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What Is Colic?
Colic is when your baby cries excessively—often for hours—and you can't figure out why. It's frustrating, it's exhausting, and it can feel like you're doing something wrong. You're not. What's usually happening is your baby's nervous system is stuck in fight-or-flight mode, making it hard for them to settle and digest comfortably. The good news? A regulated nervous system can change everything. That's where we come in!
What Causes Colic — A Nervous System Perspective
The conventional answer is that nobody knows what causes colic. We believe the nervous system tells a different story.
Birth places significant physical forces on your baby's head, neck, and upper spine. These forces — whether from prolonged labor, rapid delivery, vacuum or forceps, C-section, or cord complications — can create stress in the upper cervical spine that can interfere with ideal function of the nervous system.
When the upper cervical spine is misaligned, it affects the vagus nerve — the major nerve controlling digestion, gut motility, and the body's ability to shift from stress into calm. A compromised vagus nerve means compromised digestion, discomfort, and a baby who can't regulate — which looks exactly like colic. That same vagus nerve disruption often shows up as reflux, too.
How Chiropractic Helps
Gentle adjustments using only fingertip pressure address the subluxation creating interference in your baby's nervous system. When that interference is removed, the vagus nerve can function properly, digestion improves, and baby's system can finally settle into a regulated state.
This isn't about masking symptoms. It's about removing the underlying stressor so your baby's body can calm down on its own.
Many parents report noticeable changes within the first few visits — less crying, longer sleep stretches, calmer feeding, and a baby who seems more comfortable and at ease.
What Parents Can Expect
Your baby's first visit is gentle and thorough. We take a complete history (including birth details), assess your baby's spine and nervous system through gentle touch and neurological scanning, and explain everything before we begin.
The adjustment itself takes only a few minutes. Most babies relax during it. Many fall asleep. You'll be right there the entire time. We typically recommend 2-3 visits per week initially, tapering as symptoms improve and scan data confirms nervous system progress. Colic is one of many concerns we support in newborns, all part of your child’s broader pediatric care.
FAQs
Find answers to your most pressing questions about our chiropractic services for children and families.
Yes. By addressing upper cervical subluxation and vagus nerve interference, gentle chiropractic adjustments help restore the nervous system regulation that colicky babies are missing. Many families see meaningful improvement within the first few visits.
Extremely gentle. We use only fingertip pressure — about the same you'd use to check a ripe tomato. There's no cracking, twisting, or force.
Many parents notice improvement within the first 1-2 weeks of consistent care. Less crying, better sleep, and calmer feeding are usually the first changes reported.
We believe so. The vagus nerve — which controls digestion and regulation — runs through the upper cervical spine. Birth trauma can create misalignment in this area that interferes with vagus nerve function, leading to the digestive distress and inability to self-soothe that characterize colic.
Give Your Baby Relief — Schedule Their First Visit
We're here to help you!