Vital Body Therapy

Wellbeing for all ages and stages of life.

Craniosacral Therapy for babies is listening to the parents, responding to the needs of the baby and supporting them all improve sleeping, feeding and digestion issues.

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Craniosacral Therapy for Babies

This gentle treatment is used to help ease:

Birthing issues and trauma.

Craniosacral Therapy can help baby recover after a hard labour, Cesarean birth, Ventouse or forceps delivery or even a fast delivery. A general check up or to fix obvious issues is part of each baby craniosacral session.

Breastfeeding/latching problems

Craniosacral Therapy can address the many causes of breastfeeding, bottlefeeding and latching issues. Heather will take the time to truly see what is impacting the feeding journey and will treat the causes.

Tongue or lip ties

Babies with lip and tongue ties can cause pain with breastfeeding, and noisy or lazy feeding. Treatment includes identifying ties as well as Craniosacral therapy to improve sucking and reduce feeding pain.

Fussy or crying babies.

Craniosacral Therapy can help to soothe the nervous system, release tight muscles, improve relaxation and self calming within the baby.

Colic, reflux and digestive issues.

Digestive issues in babies are distressing. Each session works with the parents and the child to relax the stomach, improve feeding techniques, relax the body and find answers individual to the baby.

Head turning/torticollis and misshapen heads.

Craniosacral Therapy can retrain the muscles to allow the head to turn easily thus allowing baby to lie with its’ head on both sides. Exercises for head movement and sleeping are also taught to the parents.

Heather Lever CST-T®, RMT will take the time to really listen to the parents, look for answers, treat the baby and refer on to other Health Professionals as needed.

As baby grows in utero and is then born into this world, restrictions in the body can affect its ability to relax, feed and sleep.

Whatever the birth experience, Craniosacral Therapy for baby help a newborn recover quickly. Caesarian section or natural births, home births or ventouse/forceps birth can all cause tension and pain within the baby.

Tension patterns can cause irregular shaped head, torticollis, feeding and latching problems as well as colic and reflux in baby.

Feeding is fundamental to wellbeing of our babies and the sanity of parents.

If the muscles along the body or the cranial bones are tight, then it is harder for baby to feed easily. Heather specialises in improving feeding and sucking in babies. She will assess the suck and treat baby to optimise efficiency of suck and transfer of milk.

The presence of tongue ties can have devastating effects on breastfeeding and on mums nipples. These ties restrict the mobility of the tongue causing clicking, lazy feeding, falling asleep at the breast and nipple damage.

Heather can identify tongue ties and then she will discuss surgical and non surgical treatment options. She provides Craniosacral support to Cranial nerves and the whole body pre and post Tongue tie revision.

As a Certified Craniosacral Therapist, Heather Lever brings over 20 years working alongside Cambridge and Waikato Midwives. She supports babies to be pain free, relaxed and great feeders.

FAQs
What does a baby Craniosacral treatment look like?

Each treatment starts with an in depth discussion of how the baby is, its’ history and also how Mum and the rest of the family are. This allows the full picture to be seen.

The baby is then either placed on the table or held by a parent. Each Craniosacral treatment for baby is baby led. That means that the baby decides what needs working on and when. This allows the baby to relax into the treatment. Unwinding and releasing restrictions and tension at the rate the baby can cope with. Craniosacral Therapy for baby (or Cranial Baby Massage as some call it) gently uses only 5g of pressure to relax and release these restrictions These restrictions may be within muscles, nerves, fascia, the pelvis and the skull. She follows the tissue to where it wants to move to – thus a release.

During the session Heather will explain what she is working on, what she has seen with behaviour and movement patterns with the baby and then will give concepts for parents to use based on what she has observed within the session.

All information and concepts given are purely that. Her favourite phrase is – “It is your baby, you set the rules, you put it to sleep at night, you get it up in the morning. You know it the best. When you get “advice”, if it feels right for you then do it, if it doesn’t feel right then don’t do it. It is purely your child.”

Craniosacral Therapy Session for Mother and Baby

During this 1 1/2 hour session Mum and Baby get time focused on their own wellbeing.

The Postnatal Mum is listened to and worked with to help find solutions to the many issues she faces with a baby. Topics that are addressed are varied and can range from her own post birthing pain to feeding issues. The session allows time to de-brief about the birth or how they are feeling that day or week. The craniosacral treatment is specialised to helping her recover from the birth she had as well as the muscular pain and tiredness from having a baby.

If Mum has had a Caesarian Section (C-Section) birth, the scar can be worked on and released from 8 weeks after the birth.

It is preferable that a support person comes in to be able to look after the baby to allow Mum to fully focus on her own needs for this time frame.

Will Baby get upset?

Baby may be quiet throughout the treatment or it may tell us that there is a restriction or that a release is happening. If baby, during the Craniosacral treatment, gets upset during the treatment, will continue to treat the baby while it is having a cuddle or being fed. Each treatment is done with the parent at the table with the baby. They are fully part of the session.

Should baby be fed before the treatment?

It doesn’t matter whether baby is fed or not fed before the session. Treatment can continue while baby is feeding.

Craniosacral Therapy for babies to toddlers on the move.

Tummy TIme

Tummy time teaches baby to hold its head up as well as strengthening the neck and arms to prepare for crawling. Learn how to optimise this exercise and make it enjoyable for Baby and Parents.

Rolling and crawling

Rolling and crawling are the basics of moving. Heather Lever provides treatment to allow baby to roll and crawl easily. Bum shuffling and commando crawling are easily moved to proper crawling.

Walking

Delayed or difficult walking is easily remedied with craniosacral therapy and exercises. Toddlers are treated on the ground allowing the child to move around and move in and out of the treatment.

Sleep regressions

Sleep regressions can be from many causes – digestive, tight muscles, sore body from falling while learning to walk or simply overstimulation. Treatment includes craniosacral therapy and techniques specific to the needs of the child.

Feeding solids

Feeding solids can be easy or hard. babies re learning swallowing, drinking and sensory processing techniques. Craniosacral Therapies can help with the transition to solids by reducing the nervous system reactions to change.

Emotional turmoil

As babies get older they will show their emotions stronger. This is a learning process for parents and babies. Craniosacral therapy will help to support their nervous system during this time of change allowing for a calmer baby and toddler.

Vital Body Therapy

Morrinsville Community Centre, 43 Canada Street, Morrinsville.

Cambridge Midwives Clinic, 12 Raleigh Street, Cambridge.

07 823 4000

027 383 7898

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