reflexes integrate properly and postural reflexes develop on time.
Key Neurological Development Principles:
✅ Motor control develops head to toe (head control → sitting → standing → walking)
✅ Primitive reflexes (Moro, grasp, Galant) should fade by 4-6 months
✅ Postural reflexes (Landau, lateral propping, parachute) should emerge by 3-8 months
✅ Delayed milestones or retained reflexes may indicate nervous system stress that can be improved with gentle chiropractic adjustments
📍 Did You Know? If an infant is 2-3 months behind in developmental milestones, they may have neurological interference that can be corrected through pediatric chiropractic care.
🔹 How Should My Baby Be Acting?
A Guide to Developmental Milestones
Monitoring developmental milestones is a great way to track brain and nervous system maturity. Below is a timeline of expected neurological, motor, and cognitive development:
Newborn (0-2 Months)
🔹 Responds to touch and sound
🔹 Moves arms and legs freely
🔹 Begins tracking objects with eyes
2-4 Months
🔹 Holds head up briefly during tummy time
🔹 Smiles responsively
🔹 Coos and makes early sounds
4-6 Months
🔹 Rolls from belly to back
🔹 Grabs toys and objects
🔹 Begins to sit with support
6-9 Months
🔹 Sits unassisted
🔹 Responds to name
🔹 Begins crawling
9-12 Months
🔹 Pulls to stand
🔹 Explores objects by banging and throwing
🔹 May take first independent steps
12-15 Months
🔹 Walks independently
🔹 Says a few words
🔹 Can point to objects when named
15-24 Months
🔹 Climbs stairs with assistance
🔹 Uses simple sentences
🔹 Begins pretend play
2-3 Years
🔹 Runs and jumps confidently
🔹 Begins recognizing colors and shapes
🔹 Can put on shoes with help
📍 Concerned about delayed milestones? Chiropractic care can help improve nervous system function and support milestone achievement.
🔹 The Importance of Observing & Assessing Development
Every child progresses at their own unique rate. While slight variations in milestones are normal, persistent delays should be evaluated.
What to Look For:
🔹 Does your baby struggle with tummy time?
🔹 Is your child late to roll, sit, or crawl?
🔹 Are reflexes persisting longer than expected?
🔹 Is your child clumsy or struggling with balance?
These could be signs of neurological stress, which can often be corrected with pediatric chiropractic care.
📍 Tip: Keeping a developmental diary with notes, photos, and videos can help track progress and detect subtle changes early.
🌿 How Pediatric Chiropractic Supports Your Child’s Growth
Pediatric chiropractic adjustments provide critical support for your baby’s nervous system, immune function, and physical coordination.
✅ Balances the nervous system for better adaptability
✅ Helps with digestion issues (reflux, colic, constipation)
✅ Supports proper postural development
✅ Reduces tension from birth trauma or medical interventions
Dr. Joshua Welch use the gentlest, safest techniques to help children thrive and reach their full potential.
Developmental Milestones.
The neurological, motor skill, cognitive, social and physical examination of the pediatric patient must be the context of neuro-developmental milestones. The normal neurological findings one would expect for a newborn are certainly different than a 2, 6, 12 month old infant. Obtaining developmental milestones is an important reflection of the maturation of the child’s nervous system and assessing development is an essential part of any examination. Delay in obtaining developmental milestones and abnormal patterns of development are important indicators of underlying neurological disease and disorders.
Key Principles
There are several key principles of neuro-development to keep in mind. First, the development of motor control precedes from a head to toe fashion. The baby first develops head control, then trunk control (sitting) and finally control of the lower extremities (walking). Second, primitive reflexes (such as the Moro, grasp, and Galant) are normally present in the term infant and diminish over the next 4 to 6 months of life. The postural reflexes (such as the positive support reflex, Landau, lateral propping and parachute) emerge at 3 to 8 months of age. Persistence of primitive reflexes and the lack of development of the postural reflexes are the hallmark of an upper motor neuron issue. If a infant is 2-3 months behind in the developmental mile-stones there could be a lower motor neuron issue. Each of these can be easily detected and corrected when found early by a spinal adjustments performed from a licensed chiropractor.
First: Stop, Look and Listen
Because the infant and child are unable to fully cooperate for the standard neurological examination, the examination must be tailored to the child and their developmental level and temperament. The first part of the examination is to stop, look and listen. You will learn more about the child’s neurological status by initial hands-off careful examination by watching the baby’s spontaneous activity and can determine a great deal about their mental status, cranial nerve, coordination and motor status. It is important to not be alarmed if your child is not exhibiting all or none of the patterns in this booklet, as each child progresses at his or her own rate. It is normal to be withing 1-3 months in the first year of life. This can be caused by many factors that should be closely monitored with a written diary, periodic pictures and videos, to catalog any changes after childhood illnesses, accidents or medical injuries.
The neurological, motor skill, cognitive, social and physical examination of the pediatric patient must be the context of neuro-developmental milestones. The normal neurological findings one would expect for a newborn are certainly different than a 2, 6, 12 month old infant. Obtaining developmental milestones is an important reflection of the maturation of the child’s nervous system and assessing development is an essential part of any examination. Delay in obtaining developmental milestones and abnormal patterns of development are important indicators of underlying neurological disease and disorders.
Key Principles
There are several key principles of neuro-development to keep in mind. First, the development of motor control precedes from a head to toe fashion. The baby first develops head control, then trunk control (sitting) and finally control of the lower extremities (walking). Second, primitive reflexes (such as the Moro, grasp, and Galant) are normally present in the term infant and diminish over the next 4 to 6 months of life. The postural reflexes (such as the positive support reflex, Landau, lateral propping and parachute) emerge at 3 to 8 months of age. Persistence of primitive reflexes and the lack of development of the postural reflexes are the hallmark of an upper motor neuron issue. If a infant is 2-3 months behind in the developmental mile-stones there could be a lower motor neuron issue. Each of these can be easily detected and corrected when found early by a spinal adjustments performed from a licensed chiropractor.
First: Stop, Look and Listen
Because the infant and child are unable to fully cooperate for the standard neurological examination, the examination must be tailored to the child and their developmental level and temperament. The first part of the examination is to stop, look and listen. You will learn more about the child’s neurological status by initial hands-off careful examination by watching the baby’s spontaneous activity and can determine a great deal about their mental status, cranial nerve, coordination and motor status. It is important to not be alarmed if your child is not exhibiting all or none of the patterns in this booklet, as each child progresses at his or her own rate. It is normal to be withing 1-3 months in the first year of life. This can be caused by many factors that should be closely monitored with a written diary, periodic pictures and videos, to catalog any changes after childhood illnesses, accidents or medical injuries.
