Osteopathy for babies and children: what is done, and what is not
With newborns
Birth is a passage under constraint, however it unfolds. Some babies keep a marked preference for a few weeks. They turn their head one way rather than the other, settle always into the same curve, feed better on one side. Parents see it before I do.
What I do amounts to very little. I watch how the child settles, what they do spontaneously, what bothers them. Then gentle, sustained contacts that give the baby time to release on their own. A session rarely runs past twenty minutes. He sleeps through half of it.
What I will never say
That osteopathy resolves colic, reflux, sleep or ear infections. Those claims circulate widely. They rest on nothing solid, and they do harm to families as much as to the profession.
A baby who cries a great deal, who brings up feeds, who sleeps badly, belongs first to the paediatrician. An osteopathy consultation must never delay medical assessment, and that is especially true at this age.
What I can support is positional discomfort and restricted movement. That is a narrow scope, and it is the only one I claim.
With children and teenagers
Growth brings its own reasons to come. Knee pain in a sporty child, a back that pulls during growth spurts, the aftermath of falls and sprains, discomfort from carrying a school bag or from hours in front of a screen.
For teenagers training in a club, the same principles apply as for adult athletes, with particular attention to growth areas, which are more fragile.
The scope
Your child’s care belongs to their doctor or paediatrician. I stand in for neither, I question no treatment, and I refer you back to them as soon as what I find falls outside my scope.
See a doctor first if
- Fever in a baby under three months: a medical emergency, before anything else
- Refusing feeds, repeated vomiting, a break in the weight curve
- A baby unusually floppy, hard to rouse, or inconsolable in an unfamiliar way
- Head staying turned the same way despite changes of position, or flattening of the skull that is increasing
- In an older child: limping, pain that wakes them at night, pain with fever
Frequently asked
- Does it hurt the baby?
- No. Techniques used with infants are gentle, sustained contacts. No forceful neck manipulation, no cracking. A baby who cries during a session is crying at being handled and disturbed, not from pain.
- From what age?
- From the first weeks, once the discharge paediatric check has been done. Your paediatrician remains the reference for your child's care.
- How many sessions?
- One or two are usually enough. If nothing changes after two, I send you back to the paediatrician rather than continue.
- Do I need a referral?
- No. But I will always ask whether your child is under any medical care, and what for.