Chiropractic Care for Colic and Infant Sleep in Lafayette, CO
When your baby will not settle
Colic is defined by crying, not by a cause:
about three hours a day, three days a week,
for three weeks or more. Nobody diagnoses why.
What we look at is whether physical tension is
making it harder for your baby to settle, digest and sleep.
If you are reading this at two in the morning with a
baby who has been crying for hours, you are not the
first parent to find us that way.
What birth has to do with sleep and settling
A baby stuck in an alert, guarded state does not drop into deep sleep easily. Birth is physically demanding, and a long pushing stage, vacuum or forceps assistance, or a very fast delivery can leave tension through the neck, jaw and upper back.
That tension often shows up as arching, a strong head-turning preference, difficulty latching on one side, pulling off the breast or bottle, gassiness, and a baby who startles awake minutes after going down.
The vagus nerve, which carries the signal from the brain to the gut, exits at the top of the neck just below the skull. That is the same area birth strains, and when the signal is disrupted a baby has a harder time settling, digesting and dropping into deep sleep. It is the connection behind colic, reflux and the gassy, uncomfortable evenings all at once.
What the research shows
A 2021 review indexed by the National Institutes of Health looked at six studies of chiropractic care and infantile colic. Five of them reported a reduction in daily hours of crying.
Colic is one of the better supported areas in pediatric chiropractic, and it is one of the most common reasons families bring a newborn to us in the first few weeks.
What we actually use, by name
NetworkSpinal, Sacro Occipital Technique (SOT) and Logan Basic, three of the lowest-force approaches in chiropractic. For a newborn this is usually a light, sustained fingertip contact, about the pressure you would use to check whether a tomato is ripe. SOT places padded wedges under the pelvis so your baby's own body weight does the work.
There is no twisting, no popping, no sudden movements. Most babies sleep through it.
Dr. Michelle Green is CACCP-certified through the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA), with 200 hours of advanced pediatric training. She is also a Certified SOT Pediatric Practitioner (CSSPP) through the Peak Potential Institute and a PX Docs certified pediatric and family chiropractor.
What a first visit looks like
Nothing is decided on the first visit, and nothing happens to your baby that you have not agreed to.
We take a full birth and feeding history first: how the labor went, whether there was any assistance, how feeding is going on each side, and what the nights actually look like. Then we run INSiGHT scans to see where tension is sitting. There is no radiation and nothing uncomfortable.
At the follow-up we walk you through what the scans showed in plain language. You decide from there. If we do not think we are the right fit for your baby, we will say so and point you toward who might be.
Book a newborn assessment, or call or text 720-722-1622 if you would rather ask questions first.
When to see a doctor first
Colic is a diagnosis of exclusion, which means the medical causes should be ruled out before anyone calls it colic. See your pediatrician for fever, forceful or green vomiting, blood in the stool, poor weight gain, feeding much less than usual, or crying that changed suddenly in character.
We refer, and we will help you get there.
Serving Boulder County families
Newborns come to our Lafayette office from Lafayette, Boulder, Louisville, Erie, Superior, Broomfield and Longmont, often in the first two weeks. This page is one part of our wider pediatric chiropractic care in Lafayette, which covers newborns through teenagers.
More on this from our blog
Chiropractic care for colic and reflux: what the research actually says
Baby milestone red flags and the nervous system
What a nervous system scan shows in a child
Colic and baby sleep questions, answere
Can chiropractic help my baby sleep and stop colic?
Gentle chiropractic care aims to reduce the physical tension that keeps a baby in an alert, guarded state, which is often what makes settling and sleeping hard. A 2021 review of six studies found five reported a reduction in daily crying hours following chiropractic care. Many parents notice longer sleep stretches within a few visits. Colic also eases with age on its own, and we will always tell you what we think is doing what.
What do chiropractors do for colic babies?
We take a full birth and feeding history, run a nervous system scan, and use fingertip-light contacts at the neck, upper back and pelvis to reduce tension, using NetworkSpinal, Sacro Occipital Technique and Logan Basic. There is no twisting or popping. Most sessions with a newborn take only a few minutes.
Do chiropractors help babies sleep?
Many babies sleep longer stretches after care, which parents usually put down to being more comfortable and less physically guarded. It is not a sleep training method. It works on the physical side of why a baby wakes.
Will chiropractic help a gassy baby?
Gassiness often travels with tension through the abdomen and lower back, and gentle work in that area is a common reason parents bring babies in. Feeding position, latch and sometimes diet matter just as much, so we look at the whole picture rather than promising an adjustment fixes gas.
How long does colic last?
Colic typically peaks around six weeks and settles on its own by three to four months in most babies. Knowing that natural course is part of how we tell whether care is doing something or whether your baby is simply growing out of it.
Book a visit
Book a newborn assessment online, or call or text 720-722-1622.
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