osteopath question

Ok, so what exactly is an osteopath? and what do they do?

i was reading anna's no sleep story (after i had posted.duh) and was wondering if maybe toby would benefit from one. he can be such a grumpy bum and screams and moans almost constantly.

but i thought i dont really know what they do.

when mikey went he was 5 months old, the osteopath was really gentle with him. mikey was just lying on his back and the osteopath had his hands underneath his head, neck and back and just manipulated gently. there was no pulling or cracking or anything, it was almost like a massage.
i'm not sure how it would be for toby as he's a bit older but i would say it would still be quite gentle.

Basically, cranial osteopathy is very gentle manipulations of the bones in the head (and neck?). Sometimes there are things that kinda throw everything out of whack up there, like birth!

Kaia's birth was HORRID. She got squished in all sorts of ways and then needed to be pulled out. She was born with a horrendously bruised head and face. I think generally when babies are born (vaginally) they get squished, some more than others but all that squishing is sposed to right it self, sometimes it doesn't.

I took her to an osteo when she was abotu two months old, he gently held her head and neck and told me he could feel a lot of 'compression' in her neck, shoulders and spine. He said he would like three treatments and not to expect any change after the first one but she would get better.

He picked up her head, held it in his hands and did, well, basically it looked liked nothing. I guess it was so gentle that I could hardly see any movement but then I took her home and she didn't cry so much anymore, she settled into sleep much easier and was generally more content.

He told me that a lot of things that are wrong with babies - colic, reflux, being unsettled etc - most of these things go away after a while but can be treated by an osteo. Basically, why put up with something for six months (even if it will go away) when it can be treated? Kinda like having a headache that is always there, you get used to it (to a certain degree) and can bare it but why should you have to if it can be treated?

I was soooooo excited with the treatment he gave Kaia, I was all set to take Quinn in for a just-in-case treatment. The guy i went to works with all kids. It cost us $70 a go, for three goes. A lot of money when we didn't have much but absolutely worth it!

Anyway, the point of my novel? Absolutely try it! It can't hurt and if it helps then definitely worth it! A friend of mine is a cranial osteo up your way, I could phone him and get him to recommend someone if you'd like! He is the guy that put me on to my osteo.

Edit to add: check out here for more info!

Edited by Anna

Anna summed it up pretty well we took James when he was 4wks old and had three treatments the 1st time he started sleeping longer and was more settled over all he was only doing 1-2 hour stints day and night before we took him and by the last treatment he was sleeping beautifully. I highly recommend them and will be taking my next babies to one even if there isn't anything wrong just to get them checked out.

And!! What i didn't know early on is that some osteopaths do free appts for babies under six weeks! So even if you had a good birth and there is no problem it could be worth going!!