Butt-shuffling, W-Sitting, and Moody Teenagers

Last time I was in New York, I went to a kid gymnastic class with my friend and her daughter. 

There were a bunch of mums there hanging out, waiting in the mummy-hang-out-area where lots of mums sit and chat during the class.

There were also lots of babies there.

One of the babies was bum-shuffling to move around.

So I asked the mother if she's been doing that for a while.

"For about a month."

Then I asked her if she crawls at all.

"No."

(I had a suspicion that she never crawled and she only shuffles.)

So I explained to her that it would be good it she took her to a paediatric chiropractor to assess her spine and pelvis to see if anything is causing that.

Crawling is probably one of the most important developmental milestones.

The action helps create the proper development of the brain and it's direct connection with all the muscles in the body.

The left side of the brain needs to be able to properly communicate with the right side of the brain. 

And the crawling action makes those connections happen with each stride.

Right arm, left leg.

Left arm, right leg.

As your baby develops, many movements and reflexes function to help the brain cross-communicate.

This leads to optimal brain function.

As the child grows, the muscles need to grow and contract properly in order for them to walk properly, become more coordinated, as well as other actions such as speech development, learning, eye sight, and behaviour.

If a baby doesn't crawl, it's indicative of something not ideally developing in the brain and body, and leads to a cascade of other developmental issues.

The next thing that a child might do which is commonly correlated to bum-shuffling is W-Sitting.

W-Sitting is a sign that the 'tone' of the body is hypermobile, or hypomobile.

The younger a child start W-Sitting, the more significant of a problem it can be.

When I explained all this to the mother in NY, another mum piped in and rudely said, "Oh, this stuff doesn't mean anything. How do you know all this?"

I was shocked at how NY-bitchy she was.

She started debating with me!

So I just asked her, "How do you know your child has a healthy spine?"

She just stared at me, like, "Uuuuhhhhhh?"

Then I said, "How do you know if there's a problem in your child's nervous system?"

Again, "Uuuuhhhhhh?"

Then I stopped and decided that I was wasting my breath with her. 

You can bring the horse to the water, but you can't make it drink.

Anyway, let's fast forward through a baby girl's life to age 14.

Often, when I see a teenager with painful periods, horrible headaches, moody PMT month after month, I find out that this girl had signs of improper developmental milestones as a baby.

Bum-shuffling, W-Sitting, late walking.

This can indicate poor spinal development, which can cause a dysfunction in the whole system, affecting other parts of the body's systems.

The hormonal (endocrine) system.

The reproductive system.

The immune system.

The digestive system.

All of it.

This is why it's so important to have all babies checked when they are newborns. 

This will give them more opportunity and likelihood to have proper development of the spine, brain, and nervous system.

So, if your baby isn't crawling, or they aren't properly crawling, bring them in and let me check their spines!

They grow up to be healthy happy kids!

Who wants a severely moody teenager anyway?

See you at your next adjustment!

— Dr MaryAnne