Student and Therapist Newsletter Archive
   - Baby

+ Comment from Mike Boxhall in the UK. - June 06

+ Comment from Simon Gosling in New Zealand about babies. - September 06

+ How do you treat babies? - September 06

***COMMENT FROM MIKE BOXHALL***
Dear John,
Thank you for your email of Monday 29th.

You are obviously doing a very good job with your newsletters and equally people appreciate them.

Can I just put in a couple of words around your first case history, that is to say, the two year old.

May I suggest that in the case of three year olds or less, one is not dealing with an individual differentiated from his environment, specifically, in this case, the mother (father and siblings also if appropriate).

The problem is invariably in the loop. Personally I would always be in contact with the mother before I touched the baby and almost never the
baby separate from the mother until I had the baby's permission.

In the case of a toddler who either cannot be nailed down or just steps out of its shoes when you have nailed them down, just treat the mother.
However long that takes, the toddler will sooner or later want a part of it and will come in to contact with your legs or will want to climb on the couch with the mother or in some way come in reach of your hands.

I could actually go on at some length, and tend to do so when I am teaching, but the summary is that basically I do not treat babies but I treat mother/babies.

I so often see videos of or read books about "august" teachers of baby work working with babies as though they were tiny differentiated adults, they are not.

Even worse I read about them sending babies out of the room when they are discussing their trauma. This is totally disempowering. Even if you put the baby in to a lead lined box it would still be in the energetic field!

Please keep up the good work and, by all means, let us discuss this some more at some point if you would like, but in the meantime,
Love,
Mike.

>>>MY COMMENTS:

Thanks Mike. What you've said adds a whole other dimension to treating children. Excellent.

***COMMENT FROM SIMON GOSLING***

Hi John

When I read the comments from Mike Boxhall I was heartened to know we're working in the same way as always. It was Rudolph Steiner who first realised that the infant has no real undifferentiated self- image until they are about two and a half. I believe this has something to do with the time it takes for the fontenelles to fully close (possibly the posterior most importantly due to it's orientation to the energetic midline). Whatever the reason, babies are very aware of the 'field' of their mother's interaction as a recent experience will bear out.

A mother and baby came to see me for the first time. The baby was asleep so we decided to treat the mother first. As I worked on her sacrum, she had a huge release (like many births the rotational stage 2 caused a torsioning of the mothers pelvis which was happy to realign to
midline as I held her Health). The baby immediately woke up crying, he was unsure of his mothers new state. As she and I reassured him he grinned and was happy to be present for his session.

I have documented many cases of mother/baby treatment like this. Babies often like to be treated at the cranium whilst feeding. This allows them to stay in contact with present time whilst processing the old shock (Levine). Babies live for the most part either in present time or dreamtime, where past and present merge, keeping a baby in contact with the mother ensures that the baby stays in present time, they can't be inside their mother no matter what they're feeling relating to that time because they can see her.

The same is true when working with families. When working with toddlers in the room as well, they will often come up and further comfort the baby as I'm working with their transitional stuff. What is most important of course is that you address the baby directly, slowly waiting for their response. A brain that is taking in so much information appears to be working to the observer about 6 times slower.

Kind regards

Simon Gosling
Craniosacral therapist and trainer.
New Zealand.

>>>MY COMMENTS:

While I agree with what you and Mike have said, I will add that for me the main focus when I'm working with a baby is the baby themselves or more accurately the person who is a baby.

I find the main thing of value to babies is that I listen to them in a way others are not.

Time and again I've seen the relief in a baby as they communicate, 'Finally! Someone's listening to me.'

Often problems occur because the baby can't tell the difference between their issues and their mothers/fathers issues. Often my role is to help the baby become more differentiated.

I talk about this some more in my answer to question about how I treat babies.

Top

***QUESTION***

Dear Mr Dalton,
Thank you for you very informative newsletters. I have encouraged some of my patients to read your book with favourable results.

In general, I am very happy with the direction of my practice but it has come to my attention that I work mostly with adults.

I find treating babies very difficult mainly because they are more nebulous than adults.

How do you overcome this? What do you do practically? Do you have a systematic check up that you use for babies?

Keep up the good work.
Kind regards.
FL
Brisbane.

>>>MY COMMENTS:

Okay, here's how I work with babies. The main focus is the same as it is with adults. Right from the first contact I'm trying to get a sense of what this person's story is and how their sickness fits into that story.

This begins with the first contact I have with the baby which will usually be through an adult as most babies can't use the phone or write an email.
Here are a couple of different beginnings to give you and idea of what I mean.

Beginning 1.
Mum rings up and while we're chatting I can hear what sounds like 5 other children in the background all trying to strangle each other. My conversation with Mum is punctuated by Mum roaring at the other children to keep quiet. Mum is calling to see if cranio sacral might be able to help her 3 month old child, who is having difficulty sleeping.

Beginning 2.
Mum calls to make an appointment to have her newborn checked. She heard about me from a friend. Mum sounds calm and relaxed.

Beginning 3.
Granny calls to make an appointment for her granddaughter who has bad reflux. It's obvious from the conversation with Granny that Mum won't be coming to the appointment.

Three different beginnings. Each one tells a different story.

When I am working with someone, adult or baby, I have what I think of as a mental white board for them.

I note everything to do with the person on this mental white board. Then I try to piece all the information together and come up with a theory as to why they are sick.

It's a whiteboard because I'm continually revising my theory, as new information is revealed.

It's also a whiteboard so I don't get too attached to my theory of why the person is sick. I have often had to do a lot of work with students who developed the habit of writing their theories in stone.

A certain amount of information will be communicated in the initial contact. Taking the case history is a process of adding more information to the white board. With babies and children I will ask additional information. All of which help me to get a better idea of what the baby's story is.

I will ask about conception.
If Mum or Dad were working in nuclear reactor or a power plant or some other very toxic environment when baby was conceived can have a bearing on baby's embryonic development.

I will ask about the pregnancy.
Were there any accidents?
Was it an easy pregnancy?
How was mum's diet?
Was she smoking, drinking or doing drugs?

I will ask about the birth.
Home or hospital?
Active or passive?
What kind of drugs?
Did mum have good support?
How long was the labour?
Were there any difficulties?
What was baby's presentation?
Caesarean?
Forceps?
Ventous?
How quickly was the umbilical cord cut?
What was the immediate aftercare like?
How long was baby separated from mum?

All this info helps me get a sense of what this person's entry into their life was like.

I will ask about what sort of home environment the baby came into and what kind of emotional state the baby was in.

I will ask about feeding, bottle or mum?
Did baby latch on okay?
Do they have any problems sucking?
Are they fed on demand or to a regime?
What is their sleeping pattern?

As I am getting all this information I'm trying to get a sense of the family, collectively and individually and what it says about the baby's story.
Why these kinds of parents and not others?
Why this sister?
How are the family making me feel and why?

From the moment I am in physical proximity to the baby I will have a focused receptivity to them. I will be particularly aware of what they are communicating with their eyes. There is generally a moment when we can connect and I am careful not to miss it.

It all goes on the whiteboard. Before I lay a hand on the baby I will have a ton of information and usually I will have a theory about why the baby is sick. All this information will inform me about the best way to approach the baby.

As a general rule I prefer mum and baby to remain together. I have a sofa in my treatment room that patients sit on. It is a very natural progression for me to join mum and baby on the sofa and to begin to approach baby from there.

The exception to this would be if mum/dad are so freaked out or caught up in their own issues that I feel I need to get a bit of space between them and baby to better hear what baby is communicating without the static.

All things being equal I will take up a contact on the lower half of the baby's body as it is usually less defended. From that contact I will check the following.

The Symmetry of the body generally and in particular the cranium.
The viscera particularly the pyloric sphincter, the ileocecal valve, the flexures in the colon and the sigmoid colon.
All the diaphragms.
The lungs.
The dural tube.
The occipital condyles.
The overall state of the cranial membranes with particular attention to the falx cerebelli.
The sphenoid and then the floor of the cranium.

Depending on what I find will influence what happens next.

Sometimes we will need to move to the treatment table.

Sometimes I will need to withdraw my contact and expalin to the parents about trauma and how it releases and prepare them from what may happen in the next few minutes of the treatment, 'Baby may cry in a way you have not heard before and you may find it upsetting . . . '

You asked about a systematic approach, I'm encouraging you to systematically evaluate and re-evaluate the fundamental question that brought the baby to you in the first place.

Why is this baby sick? What is stopping them from getting better?

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