Does your child have problems with eating, sleeping and difficulty pooping?
Do They Suffer From Colic?
Is your child having a hard time sleeping and having difficulty pooping? Do they suffer from colic? Does your family suffer from their colic? Do you just want to help them feel better? Their nervous system may be the cause. Have you heard of sympathetic dominance?
In high school or college anatomy you may have heard of the “rest and digest” function of the nervous system. The rest and digest functions of your nervous system are controlled by the parasympathetic nervous system, and are just that, related to digestion and other slow moving, peaceful, low energy activities. You’ve probably also heard of the “fight or flight” response. This is the part of your nervous system that kicks in when you are under stress, and it focuses all of your energy on survival. When the fight or flight response kicks in, it often causes the rest and digest portion of your nervous system to go into the equivalent of sleep mode on your computer.
Children of all ages, like adults, are under more physical, mental and chemical stress than any of us care to admit. Stress activates the fight or flight response, and in many of us, it is constant. What happens when you or your baby is in a constant state of fight or flight? You become stuck in what’s called “Sympathetic Dominance” which leads to an over production of the inflammatory stress hormones cortisol, adrenaline and a host of others. This state of being stuck in sympathetic dominance leads to a reduction in rest and digest activity. For the baby, this may manifest as exhaustion, constipation and other difficulty pooping. If you were under rested, exhausted, constipated and with a belly ache, would you want to scream and cry? This is one cause of colic.
Birth trauma, household stress, nerve damage, chemical exposure may all be at the start of childhood sympathetic dominance which makes it more difficult for children to recharge during sleep, it makes them fickle eaters and they often have difficulty pooping. All of these and other issues lead to what is often referred to as a colicky baby. Colic is often accompanied by difficulty pooping. If your child seems to have both, you should have their sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems assessed by a pediatric chiropractor.
Did your child have birth trauma?
Pediatric chiropractors have tools to evaluate babies for sympathetic Dominance. Pediatric chiropractors are board certified and trained to be safe, effective and able to explain to the parents everything that is going on and why. Find a pediatric chiropractor near you!