What we check
- Sacrum and pelvic alignment, and whether the pelvic floor can relax symmetrically
- Mobility through the low ribs and lumbar spine
- Diaphragm and lower ribcage motion during breathing
- Upper neck tension, given the vagus nerve's path out of the skull
- Hip range of motion and any habitual curl to one side
- Nervous-system tension on an INSiGHT scan, since digestion is a rest-and-digest function
- Stool consistency, effort, and comfort between diapers, plus feeding and birth history
- Whether the picture you are describing needs your pediatrician first
What to expect
The first visit is a consultation, a nervous-system scan, and a hands-on exam with a first adjustment. Expect detailed questions about diapers, and expect us to care about consistency more than count. We will ask how the birth went, whether anything changed in feeding recently, when the straining started, and what a hard day looks like. Then we examine your baby's low back, pelvis, ribcage, and neck by hand and run the INSiGHT scan. If we find restriction, we address it with light fingertip pressure at that same visit. At the second visit we go through the scan with you and give you a specific plan with a defined checkpoint, not an open-ended commitment. The initial visit is $200. If we think you should call your pediatrician before starting care, we will tell you that on day one.
Book a first visitStraining Is Not Always Constipation
A lot of worried parents are dealing with something that has a different name, and we ask about all of this before we touch your baby.
- Infant dyschezia. Many young babies grunt, strain, turn red, and cry for several minutes before passing a stool that turns out to be perfectly soft. That is a coordination problem rather than a blockage — the baby has not yet learned to relax the pelvic floor at the same moment she pushes. It usually sorts itself out with time.
- Actual constipation looks different. Stools are hard, dry, and pellet-like, or wide and firm. There may be a small streak of blood from a tiny tear. The belly can feel full. The baby is uncomfortable between diapers, not just during them.
- Frequency alone is a poor test, especially in exclusively breastfed babies. A breastfed baby past the first month can genuinely go five or six days and then produce something soft and unremarkable.
- Watch consistency, effort, and comfort in between — the answers change what we are looking for.
What We Actually Check
Chiropractic care does not treat constipation, and we want to be blunt about that. What we examine is the mechanical and neurological neighborhood the digestive tract lives in.
- Lower back and pelvis first. The nerves supplying the lower bowel and pelvic floor exit the spine down low, and the pelvic floor muscles attach to the tailbone. A baby whose sacrum and pelvis are held asymmetrically after a tight or fast delivery may be trying to push through a floor that is not relaxing evenly.
- Thoracolumbar area, roughly the low ribs to the waist, where a great deal of digestive nerve supply travels.
- Diaphragm and lower ribcage. Pushing a stool out requires a coordinated squeeze from above, and a braced ribcage makes that harder.
- Upper neck, which surprises parents. The vagus nerve leaves the skull at the very top of the neck and carries a large share of the calming, digest-and-rest signaling to the gut. Tension high in the neck is worth ruling out even when the complaint is at the other end.
- Overall nervous-system state. Digestion is a rest-and-digest activity, and a baby who lives braced does not digest as comfortably as one who can settle.
- What that may support. Where we find restriction we address it gently, which may support easier, more coordinated movement. Many parents report softer, less dramatic diapers within a few weeks. We will not tell you it is the reason, and we will not tell you it is guaranteed.
Feeding and Formula Questions Belong to Your Pediatrician
There are real, common, non-mechanical causes of hard stools in babies, and none of them are ours to manage.
- A formula change, a switch from breast milk to formula, a new solid food, dehydration in the Texas summer, cow’s milk protein intolerance, an anal fissure, low thyroid function, and in rarer cases Hirschsprung disease all sit squarely with your medical provider
- So does any decision about suppositories, laxatives, stool softeners, prune juice, or extra water
- Please do not give a young infant extra water or juice on our say-so, or anyone’s, without asking your pediatrician first. Young babies can get into trouble with plain water
- What we will do is tell you when what you are describing sounds like it needs a medical workup rather than a chiropractic assessment
- Karen Crockett, CHP, our nutritionist and health coach, can talk with you about family-wide nutrition and lifestyle — but an infant feeding plan is your pediatrician’s call
The Adjustment Itself
For a baby, an adjustment is sustained light pressure from one fingertip, about the pressure you would use to test whether a tomato is ripe.
- It is held for a few seconds at a time
- No twisting, no popping, no quick movement — that is not how infant care works here, and it is not what we do
- For a lower-back and pelvic assessment, your baby is usually on her tummy across a padded table or across your lap
- Many babies sleep through the whole thing; some wake up, complain about being repositioned, and then settle again
- Home positioning, offered once. More supervised tummy time, how to carry her so she is not kept curled to one side, and how to help her get a knees-up, relaxed position when she is working on a stool — small mechanical help, not a homework packet
See a medical provider right away if you notice
- No stool at all combined with a distended, hard, or tender abdomen — seek medical care the same day
- Vomiting that is green or yellow-green, or vomiting alongside a swollen belly — go to the emergency room
- A newborn who has not passed meconium within the first 48 hours of life — this needs urgent evaluation
- Any fever of 100.4°F or higher in a baby under 3 months old — call your pediatrician or go to the ER immediately
- Poor weight gain, weight loss, or falling off the growth curve
- More than a small streak of blood in the stool, or ongoing bleeding
- Lethargy, floppiness, difficulty waking, or refusing to feed
- Ribbon-thin stools, or constipation that started in the first weeks of life and has never let up — ask your pediatrician about ruling out Hirschsprung disease
Common questions
How long can a breastfed baby go without pooping before I should worry?
After the first few weeks, some breastfed babies genuinely stretch several days and then pass something soft. That is usually fine. What is not fine is a hard belly with no stool, vomiting, poor feeding, or a baby who is clearly uncomfortable the whole time. Your pediatrician is the right person to draw that line for your specific baby, and we would rather you call them than us if you are unsure.
Can an adjustment make my baby poop?
Some parents do report a diaper within a day of a visit, and they tell us about it with real enthusiasm. We still will not sell you that as the point. Chiropractic care is not a treatment for constipation. We assess and gently address restriction in the pelvis, low back, ribcage, and neck. Whether digestion changes is something we watch for together rather than something we promise.
Should I give prune juice, water, or a suppository?
Ask your pediatrician, not us. Infant feeding and any bowel medication decisions are medical decisions. Extra plain water in particular can be genuinely unsafe for a young infant, so please do not start it on your own.
Does the exam involve anything invasive?
No. Nothing internal, nothing rectal, no instruments. It is hands, a light-touch scan, and observation of how your baby moves. She stays clothed apart from what we need to move aside to feel her spine.
My toddler is the one struggling now. Is this the right page?
Much of the thinking carries over, but the exam and the care look different for a two-year-old than for a newborn, and withholding behavior becomes part of the picture. Call the office and tell us your child's age so we book the right length of appointment.
This page is educational and is not medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Chiropractic care does not treat or cure disease; it supports the function of the nervous system and spine. Please speak with your pediatrician or a licensed clinician about your family's specific situation, and seek immediate care for any urgent symptom.