Pediatric Chiropractor in Lafayette, CO
Pediatric Chiropractic Care
Gentle nervous system support for growing bodies.
Kids experience stress too, from birth, development, falls,
school, and daily life.
Pediatric chiropractic care gentlysupports your child’s
nervous system as they grow.
What is pediatric chiropractic care?
Pediatric care uses very gentle, age-appropriate touches to
support the developing nervous system.
Care is adapted for infants, toddlers, children, and teens.
How it works
A child’s nervous system plays a key role in:
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movement
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regulation
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sleep
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digestion
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emotional balance
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healthy development
Gentle chiropractic care helps reduce stress on the nervous system so kids can adapt and grow more easily.
What parents often notice
Parents often report:
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improved sleep
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better emotional regulation
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easier transitions
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improved body awareness
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calmer nervous systems
Each child responds in their own way.
Who this is for
Pediatric chiropractic care may be helpful if your child:
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struggles with sleep
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has tension or asymmetry
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seems easily overwhelmed
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has difficulty regulating emotions
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has experienced birth stress or frequent falls
What to expect
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Extremely gentle care
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No forceful adjustments
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Parent present at all times
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Care tailored to your child’s age and needs
What if my child is scared?
Some kids walk in ready. Some hide behind your leg. Both are normal.
If your child does not want their spine checked, we do not check it. We try again next visit. Nothing happens without their okay.
Usually it does not come to that. There is a toy area kids actually want to be in, and the care is gentle enough that most children do not think of it as a procedure at all. A lot of them end up asking to come back.
When a child is nervous, we slow down. That might mean getting down on the floor at their level, asking about their favorite animal before asking anything about their body, letting them adjust a stuffed animal first, or checking them while they are sitting on your lap.
Some kids need two or three visits before they are ready. That is completely fine.
Care at every age, from newborn to teen
What care looks like changes as your child grows.
Newborns and infants
The first weeks are a big adjustment for a brand new nervous system. Birth itself asks a lot of a baby's body, especially a long labor, a very fast labor, or a delivery involving vacuum, forceps, or shoulder dystocia.
Parents often bring newborns in for feeding and latch difficulty, a strong preference for turning the head one way, trouble settling, or a lot of arching and discomfort. If that sounds like your baby, we go into more depth on colic and infant sleep and on recurring ear infections. Care is extremely gentle, usually a light fingertip contact, and your baby is often asleep in your arms the whole time.
Babies and toddlers
As babies begin rolling, crawling, cruising and walking, they also begin falling. A lot. Most of it is completely normal and their bodies handle it well.
Parents commonly come in around sleep, digestion, big feelings, and the ordinary tumbles of learning to move. More on the digestion and constipation side, which is one of the most common reasons families come in. Care is quick and adapted to a body that has no interest in holding still, which is exactly as it should be.
Young children
School, screens, backpacks, sport, and a much fuller social world all place new demands on a growing nervous system.
This is the age when parents most often say their child seems easily overwhelmed, has a hard time with transitions, struggles to settle at bedtime, or melts down over things that did not used to be a problem.
For children with ADHD, autism or sensory processing differences, we go into more depth on the nervous system side here: ADHD, autism and sensory processing.
Teenagers
Teens carry a real load: academic pressure, sport, posture, phones, and a nervous system in the middle of significant change.
Care at this age tends to focus on helping the nervous system recover and regulate, so a teenager has more capacity for everything being asked of them.
The whole family
It is common here to see a parent, a baby, and a grandparent under one roof in the same week. If you are pregnant now, prenatal chiropractic care supports your body through pregnancy, and many families continue with care for their baby after birth.
What we are actually trying to do
Families come to us two ways. Some come because something is wrong. A baby who will not feed. A kid who melts down over everything. Sleep that fell apart. Others come with nothing wrong at all, because they want their child's nervous system supported while it is doing the enormous work of growing up.
Both are the right reason to come.
What stays the same either way is where we look. Rather than chasing a symptom on its own, care is aimed at how well your child's nervous system is regulating, because that is often what is sitting underneath the thing you are worried about.
A lot of families arrive with a problem, and once it settles they stay. They can see what regular, specialized care does for their kid, and they would rather keep it that way than wait for the next thing.
How we measure your child's nervous system
Most of the time you are asked to take it on faith that care is working. We would rather show you.
Children here are scanned using INSiGHT technology, a set of non-invasive measurements of how the nervous system is functioning. No radiation, no needles, nothing uncomfortable. Your child sits still for a few minutes.
Which scans we run depends on your child's age. For children under four we typically use heart rate variability and surface EMG, because those are quick and easy for a young child to sit through. From about age four we add thermal scanning for a fuller picture. These are Class II FDA registered medical devices.
You see your child's results in plain language, and we scan again later so you can see what actually changed instead of guessing.
Read more about what each scan measures and what the results mean.
Is chiropractic safe for children?
Yes. The research on pediatric chiropractic shows a very low rate of adverse events, and the events that are reported are mild and short-lived, things like temporary soreness.
The largest study of its kind surveyed chiropractors and parents across a practice-based research network. Chiropractors reported three adverse events across 5,438 office visits involving 577 children. Parents, surveyed separately, reported two adverse events across 1,735 visits involving 239 children. The study found no treatment-associated complications reported by either group.
A separate 2018 study followed 881 children and their parents, ages 8 to 17, measuring quality of life before and after care using PROMIS-25, a standard research instrument. Over an average of 38 days and fewer than three visits, children were significantly less likely to report depression, anxiety, fatigue, and pain.
That is a real answer to a fair question, and you deserve one before anyone touches your child.
Alcantara J, Ohm J, Kunz D. Explore (NY). 2009;5(5):290-5.
Alcantara J, Lamont AE, Ohm J, Alcantara J. J Altern Complement Med. 2018;24(4):378-384.
A study worth knowing about
In 2025, researchers reviewed the records of 180 children aged 5 to 18 who received chiropractic care through onsite clinics at nine schools. Each child had 12 weeks of care, measured with validated questionnaires alongside the same kinds of nervous system scans we use here: heart rate variability, surface EMG, and thermography.
The children showed statistically significant improvements in overall quality of life, in the health and activities portion of that measure, and in hyperactivity. The researchers have called for a clinical trial next to build on the findings.
Duehr J, Cook L, Blonigen A, et al. J Bodyw Mov Ther. 2025;42:948-954.
How much pressure is actually used?
Far less than most parents expect. Everything here is gentle to begin with. The methods used are NetworkSpinal, Sacro Occipital Technique and Logan Basic, all low-force approaches rather than forceful ones. With children it is gentler still.
A child's spine is not a small adult spine. It is structurally different at every stage of growth, and pediatric training is specifically about understanding those differences and adapting the force accordingly.
This has been measured. Researchers used a pressure pad to record the actual force a chiropractor applied across 109 adjustments on 48 children, from 14 weeks old to 17 years, and compared it against 49 adjustments on 20 adults. The forces used on children were substantially lower than those used on adults, and increased gradually with the child's age.
There is no cracking, no popping, and no twisting. For infants, care is usually a light, sustained fingertip contact. The pressure is about what you would use to check whether a tomato or an avocado is ripe.
When chiropractic is not the answer
Sometimes the most useful thing a chiropractor can do is tell you to see someone else.
A pediatric exam here includes screening for things outside the scope of chiropractic care. If something in your child's history, exam, or presentation suggests they need a pediatrician, urgent care, a lactation consultant, or another provider, you will be told directly and quickly.
Signs that mean your child needs medical evaluation rather than a chiropractic adjustment include lethargy or unusual difficulty waking, a baby not gaining weight or losing weight, signs of dehydration, fever in a newborn, breathing difficulty, or a sudden change in muscle tone or responsiveness.
Once an urgent situation is handled by the right provider, we can look at where chiropractic fits in. And often care runs alongside other providers rather than instead of them. We work in conjunction with lactation consultants, occupational therapists, speech therapists, and others.
Chiropractic care and medical care are not in competition. If your child needs a pediatrician, our job is to make sure you get there.
Dr. Green's pediatric certification and training
Pediatric chiropractic is a distinct area of training, not something every chiropractor has studied. If you are looking for a pediatric certified chiropractor in Lafayette, here is what that certification actually means.
Dr. Michelle Green is certified by the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (CACCP), a credential representing 200 hours of advanced training in chiropractic care for children from newborn through adolescence. She has also completed an 80-hour perinatal certification through the same organization, and she is Webster certified for care during pregnancy.
Her additional pediatric training includes a Certificate of Proficiency in Pediatric and Family Chiropractic through the Life University postgraduate department, and the Certified SOT Pediatric Practitioner credential, covering Sacro Occipital Technique methods adapted specifically for infants and children.
She is PX Docs certified, having completed their training program, and is listed in both the ICPA directory of certified pediatric chiropractors and the PX Docs directory.
Pediatric chiropractic questions, answered
Is it good for kids to get adjusted by a chiropractor?
Research on pediatric chiropractic shows a very low rate of adverse events. In the largest survey of its kind, chiropractors reported three adverse events across 5,438 office visits. All three were stiffness or soreness after an adjustment which resolved quickly, and none required medical attention. Parents separately reported two across 1,735 visits. Care is adapted to the child's age and size, using far less force than adult care.
Do you specialize in pediatric chiropractic?
Yes. Pediatric and infant care is a core focus here. Dr. Michelle Green is CACCP certified through the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association, with 200 hours of advanced pediatric training, an 80-hour perinatal certification, and a Certificate of Proficiency in Pediatric and Family Chiropractic from Life University. Every child starts with a consultation, exam and INSiGHT scans, so care is based on what we find.
What age can a baby see a chiropractor?
Babies can be checked in the first days of life. Many families come in during the first week or two after birth, often around feeding difficulty, a head turning preference, or trouble settling. Care for a newborn is a light fingertip contact.
How old should a child be to see a chiropractor?
There is no minimum age. Care is adapted to the child, from newborns through teens. What changes with age is the amount of pressure used and what the visit focuses on.
How does a chiropractor adjust a baby?
With a light, sustained fingertip contact. No cracking, no popping, no twisting. Research comparing 109 adjustments on 48 children against 49 on 20 adults found the forces used on children were substantially lower and increased gradually with age.
What is an INSiGHT scan?
A set of non-invasive measurements of how your child's nervous system is functioning, using Class II FDA registered devices. There is no radiation and nothing uncomfortable. For children under four we typically use heart rate variability and surface EMG. From about age four we add thermal scanning. Results are explained in plain language and repeated later so you can see what changed.
What is a red flag in chiropractic?
A red flag is any sign that a child needs medical care rather than chiropractic care. Lethargy, poor weight gain, signs of dehydration, fever in a newborn, breathing difficulty, or a sudden change in tone or responsiveness all mean your child should be evaluated by a pediatrician or urgent care. If we see any of these, we will tell you directly and refer you. Knowing what to look for, and when to involve another provider, is a large part of what pediatric training is for.
Can chiropractic help a child who gets overwhelmed easily?
Care focuses on nervous system regulation rather than on treating a diagnosis. Parents commonly report improvements in sleep, emotional regulation, and handling transitions. A 2018 study of 881 children ages 8 to 17 found they were significantly less likely to report anxiety, fatigue, and pain after care.
What if my child will not let you touch them?
Then we do not check them. Nothing happens without your child's okay. We may spend the first visit or two building trust, letting them adjust a stuffed animal, or checking them while they sit on your lap. Some kids need a few visits before they are ready, and that is completely fine.
Do you accept insurance?
We are a cash based practice, which means your care stays focused on what actually helps you, not on what an insurance plan will approve. Many patients use their HSA or FSA, and we are happy to provide a superbill you can submit for possible reimbursement. You can also review our Good Faith Estimate for clear pricing before your first visit.
Want to learn more?
Schedule a pediatric visit
or Contact us with questions about your child.
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