Chiropractic Care for Kids
Giving your child the best start to life
Essential neuro-developmental changes occur in the first few years of life. How we support children during these years determines their expression of health and well-being. Since children need a healthy nervous system to be able to grow and thrive, it is important for them to be checked early in life. Dr. Gina and Dr. Scott are both trained in pediatric chiropractic care and know how to assess if your child is functioning to their potential. Through a clear and balanced system, children can express their health optimally. Little’s and Tots who have balanced nerve systems experience:
Easier bowel movements
Less ear infections
Improvement in behavioral issues
More calm
Better sleep
More connection
Reaching milestones
Less asthma
Diminished allergies
At Parkway Family Chiropractic our doctors are extensively trained on how to take care of the most precious thing in the world to you, your children. We are passionate about children getting the best start to life so they can express their God-given potential in life and in health.
We are a kid friendly office with special pediatric treatment rooms to make your experience the best possible!
Is your little one meeting his/her Milestones?
Developmental Milestones are markers of neurological development in the baby and young child. A baby is born with a very basic nervous system consisting primarily of primitive reflexes and autonomic control of the major organ systems. Because their brains are not developed, babies cannot consciously control their actions. The appearance of a series of skills at a particular age means that your baby's nervous sytem and brain are developing. If a child's abilities are within a predicted level for their age, then it is considered that the child is developing within normal guidelines. It is a concern if a child does not meet expected developmental milestones on time as it is indicative that their nervous system may not be developing as it should.
Developmental Milestones are categorized into 5 areas:
Gross Motor Skills
Fine Motor Skills
Social Skills
Communication Skills
Adaptive Skills
Gross Motor Skills are where the brain is able to tell the supporting muscles of the spine to work and the big muscles of the body to move. They are important for your baby to hold their head up on their own, sit up with and without support, crawl, stand, walk, and for older children to climb, run, hop, etc.
Fine Motor Skills occur when the brain is able to control the small muscles of the hands and voice box. Because of fine motor control, your baby will be able to feed herself finger food, turn pages of a book, and eventually be able to write and draw.
Social Skills tend to kick in early with your baby's first smile around 2 months of age. Higher brain function (especially on the right side of the brain) deals with emotional connection and social interaction with others. Eye contact is part of this important milestone, as well as playing with their hands and feet, playing with others (ie peek-a-boo), and pointing.
Communication Skills relate to the development of vocabulary and is dependent on being able to hear in order to develop properly. Babies will start communicating with coos and laughs and then graduate to one syllable words ("ma"), which then morphs into 2 syllable words ("mama") and then phrases.
Adaptive Skills are similar to Fine Motor Skills, but include cognitive elements in each task. These include holding their own bottle, eating with utensils, identifying colors, copying a circle.
Dr. Zummo and Dr. Payne are board certified in chiropractic and have certifications in pediatrics and prenatal. We assess the Developmental Milestones of all children coming into our practice to ensure that their nervous systems are developing on track. We recommend all newborns have a wellness checkup as soon after birth as possible, so that we can determine if there are interference's in the nervous system which could affect neurological function and development. We advises that babies come in monthly for wellness visits in order to check that their developmental milestones are being met in all 5 categories.
If your baby or child has not met a developmental milestone on time or has a problem with autism, ADHD, dyslexia or other neurobehavioral or learning disorders, it is advisable for them to have a comprehensive nervous system scan and examination with our Doctors.
