“My baby screams all of the time.”
A mother had four “normal” children and then this baby.
"Not only does he scream, but he is up every hour at night. Now, at around eleven months, he needs to be in a bedroom away from the family so the other children can rest. He also has reflux and constipation. He was taking the highest dose of reflux meds without resolution."
He has been uncomfortable since birth. Mom was sick for much of the pregnancy, and labor and delivery were fast, which can portend a tight neonate.
Since he had difficulty breastfeeding, the lactation consultant recommend tongue-tie surgery, which failed to stop the screaming. Mom has tried every type of therapy to help him.
One medical doctor said: "He is a baby. This is what babies do.” Another said: “This is par for the course. His crib needs a better mattress.”
Mom felt that he was screaming due to pain in his body. She knew that something was going on and was not getting any answers from anyone. What could possibly be the root cause?
During the history, she mentioned that he arched all of the time, especially when he was in pain. I explained that abnormal fetal positioning was probably the cause of this phenomenon and could explain his behavior.
It is not that he was a “bad” baby; it was because he was suffering from that arching strain pulling painfully in his body 24/7. Unfortunately, no professional was listening.
In therapy, he went right into the arching strain. He cried a bit during the first few sessions, but then he seemed to want to go into that strain to help release it. With the soft tissue releasing, he seemed to get a little relief from his pain.
All birth providers need to be aware of the nasty effects of arching because all of the body’s systems are adversely affected from the pelvis to the head.
I believe that the work at his birth could have avoided this scenario. Gillespie Approach Training is a must for all newborn providers.
