EAT, SLEEP, POOP, REPEAT: 3 Simple Steps to long-term health.

With more and more stressors happening so early in development: from nursing, sleeping, and pooping challenges in newborns, to ear infections and colic with babies, 👶 to sensory and behavioural challenges when children start grade school. It's hard to know where to start.

But the truth is, we have to look back at the first developmental milestones (of Eating, Sleeping, and Pooping) to find how to help our kids express their best health going forward.

Who this is for? 

It’s for parents who are struggling with finding answers to why their kids are wrestling with a vast array of symptoms that they feel are “tied together” but no other practitioner is making the connection.

So, we are going to look into our kiddos Neuro-developmental milestones and how they are the building blocks that cause ease or struggle.  

“If you could please share this video with other mums and parents who you know need to hear this message. You just never know how this may impact theirs and their baby’s lives”

The Modern Challenge: When Eating, Sleeping, and Pooping Don’t Come Easy

Sadly, most kids today are struggling with not just one component of their health, but multiple. The vast majority of kids we see today in practice struggle with sleep, digestion, and immune challenges all at the same time.

This then wears their bodies out and leaves them constantly exhausted and often very emotional as well. The great thing is that answers, and solutions, are close by and can help address all of these challenges together.

Eating: Building the Foundation

So, firstly, let’s look at EATING – Head and neck control is necessary to support the “rooting reflex” and activate the muscles in the neck to allow the baby to be in a comfortable position to nurse or take a bottle. The mouth, lips, and tongue then work together to get their bellies full and bodies calm.  

Sleeping: Calm Tone, Calm Baby

Secondly, a calm and relaxed tone supports a baby’s ability to easily settle down and sleep.  If a newborn is stiff, arching, and feels tight, this can be a sign they are “skipping a foundational step” (the most common cause is a stressful delivery).  

Pooping: A Sign of a Relaxed Nervous System

Then POOP. Pooping with ease is a sign baby or child is relaxed, and the autonomic nervous system is working together and on autopilot. This gives us confidence that the body can adapt to MORE stressor later on. 

Why the Nervous System Is the Missing Link

One contributor to eating, sleeping and pooping poorly can be nutrition. Certain foods may be more difficult for babies to digest, whether through formula or breastfeeding. However, the biggest missing link that many parents and health professionals overlook is the nervous system. 

The nervous system is the foundation for all other systems in the body, including digestion, being able to relax to a deep sleep, and motor function.

When You’ve Tried Everything…

At House of Chiropractic, we are passionate about helping parents understand the causes of these poorly developed building blocks and how they can help their babies and children find relief. Let’s dive deep into the science behind development and provide some practical tips for parents.

What is so disheartening about this for so many families is that not only has their baby or child been crying and whining nonstop, but they’ve tried everything. They’ve gone all in on diet changes and tried probiotics, gas drops, and herbal, natural, and nutritional remedies. After all that, their child is still suffering.

The reality is that there is usually something deeper going on, and that’s where subluxation comes in. Subluxation is simply a nerdy chiropractic word that means stress stuck on. When children or babies are inconsolable, it’s often because their nervous system is stuck in fight or flight mode. What we want is for them to spend more time in parasympathetic rest, digest, and poop mode.

Little ones are supposed to eat, sleep, poop …. and be cute. If they’re not doing these things and seem to be uncomfortable, then there is most likely nervous system dysregulation, subluxation, present. Let’s look at this further.

How We Detect Nervous System Stress

In our office we use state-of-the-art-technology called INSiGHT neurological scans. These scans are an incredible technology designed to detect and find stress on the nerves and muscles that control everything within your kiddos body. These scans are crucial because they help us understand how your child’s nervous system is functioning and can identify subluxation.

The digestive system is the first thing that needs to develop for an infant when they come earth side, after they leave the safety of mum and have been receiving all their nutrition through the placenta. The digestive system is controlled primarily through the parasympathetic nervous system, which means rest and digest.

The Role of the Vagus Nerve

The number one nerve that controls the parasympathetic and digestive motility function is a nerve called the vagus nerve, which branches from the upper cervical brainstem area.

Unfortunately, the vagus nerve is also, the most easily subluxated nerve either through a breach or abnormal positioning while the baby is still in utero or, most especially, through birth interventions such as forceps, vacuum, and C-sections where we twist, yank, and pull a baby out into the world.

This subluxation causes misalignment in the upper cervical brainstem area, which is where the vagus nerve branches from. The vagus nerve then needs to make its way down through the cervical spine, thorax, and into the abdomen.

The Latin name for the vagus nerve is nervus vagus, which literally translates to "wandering nerve". The word "vagus" itself means wandering or straying in Latin, reflecting the nerve's long and extensive pathway throughout the body, which also means more time for it to be interfered with!

The vagus nerve opens up the esophagus and activates the stomach and small intestine in our digesting processes. Any areas where there are tonnes of green, blue, and red in the INSiGHT scans indicate areas of built-up stuck tension, which is caused by subluxation.

These built-up and stuck areas of tension are various degrees of subluxation that interfere with the function of the gut, motor developmental system, ears, throat, and lungs – translating to eating, sleeping and pooping problems… and then problems with the immune and respiratory systems and ear infections and then often various behaviours problems as the child continues to develop.

Setting Kids Up for Long-Term Health

Gentle, neurologically focused adjustments, can release and unwind the tension from their nervous system. The result is a happy, relaxed baby or child who can eat, sleep, and poop like they’re supposed to. 

This foundation sets our kids up for success and ease when it comes to their nervous system function… no matter what age.

Take Action Today

If you think that your child is likely experiencing stress on their nervous system, we encourage you to give us a call to schedule an appointment so we can take a deeper look into their nervous system. 

By identifying and addressing these blockages, we can help your child thrive and reach their developmental milestones. 

So don’t wait – act today and give your child the best possible start in life. 

If you have any questions, please DM us or book an initial consultation. If you’d like to learn more about how we find these areas in your child’s nervous system that may be out of balance.