Everything You Need to Know About Croup, Cough, and Kicking It to the Curb!

As parents, we understand that your child’s health and well-being are your top priorities. We know how challenging it can be to watch your little one struggle with croup, especially those sleepless nights filled with worry when they start coughing and experiencing difficulty breathing. It’s heartbreaking and scary, especially when you’re not quite sure what to do to help them. That’s why we want to empower you with the knowledge and strategies you need to confidently navigate croup episodes and provide the best care for your child.

Imagine being able to soothe your child’s croup symptoms, ease their discomfort, and make those stressful nights a thing of the past - all while minimizing the use of medications. In this blog, we’ll share valuable insights, expert tips, and natural remedies that can help your child handle a bout of croup and, even more importantly, prevent and avoid them altogether in the future.

Understanding Croup

What is Croup?

Croup is an infection of the upper airway that primarily affects young children, especially those between 6 months to 3 years old. It’s characterized by distinctive symptoms such as a barking cough, hoarse voice, and labored breathing, which tends to worsen at night.

Medical professionals diagnose croup by observing a child’s breathing, listening with a stethoscope, and may use diagnostic tools like neck or chest X-rays and pulse oximetry to check oxygen levels. Traditional treatment involves corticosteroids, which can reduce inflammation and swelling in the larynx and respiratory system. While these medications can be life-saving, they come with serious short-term and long-term side effects for your child.

Causes of Croup

Addressing common misconceptions about croup is essential to understand that it’s not solely due to exposure to germs but is related to your child’s ability to handle those germs. Factors like birth trauma feeding difficulties sleep challenges, and subluxation can weaken your child’s immune system and make them more susceptible to croup. We’ll delve into how these factors play a role in what we call the “Perfect Storm.”

Chiropractic and How to Care for Croup

Some essential home care strategies include the importance of keeping your child calm and comforted, ensuring they stay hydrated, using humidifiers, and alternating between warm and cold air to ease symptoms.

Chiropractic care does not aim to treat or cure croup but rather to support your child’s natural defenses and improve the function of the neuro-immune system.

Subluxation can disrupt the communication between the brain and the immune system. This miscommunication can weaken your child’s ability to fight off infections, making your child more susceptible to conditions like croup. Chiropractic adjustments aim to restore proper communication and enhance the body’s natural defenses.

The benefits of chiropractic adjustments during bouts of croup are improved drainage, better sleep, shorter illness duration, and reduced medication use. By focusing on your child’s nervous system, chiropractic care helps ensure that their body’s innate healing mechanisms are functioning optimally.

At Live Well Family Chiropractic our hope is that you can take these natural solutions and deploy them to help your little one breathe better, recover faster, and build a stronger immune system so that they experience fewer bouts of croup, cough, and illness down the road!

Dr. Tara is dedicated to providing you with the absolute best in family wellness care. So take a moment today to discuss with your Family Wellness Chiropractor any concerns you may have regarding your family’s overall health and wellness.

A Comprehensive Guide to Nurturing Your Infant’s Development

The journey of parenthood is both beautiful and challenging. As a new parent, you might find yourself asking, “What are the keys to ensuring my infant’s health and development?” In a world brimming with conflicting opinions, navigating the intricate path of understanding what constitutes genuine and healthy development for your little one is often daunting.

That is why we aim to bring you clarity and unwavering confidence. In this blog, we will delve into the four fundamental developmental tasks that infants aged 4 months and under must master. These tasks serve as the very bedrock of your infant’s health, growth, and development. Every smile, every milestone achieved, and even the occasional struggle can be traced back to these pivotal elements of development. So, if your baby is struggling with colic, constipation, reflux, sleep issues or developmental delays, read on to equip yourself with the knowledge to support your child’s well-being.

The Science Behind Infant Development

In the initial few months of life, infants undergo remarkable transformations. However, encountering issues such as colic, constipation, or reflux can lead to countless sleepless nights, which may make you wonder if your struggles are normal or if others are facing the same challenges. While each infant is unique, has good days and bad days, and develops at their own pace, understanding the typical small behaviors and milestones can give parents the confidence they need to get help for their babies or the confidence to stay the course.

The four cornerstones of infant development are: Eat, Sleep, Poop, and Motor Function.

These are the pillars upon which your baby’s well-being rests, and mastering them can make all the difference. Below is what each cornerstone should look like for your infant.

1. Eat (Breastfeeding or Bottle Feeding)

o A comfortable and easy latch during feeding

o A strong suck that doesn’t involve biting or excessive air intake

o Controlled and effortless swallowing, adjusting speed as needed

o Minimal or comfortable post-feeding spitting up

2. Sleep

o The ability to self-soothe and sleep soundly

o Comfort in multiple sleeping positions

o The development of a sleep-wake cycle after a few weeks

o The ability to sleep in longer stretches of 2-3+ hours at a time

3. Poop

o Efficient food digestion

o Minimal gas or grunting during sleep

o Regular and frequent bowel movements (the frequency varies but should be multiple times a day during the first 2-3 months)

o Minimal strain or discomfort during bowel movements

4. Motor/Foundation Movements

o Steady head and neck control without external support

o Tracking objects with visual attention

o Responding with smiles upon hearing your voice

o Engaging with hands, including opening and closing them

o Bringing hands to the mouth

o Comfort and willingness to participate in tummy time and interact with toys and people (typically around 3-4 months)

In contrast, if your baby encounters challenges in any of these areas, you may notice:

· Frequent stiffening, arching, head and neck discomfort, and excessive crying

· Difficulty maintaining head elevation during tummy time

· Premature attempts to stand with a stiff and tense posture

· Persistent problems related to sleep, digestion (commonly constipation), and immune function

· Excessive crying, distress, reduced eye contact, diminished smiles, interaction, and babbling

Birth Trauma and Its Consequences

When we dive into the underlying root cause behind why your infant might be struggling, a recurring factor we consistently see as a significant contributor to difficulties eating, sleeping, pooping, or movement is birth trauma. This trauma can impact vital brainstem and cerebellum regions, profoundly affecting their essential roles in facilitating these fundamental tasks.

Factors such as the baby's position during pregnancy, the duration of the birth process, or medical interventions like C-sections, vacuum extraction, or forceps delivery can exert physical tension on the delicate tissues of the

brainstem and upper neck. These regions play a pivotal role in regulating the autonomic nervous system, coordinating motor function, supporting immune health, and facilitating digestion.

In essence, if your newborn experienced stress during pregnancy or delivery, it could affect their ability to eat, sleep, poop, and move comfortably.

How Can Chiropractic Care Help?

As Neurologically-Focused Pediatric Chiropractor at Live Well Family Chiropractic, we possess the expertise in helping infants who have endured birth trauma and may be experiencing struggles related to eating, sleeping, pooping, or movement.

If your baby exhibits signs of colic, reflux, constipation, or difficulty sleeping or eating, these are all indicators that your infant’s nervous system is involved. By optimizing your baby’s nervous system function and supporting development, our neuro-tonal chiropractic adjustments can be instrumental in fostering a healthy and thriving baby.

Don’t be disheartened by the notion they will “grow out of it.” We are here to offer support for your baby now!

Dr. Tara is dedicated to providing you with the absolute best in family wellness care. So take a moment today to discuss with your Family Wellness Chiropractor any concerns you may have regarding your family’s overall health and wellness.

Empowering ADHD Learners: Navigating School Challenges with Confidence

If your child is facing the challenges of ADHD-related behavior and school difficulties, you’re not alone. The early months of the school year can be incredibly tough for families dealing with ADHD. Establishing routines, completing homework, staying focused, and managing behavior can be daunting. With the added temptations of holiday treats and festivities, this time of year can be especially challenging for children with ADHD.

We want to dig into the neurological aspects of ADHD in children and how these kiddos find themselves in a perpetual state of high alert, akin to a car always having the gas pedal on. This continuous state of fight or flight response leads to hyperactivity, impulsivity, difficulties with concentration, and disrupted sleep patterns.

This blog is specifically for parents who want to help their child struggling with ADHD thrive without relying on heavy medications. We want to equip you with the knowledge and strategies to help your child find their way to a calmer and more focused state by engaging their innate “brake pedal” mechanisms, through the Vagus nerve. We’ll discuss the natural, drug-free solutions and options that can significantly impact your child’s school year.

Understanding ADHD Symptoms and Challenges

To empower your child, it’s essential to understand the five main ways ADHD can negatively impact their school performance.

1. Difficulty Focusing and Sustaining Attention: ADHD children often struggle to maintain focus and attention on tasks, leading to missed instructions and incomplete assignments.

2. Impulsivity and Impaired Decision-Making: Impulsivity can manifest as speaking out of turn and disruptive behavior, hindering their learning and disrupting the class.

3. Restlessness and Hyperactivity: Some ADHD children exhibit hyperactivity, making it difficult for them to sit still and engage in quiet tasks.

4. Poor Time Management and Organization: Time management and organizational skills are often challenging for ADHD children, leading to missed deadlines and frustration.

5. Emotional Dysregulation: Emotional challenges, including heightened stress responses, can make it difficult for them to manage frustration and peer interactions.

Understanding the Root Causes and Neurological Connection

One of the most frustrating aspects of dealing with ADHD is its ability to manifest in various challenges throughout your child’s daily life, particularly in the school environment. But here’s the empowering revelation we want to share with you - all these challenges stem from a common root cause: an overactive and excessively stimulated sympathetic nervous, often referred to as the “fight or flight” response.

We liken this aspect of the nervous system to the relentless “gas pedal.” Astonishingly, over 90% of children find themselves stuck in this hyperactive state from the very beginning of their lives. It can start during a stressful and emotionally charged pregnancy, continuing through birth trauma or

intervention such as forceps, vacuum, induction, or emergency C-sections.

If your child struggled with any early childhood challenges like colic, recurrent ear infections frequent tantrums, and sleep difficulties, those experiences only exacerbate this overdrive. Importantly, this only suppresses their parasympathetic “brake pedal,” mainly governed by the Vagus Nerve, rendering it incapable of fulfilling its crucial role when needed the most.

Despite many of these early struggles being labeled as “normal” by the medical system, these stressors and interventions during pregnancy and birth, as well as early childhood challenges, are not something children naturally grow out of. Current research and neurological insights tell us a different story. Instead, many of these children evolve into individuals grappling with neurological difficulties later in life, like ADHD.

How Can Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Help?

So, if your child is struggling this school year and you’re hesitant about medication, there’s hope. Consider exploring Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care at Live Well Family Chiropractic. Our approach doesn’t aim to treat or cure ADHD, but it activates the “brake pedal” side of your child’s brain and nervous system. This helps regulate the overactive sympathetic “gas pedal” we’ve discussed.

To learn more about drug-free options for ADHD and our care protocols, give us a call today at Live Well Family Chiropractic and one of our incredible Care Advocates will walk you through it all.

Parenting a child with ADHD is a journey filled with unique challenges and rewards. We want to help you turn these challenges into opportunities for growth and success. We’d love to work with you to help your child and entire family experience brighter days ahead

Dr. Tara is dedicated to providing you with the absolute best in family wellness care. So take a moment today to discuss with your Family Wellness Chiropractor any concerns you may have regarding your family’s overall health and wellness.