Taking 12 Mo Old to Chiropractor to Help with Walking/crawling

Not all kids walk or crawl at the same time.
Some never crawl - they go from scooting/rolling/creeping to walking.

I would NOT have a chiropracter screwing around with a a baby's spine.
If she's constipated, give her fruit juice.

Every child does these at thier own pace.

Fix the constipation first- why? Because that could be causing pain and she may not want to move because of it.

Try Pear juice to see if that helps thing. It works for my daughter in 1 day or less.

After a few weeks of her feeling better see if the crawlling comes along. My daughter did the Mogoli crawl, then walked. But she did not walk until about 16 months. It was right after a big BM.

Good luck.

PLEASE see your pediatrician.

It is perfectly normal at age one for many kids not to be walking or for some, not even crawling.

Chiropractors may be fine for some things but they adjust the spine -- and your child's spine and neck are still developing. I know adults who swear by it but who would never, ever take an infant to a chiropractor.

You are basing a major intervention on (1) what someone else (who is not a doctor) did and (2) on your own belief that something is wrong with your child because at 12 months she is not walking -- which is normal for many kids.

I am not dissing chiropractors, I am saying that if it is not done right it can cause permanent injury. Why would you do this first BEFORE seeing a pediatrician??

Was it your pediatrician who recommended taking her to a chiropractor? If not, I would wait until you consult him/her. My daughter did not walk until 18 months and barely crawled at 12 months. It seems pretty extreme to take her to someone who's going to mess with her spine if you don't even know there is a problem yet.

There's probably nothing wrong with your daughter at all... most babies don't walk at 12 months (most DO crawl, though). I would raise this concern with your pediatrician and ask for an EI assessment. That said, I'm all for chiropractors for children. The one we see has helped both of my girls with various minor issues ranging from reflux to hip pain.

BUT... and please pay attention to this... if you do take your daughter to a chiropractor, you absolutely positively need to see someone who is CERTIFIED as a pediatric chiropractor. Not every adult chiropractor is qualified to adjust a baby.

Look, chiropractic is good for many things. But not every chiropractor is good. And this is for adults that I'm talking about. Chiropractic for babies is not done by many chiropractors. HOW will you know which one is qualified to do this? It's NOT the usual standard of care.

The problem with listening to people say "Take your baby to a chiro" is that so many of them think that because they think it helped with something, they think it can fix anything. When my 6 month old had a cold, a COLD, one of my neighbors asked me why I didn't take him to a chiropractor to have his cold cured. WHAT? It's stuff like THIS that automatically makes me want to shake people and ask them if they have lost sense of reality.

If your baby isn't crawling, you should be having a PT look at her FIRST. You should be talking to your ped, looking back to her birth to see if there were complications, detailing exactly what she DOES do. If working with her doesn't change things, a ped neurologist would be appropriate.

TONS of babies don't walk at a year. Mine didn't. They DID crawl by then.

Start with normal medical protocol. NOT chiropractic.

What did your pediatrician say at your one year visit? Did you bring this up? Not walking at one is not abnormal... not crawling is. I would schedule a consultation with the pediatrician and contact your local Early Intervention provider (call your county health department) and request an evaluation. It's free and they are WONDERFUL! If it is a developmental delay, they will provide you with FREE therapy to remediate. If it isn't, then you could consider a chiropractor.

A chiropractor is not going to help bilateral coordination and trunk strength. Those are the necessary motor skills for crawling and eventually walking. A physical therapist is the right professional to seek out here.

Not all babies crawl or walk at a year. She will do it when she is ready

There ARE chiropractors who specialize in pediatric issues, and some of them are wonderful. I personally am not aware of chiros who specialize in toddler locomotion issues, but there's really no reason not to try the chiropractic route.

BUT ...

... your post leaves me with several questions. Does your daughter have any means of locomotion? Does she scooch around on her butt? Does she "army crawl" on her stomach? Does she cruise (walk holding onto furniture)? If the answer to all of these questions is no, I think you really need to take her to a developmental pediatrician. Not as a replacement for chiropractics, but as a very important addition.

On the constipation, I have heard of chiros helping with that, but I think the first order of action would be to seek out a naturopathic physician and/or a holistic pediatric gastroenterologist or nutritionist. Constipation is a sign that the body is not processing one or more nutrients, and the healthy, holistic response is to remove that nutrient from the diet.

I hope that helps! If you add some more info in a "So What Happened," you may get some great, targeted advice here.

I was a chiropractic assistant and love chiropractic care. I have taken my son since birth, because I know a chiropractor who is wonderful with children. However, they do not claim or believe they can fix milestone problems, or motor problems. Chiropractors do not fix muscle problems or coordination problems in little ones. A good one would NEVER claim to "cure" these things.

Talk to your pediatrician and get a referral to the proper therapist.

Now, the chiropractor can help with constipation. You want one who is a pediatric chiropractor, and they are not plentiful.

I think the chiro can help with the constipation, but not the walking.

If the doctor doesn't see anything wrong with your child (and there isn't anything that abnormal about a child not walking at 12 months) then why not enroll her in a class that focuses on developing gross motor skills? The one we have for babies is wonderful. None of the babies are walking yet but some are crawling or scooting. The class focuses on encouraging the child to explore the environment with lots of parental involvement. We work on different skills like grabbing, rolling, etc. We use scarves and rings and lots of different "games" that encourage the child to move and explore. Many of the kids that aren't crawling are moving or scooting by the end of the session. Check your local gymnastics gym for a similar class.

My best friend is a nurse that took care of a guy who was paralyzed from the neck down due to the damage done by a chiropractor. Personally, there is no way I would let a chiropractor touch the spine and neck of my 12 month old.
FYI...crawling is not even a milestone and it is completely normal for kids not to walk up to 18 months. Google it.
Did a chiropractor tell you to get your daughter adjusted? I can't imagine it was her pediatrician.

Many babies don't walk at 12 months, but chiropractic never hurts :)

My chiropractor believes very strongly in treating children. He says getting them regular adjustments now helps them grow in healthy ways and will benefit them in the long run. He also says that regular adjustments can help with digestion, so when my daughter was very little and had bad reflux, I had him give her a couple of adjustments. I think it helped a bit, but she was so young it was hard to tell for sure (about 3-4 months old). Based on things he's told me, I would think that your child's constipation could be somewhat relieved by seeing a chiropractor (when my son was that age, prune juice usually did the trick).

He seems genuine - not just like he's trying to get more business - so it might be worth trying.

While I don't think there's anything wrong with taking your baby to a chiropractor and they can help with any number of issues (my firend's son after multiple ear infections, tubes in his ears, etc was cured after a few adjustments) - I don't think that not crawling or walking at 12 months is a problem.

One of my kids was a very early walker & never crawled. My other child began to walk right on schedule at about 12 months after having crawled a little. But my neice never showed even the slightest interest in crawling or walking until about 18 months. These kids are all teens now and perfectly healthy but different. My early walker (at 7.5 months) hardly spoke until she was about 3, my average walker met all of his milestone right on schedule as if he knew what he was supposed to do - but has language based learning problems like dyslexia, speech problems, etc. (all nearly resolved as he begings high school next year) and my niece who was not at all interested in walking or crawling was speaking full sentences at 14 months and is incredibly gifted as a writer - but can hardly do math.

It's a rare child that hits the milestones "on schedule" - so don't allow yourself to get worried by any of it. BUT - there's not reason not to take her to the chiropractor as long as you ahve one that has a pediatric specialty.

I'd be more inclined to address the constipation problem!

It's not unusual for a child to not be walking at 1 year, but if she's not crawling, there may be a developmental issue or a discomfort issue. What does your pediatrician say? Is she delayed in any other area? If so, this could be a more comprehensive issue.

Why is the constipation not being addressed? If you don't want to do drugs or miralax (which I agree are a last resort and not ideal), you can do a wholesome children's product. I'd recommend one made in the US by a highly regarded pediatrician nutrition expert that also has ingredients for brain development (good for all kids). A company with patented formulas is ideal and not impossible to find - happy to help direct you.

If a child is severely constipated, I'll be it hurts terribly to move. I'd start there. Aside from the mobility issue, constipation and digestive/bowel issues are a major link to diseases. So that's where you start.

Chiropractors can be useful but you don't want someone who is cracking the spine! There are safe and gentle adjustment methods. There are ways to evaluate a chiropractor and the methods used, and to find someone who accepts your insurance. You also want to get some indication from the chiropractor of how many sessions would be likely before you saw results. Anything open-ended is not a good idea.

But there are more questions I'd have about your child before sending you the chiropractic route.

You want one that knows about babies. Don't just go to any one. If possible go to the same one your friend went to. If they know what they are doing it will be greatly benificial. Mine specialises in children. I have seen some babies there when I am in the waiting room that are people just a few months old.

Oh dear, I wouldn't worry about your baby not walking right now. It's far far far too early to worry about that. 12 months old is still in the early-to-normal range for a baby to learn to walk. I would start to worry if she turns 18 months old and isn't walking or crawling yet. Any pediatrician worth his or her salt will tell you the same thing.

If your baby is mobile in other ways, then let her develop at her own pace. If she cruises along furniture, that's equal to walking.

And just so you know, some babies skip crawling altogether. If she's sitting up and scooting on her butt, then she's mobile. So let her be. If she's rolling on the floor to get where she wants to go, let her be. You have to let her do this on her own and on her timetable, not on yours.

And please, please don't let a chiropractor touch that baby. My parents were so adamant about my children having a chiropractor from birth that they offered to pay for appointments. I ended up having to ban them from discussing it with us. If your only reason is supposed constipation and you want her to crawl and walk, then I'm sorry, but those are not valid reasons for taking a baby that young to a chiropractor.

I have been taking my daughter to a chiropractor since birth (myself since 17) and it is just fine to get infants and children adjusted. It will also help with your child’s overall health and may get your child to be more mobile. It could just be stiff muscles and adjustments will help that too.

There are plenty of chiropractors that are specifically trained to adjust women and children (infants too). My daughter had terrible constipation since birth and her adjustments helped so much, she also had an extremely bad flat spot on her head and they corrected that too. She is now 6.5 and a very healthy kid with absolutely no aliments. She also rarely gets sick and rarely needs to see the regular doctor.

I wouldn't let a chiropractor touch a baby who can't tell you if anything goes badly.....While my oldest son crawled and walked super early(7 1/2 months and 8 months), our daughter didn't start crawling until 1 week before her first birthday-and only then it was army crawl, she didn't walk until 17 1/2 months of age. Same age I was when I started walking! My youngest son will be 10 months next week and shows absolutely no signs of crawling and doesn't even want to stand. Your baby sounds fine. My kids dr said there was no cause for concern as long as they were using both sides of thier body equally and kids will do things when they are good and ready-not when mom and dad are.

Saying you wouldn't let a chiropractor work on a spine is like saying you wouldn't see a dentist for your teeth..geez! I've been adjusted my whole life, and my kids since birth. They're trained in it, like medical doctors are in medicines. It could possibly help with constipation, and could be good to rule out reasons why they might not be walking, but I agree that all kids start waking when they're ready, some early, some late!