The Longest Day: Chiropractic & Babies, Part II

It was the Tuesday after our daughter was born. She was 4 days old, and everything was going how you might expect to that point--diapers, nursing, crying, sleeping. A slew of visitors were coming in and out. But on this day, those visitors didn't get the chance to see our baby girl or even her Mother. Instead, they were stuck with me while Mom and baby stayed behind closed doors.

WHY?

Our baby couldn't stop eating! She would wail and cry as if she was starving. She would nurse for a bit, drift off to sleep, and wake up crying 30 to 60 minutes later. This cycle continued throughout the balance of the day. Mommy got frazzled, Daddy felt helpless, and Baby could not get enough to eat.

FOURTEEN HOURS LATER...

It was 11 o'clock that night, and nobody was happy. Suddenly it dawned on me--I haven't adjusted her yet! It had been my intent to adjust her as soon as we reasonably could, but Doctor had been replaced by Daddy.

I quickly examined my own newborn and adjusted her in a few spots while she wiggled restlessly and cried on Mommy's belly. Almost instantly, she began to calm down. I gently picked her up and placed her in her Mother's arms, and she began nursing again. My wife gave me a strange look and said, "Something's different."

After nursing for about 15 minutes, our baby quietly fell asleep, as did her parents.

THE NEXT MORNING

We awoke from a night of sleep about which new parents dream. At some point in the night, my wife handed the baby to me, so it was somewhat startling to me to see her in my arms. She was peaceful...almost too peaceful.

I glanced up at my digital clock...

10:00...

A.M.

Quickly doing the math in my groggy head, it struck me that the baby--and her parents--had slept soundly for 10+ hours. Instead of a feeling a deep sense of satisfaction, panic ensued. BABIES DON'T SLEEP SOUNDLY FOR TEN SOLID HOURS!

I gently nudged the baby and began talking to her quietly.

Nothing.

My attempts to wake her became more vigorous. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, our baby opened her eyes and looked around. Everything was back to normal. At least, as normal as things get for new parents.

ALMOST FOUR YEARS LATER

Our little girl will not let me forget to adjust her. On average, I check her once per week. If she doesn't sleep through the night, a quick examination and adjustment will usually correct this problem. If we stay as regular as we should be, she sleeps through the night and has since she was 3 weeks old.

As an added bonus, she has never been colicky or had stomach trouble, she has had 1 or 2 episodes of ear pain with symptoms lasting no more than 48 hours, she is rarely sick, and when she is, she gets over it much faster than the kids around her.

But more on that later.