PAEDIATRIC OSTEOPATHIC MANUAL THERAPY

There are many reasons parents choose to bring their baby to a manual osteopath including difficulties with latch, sleep disturbances and fussiness. Being born is hard work, and sometimes the baby is left with some tensions that can affect digestion, sleep, and mobility. Osteopaths like to see babies quite soon after birth to check for restrictions that could make them uncomfortable as they grow. Using specific assessments and gentle osteopathic techniques, the osteopath will work to help restore, maintain, and support the whole health of your child. Manual osteopaths commonly treat symptoms such as irritability, excessive wakefulness, digestive distress and gassy-ness, visual asymmetries (head shape and position), and developmental delays. Osteopathy continues to be an important supportive treatment as children grow, through growth spurts, illness, injuries and all of the wonderful changes that are a normal part of growing up! Manual osteopathy is not a replacement for medical treatment.

Andrea’s interest in treating babies and children began early in her massage career when she found herself treating a lot of expectant mothers, then became a mother herself, and then a doula. She worked in a neighbourhood clinic for many years where she treated many families; parents and children. Through her studies in osteopathic manual therapy, Andrea has seen the incredible impact that osteopathy can have on newborns and children. To further her skill in this area she has completed a period of shadowing paediatric osteopaths at a Paediatric Clinic in Toronto, and continues to study and take every paediatrics course she can find.