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@: Is this okay to do to a baby?

I have a friend who posted a picture of her husband holding a baby upside down by her ankles. The baby is a little over a month old. She said in the comments that her midwife said it was good for the baby's spine. This seems crazy. Is this true?

Re: @: Is this okay to do to a baby?

  • I've heard a lot of crazy *** about babies but never that.  
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  • I don't think it would hurt the baby, unless they are staying like that for a long time and the blood is rushing to their head.  An inversion table is great for your spine and this seems like the same thing.

    ETA - but the more I think about it, babies aren't walking around and causing the same spinal problems that adults do.  So they wouldn't need to be inverted to help with their spine, right?

    So while it probably doesn't hurt the baby, it's also not necessary.

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  • image+adamwife+:

    I don't think it would hurt the baby, unless they are staying like that for a long time and the blood is rushing to their head.  An inversion table is great for your spine and this seems like the same thing.

    ETA - but the more I think about it, babies aren't walking around and causing the same spinal problems that adults do.  So they wouldn't need to be inverted to help with their spine, right?

    So while it probably doesn't hurt the baby, it's also not necessary.

    I don't know I know people on my BMB took their newborns to the chiropractor... not saying they were right or had a reason but maybe there is? 

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  • imageMare0527:
    image+adamwife+:

    I don't think it would hurt the baby, unless they are staying like that for a long time and the blood is rushing to their head.  An inversion table is great for your spine and this seems like the same thing.

    ETA - but the more I think about it, babies aren't walking around and causing the same spinal problems that adults do.  So they wouldn't need to be inverted to help with their spine, right?

    So while it probably doesn't hurt the baby, it's also not necessary.

    I don't know I know people on my BMB took their newborns to the chiropractor... not saying they were right or had a reason but maybe there is? 

    Certain chiros - cranial sacral, I think? - can help newborns.  In particular, they can help something in their mouth to improve nursing.  I don't know all the details, but a mom in my mom's group takes her baby and swears by it.
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  • This reminds me of a really sad, somewhat inflamatory story on Yahoo today:

    http://gma.yahoo.com/rare-disease-mimics-child-abuse-tears-family-apart-210441467--abc-news-health.html

    This guy killed himself and his wife when their baby was taken away and put in foster care and he was facing abuse charges. He had mentioned holding the baby upside down by her legs because it made her smile. Turns out, the baby had 11 fractures. So doctors and authorities were all "ABUSE!" when in reality, the baby had a genetic illness (spinal muscular atrophy) which made her more prone to injury.

    But in a normal baby, I don't know if that would be harmful. Not if you're careful.

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  • imageJeniLovesNeil:
    imageMare0527:
    image+adamwife+:

    I don't think it would hurt the baby, unless they are staying like that for a long time and the blood is rushing to their head.  An inversion table is great for your spine and this seems like the same thing.

    ETA - but the more I think about it, babies aren't walking around and causing the same spinal problems that adults do.  So they wouldn't need to be inverted to help with their spine, right?

    So while it probably doesn't hurt the baby, it's also not necessary.

    I don't know I know people on my BMB took their newborns to the chiropractor... not saying they were right or had a reason but maybe there is? 

    Certain chiros - cranial sacral, I think? - can help newborns.  In particular, they can help something in their mouth to improve nursing.  I don't know all the details, but a mom in my mom's group takes her baby and swears by it.

    Yep, a doctor and a lactation consultant recommend infant chiro and/or infant massage therapy to help with nursing and DS's tongue tie. We never did it, but it does exist.

    Regarding holding the baby upside down: DH has done this a few times. DS seems to like it and he's only upside down for a few seconds. It's probably not something I would do, but I don't see the harm.

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  • My chiropractor asked me to bring in DD when she was about 3-4 weeks old and she would check her back...all she did was hold her up (like normal) and run her fingers over her spine to feel if anything was out of whack, and then she laid her down in her lap and felt around her back and neck.  A lot of times during vaginal births their spines can get bent, etc.  I had a c/s and my DD's spine was in great shape.

    The thought of holding a one month old baby upside down, by their ankles, makes me want to puke.

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  • imageNaturalBlond:
    I have a friend who posted a picture of her husband holding a baby upside down by her ankles. The baby is a little over a month old. She said in the comments that her midwife said it was good for the baby's spine. This seems crazy. Is this true?

    I mean..maybe if it was a professional (like a chiro and even then I still think I'd be  uncomfortable)...but just a dad..like a normal dad with no background who just got that instruction from a midwife--who isn't present...

    It makes me feel worried..but that could be baseless...maybe my common sense is off. 

  • This somehow makes me think about that baby yoga thing, with the woman swinging babies around like she's an shotputter and that alone makes me squicky about it.
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    If I wanted to hear the pitter-patter of little feet, I'd put shoes on the cat. image

  • If anyone ever suggested infant chiro to me, I would run as fast as I could in the other direction. 

    It is NOT safe, and there is absolutely no scientific evidence that it is beneficial.  

    Baby spines do change shape as they develop.  They get a curve when they can hold up their head, another from walking.  This is totally normal.  And upside down for a few minutes isn't going to do anything about that.   

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  • cadencaden member
    Tenth Anniversary
    Ditto Sibil. I hope "infant chiro" means nothing more than an extremely light infant massage b/c manipulating an infant's spine is BSC to me. I don't understand dangling an infant upside down either but I don't know if it would be damaging or not.
  • I know 2 moms in my neighborhood that took their babies to a chiro to help with reflux issues (rather than use meds) and both swear by it. one is a crazy hippie but the other is the most milk toast woman you've ever met.

    i don't think there is anything super wrong about hanging a baby upside down for a second or whatever, but I question that they think it's medicinal in any way. 

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  • I'll be happy to pull out citations if anyone wants them that childhood chiro is not ok.
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  • imageSibil:
    I'll be happy to pull out citations if anyone wants them that childhood chiro is not ok.

    I don't really think that adult chiro is that great in many circumstances.  

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  • imagerayskit10:

    imageSibil:
    I'll be happy to pull out citations if anyone wants them that childhood chiro is not ok.

    I don't really think that adult chiro is that great in many circumstances.  

    Well, I'd agree, but that would invite anecdotal wrath :)
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  • imageSibil:
    imagerayskit10:

    imageSibil:
    I'll be happy to pull out citations if anyone wants them that childhood chiro is not ok.

    I don't really think that adult chiro is that great in many circumstances.  

    Well, I'd agree, but that would invite anecdotal wrath :)

    Sigh. I still have so much to learn about what I can and can't say.   :)

    image
  • A little over a month old seems a bit young, but my DD loved being upside down from a very young age - I want to say six months or so.  I didn't hold her by the ankles, however.  I would sit with my knees up and she would hang over my knees, with her head near my feet.  She would just giggle and giggle.
  • imageis_it_over_yet?:
    A little over a month old seems a bit young, but my DD loved being upside down from a very young age - I want to say six months or so.  I didn't hold her by the ankles, however.  I would sit with my knees up and she would hang over my knees, with her head near my feet.  She would just giggle and giggle.

    I feel like age has a lot to do with it...also body positioning. 

    I can't say I wouldn't hold hypothetical babybum upside down.

    I can say I would NOT take them to the chiropractor....I just think at the very least a chiro has some knowledge..like at least a little more than a dad you know. 

  • Couldn't this be bad for the neck? The hip sockets? The kid is just a few weeks old! Seems so strange...

    Older kids, yeah, no big deal. But this one is so fresh.

  • imageNaturalBlond:

    Couldn't this be bad for the neck? The hip sockets? The kid is just a few weeks old! Seems so strange...

    Older kids, yeah, no big deal. But this one is so fresh.

    Yeah, babies love being upside down.

    That age seems young, though.

    My guess, if she was happy, it's OK. If it was hurting her, she would have let her parents know quickly and definitively.

    The Girl is 5. The Boy is 2. The Dog is 1.

    imageimage

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