A Touch to Fear: Chiropractic and the Newborn Baby

Picture this: you’re holding a red-faced, screaming newborn at 3 a.m., your shirt is decorated with spit-up,
and your search history is 90% “why won’t my baby stop crying.” In that foggy, sleep-deprived haze, it’s very
easy for promises like “chiropractic adjustments can fix colic, reflux, and breastfeeding problems” to sound
incredibly tempting.

In recent years, more chiropractors have begun marketing directly to parents of newborns, promising gentle
“adjustments” that supposedly correct hidden spinal problems caused by birth, improve nervous system function,
and even reduce the risk of serious conditions. Science-Based Medicineand many pediatric expertslook at these
claims and see something very different: a vulnerable population, a weak evidence base, and a non-zero risk
being sold as harmless wellness care.

Why newborn chiropractic exploded in popularity

Chiropractic was originally built around the idea of the “subluxation”a supposed subtle spinal misalignment
that interferes with the flow of “innate intelligence” in the nervous system. Many modern chiropractors have
moved toward more musculoskeletal explanations, but pediatric and newborn marketing often still leans heavily
on the subluxation story.

For newborns, the story goes like this: the birth process is rough on the baby’s spine. Even a normal vaginal
delivery (or a C-section) is framed as a dramatic event that can “misalign” delicate vertebrae. Routine activities
like diaper changes, car seats, or being placed in a crib are said to create or worsen these misalignments. Parents
are then warned that if these tiny spinal problems go untreated, they may cause colic, poor sleep, feeding
difficulties, frequent ear infections, reflux, or even increase the risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS).

Add in:

• Social media videos of crying babies “magically” relaxing after an adjustment
• Ever-rising anxiety around medications, “toxins,” and “chemicals”
• A healthcare system that can feel rushed and dismissive

…and you have a perfect storm. Parents who feel unheard or desperate for answers are understandably drawn to
a practitioner who will spend time with them, touch their baby gently, and offer hope that something
can be done.

What happens during a newborn chiropractic visit?

If you imagine newborn chiropractic as miniature versions of the loud cracking maneuvers seen in adult videos,
that’s not usually what’s advertised. Pediatric and newborn chiropractors commonly describe their techniques as:

• “As gentle as checking the ripeness of a tomato”
• Light pressure, sustained holds, or tiny taps on specific parts of the spine or skull
• Combined with stretching, infant massage, and positioning coaching

A typical session might involve the chiropractor palpating the baby’s spine, neck, and jaw, performing gentle
movements, and reassuring the parent that they can feel “tension” or “restrictions” that need to be corrected.
Babies may calm down, fall asleep, or simply enjoy the physical contact. From the parent’s perspective, this can
lookand feelvery convincing.

But here’s the key science-based question: is it the spinal “adjustment” doing anything unique, or is the baby
simply benefiting from soothing touch, a quiet environment, and a caregiver who is calmer because someone
finally seems to be helping?

What does the evidence say about chiropractic for newborns?

The colic question

Infantile colicprolonged, intense crying in an otherwise healthy babyis one of the main reasons parents seek
out chiropractic care. Colic is extremely common, affecting up to 20% of infants and typically peaking at
6 weeks of age, then fading by 3–4 months.

A number of small trials and reviews have looked at spinal manipulation or manual therapy (including chiropractic)
for colic. Some studies report modest reductions in daily crying, often on the order of about an hour per day
compared with control groups. But:

• Many studies are small and at risk of bias.
• Blinding is extremely difficultparents usually know whether their baby is getting “real” hands-on treatment.
• Some trials mix chiropractic-style techniques with general soothing or massage, making it hard to know what’s doing what.

A recent review of manipulative therapies for infant colic concluded that there may be a small average reduction
in crying time, but emphasized that the evidence is of low to moderate quality and not clearly specific to
chiropractic spinal manipulation itself.

Other newborn conditions

Chiropractors also frequently claim benefits for:

• Breastfeeding difficulties (e.g., latch problems)
• Torticollis (a head-turning preference or neck tightness)
• Reflux or “spit-up”
• Recurrent ear infections
• General “immune support” or “nervous system balance”

Here the evidence is even thinner. A 2020–2024 body of work examining chiropractic care in children notes that
serious adverse events appear rare, but also that robust evidence of benefit for non-musculoskeletal conditions
(like colic, reflux, or ear infections) is lacking or of very low quality.

Mainstream pediatric organizations emphasize that, at present, there is no strong evidence that chiropractic
treatment improves common newborn problems such as colic, reflux, or SIDS riskand that these conditions should
never be managed by chiropractic alone in place of proper medical evaluation.

Is newborn chiropractic safe?

This is where the conversation tends to get heated. Chiropractors and their professional organizations often
point to data suggesting that serious adverse events in infants are very rare and that most reported problems
are mild, such as brief irritability or soreness after treatment.

However, case reports in the medical literature tell a more sobering story. These include:

• A 6-month-old infant with a carotid artery dissection and ischemic stroke temporally associated with cervical spinal manipulation.
• Reports of spinal manipulation in children linked to neurological injury, including brain hemorrhage and paraplegia, albeit extremely rarely.
• A broader adult literature connecting high-velocity neck manipulation to vertebral or carotid artery dissection, which raises concern when extrapolated to neonates with far more fragile anatomy.

Importantly, the true risk is hard to estimate. Serious harms may be under-reported; many mild or moderate
complications never make it into published literature or official databases. Safety reviews that conclude
“serious events are rare” often rely on voluntary reporting from practitioners or studies too small to detect
rare but catastrophic outcomes.

When we’re talking about adults choosing care for themselves, that’s one kind of risk–benefit calculation. For
newborns who cannot consent, the bar isand should bemuch higher. If the proven benefit is small, uncertain, or
indistinguishable from gentler alternatives like massage and positioning, then even a tiny risk of stroke or
neurological injury starts to look like a bad bet.

Why fear-based messaging is a problem

One of the most disturbing aspects highlighted by science-based critics is how some chiropractors market to
new parents. Common themes include:

• Warning that birth “almost always” causes spinal damage requiring lifelong adjustments
• Framing car seats, baby carriers, or normal handling as dangerous sources of subluxations
• Implying that SIDS, shaken baby syndrome, or serious developmental problems can be prevented with regular chiropractic care

This kind of messaging taps directly into a parent’s deepest fears: the idea that something invisible and
preventable could harm their baby. It can also subtly undermine trust in pediatricians by positioning
chiropractic as the provider who “really understands” what’s going on with their child, while doctors are
cast as dismissive or “only offering drugs.”

From a science-based perspective, using fear of catastrophic outcomes to sell an unproven intervention is
ethically troublingespecially when aimed at exhausted, anxious first-time parents.

What science-based newborn care actually looks like

None of this means parents should just “tough it out” with no help. Newborns are hard. Support, education, and
hands-on guidance absolutely make a difference. The key is to rely on interventions that are backed by the
strongest available evidence and that don’t carry unnecessary risk.

For issues like colic, pediatric organizations such as the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend:

• Ensuring a full medical evaluation to rule out illness or structural problems
• Feeding adjustments (e.g., trial of different formula or maternal diet changes under medical guidance)
• Soothing techniques: swaddling, rhythmic motion, white noise, skin-to-skin contact
• Safe use of approved medications or probiotics in specific cases, when supported by evidence
• Educating parents about the natural course of colicit usually improves on its own by 3–4 months

For torticollis and positional head flattening, physical therapy, stretching exercises, positional changes, and,
in some cases, helmets guided by pediatric specialists have far stronger evidence than spinal manipulation. The
kind of gentle handling and range-of-motion work that many chiropractors incorporate looks a lot like physical
therapy or infant massageapproaches that can be offered without claims about subluxations or nervous-system
“reboots.”

And because newborns and young infants are uniquely fragile, any hands-on intervention should be supervised or
guided by professionals who are trained specifically in pediatric anatomy and who work within an evidence-based
framework. Your pediatrician, pediatric physical therapist, or other licensed specialist can help you navigate
options tailored to your baby’s specific needs.

Talking realistically with families about newborn chiropractic

Parents don’t usually wake up one day and decide, “I’d like some pseudoscience, please.” They are looking for:

• Relief for a baby who seems uncomfortable
• Validation that their concerns are real
• Someone who will spend time, listen, and touch their baby gently

A science-based, compassionate conversation might sound like this:

• Recognize the struggle: colic and newborn fussiness are genuinely exhausting and emotionally draining.
• Explain the natural course of many problems (like colic) and what is knownand unknownabout their causes.
• Review the evidence: manipulative therapies may provide small benefits for some babies, but the research is limited and not clearly superior to gentler options.
• Discuss safety: serious complications appear rare but can be catastrophic, and the true risk is uncertain.
• Offer safer, evidence-based alternatives such as infant massage, physical therapy, and supportive care strategies.

It’s completely understandable to experiment with comfort measures within a medical planwhat’s not reasonable,
from a science-based standpoint, is to present chiropractic as necessary, proven primary care for newborns.

Real-world experiences and reflections: a closer look

To understand why newborn chiropractic remains so emotionally powerful, it helps to look at the kinds of stories
parents shareboth positive and negative. The following scenarios are composites based on published reports,
journalistic accounts, and common patterns, not descriptions of any one real family.

“Nothing else was working”

Imagine a first-time parent whose baby cries for hours every evening, arches their back, and spits up frequently.
Multiple pediatric visits confirm the baby is gaining weight and otherwise healthy. The medical advice boils down
to: “It’s probably colic, it will get better with time, here are some soothing techniques.” That’s accurate, but
it may feel unsatisfying when you’re running on two hours of sleep and your nerves are shredded.

A friend suggests a chiropractor “who fixed her baby’s colic.” The clinic is calm and welcoming. The chiropractor
spends 45 minutes listening, validating the parent’s worries, and gently handling the baby. A few days later, the
baby has a better nightmaybe by coincidence, maybe because colic fluctuates naturally, maybe because the parents
are calmer and more confident after feeling supported. It’s easy to connect those dots and conclude, “Chiropractic
fixed my baby,” even if the underlying problem was already on its way to improving.

When marketing outruns medicine

On the other end of the spectrum are more troubling experiences. Some parents report being told that spinal
subluxations, if uncorrected, can lead to chronic illness, learning problems, or even death, and that regular
adjustments are essential throughout childhood. Package deals for months of care may be sold up front, with
scare tactics about what might happen if parents stop too soon.

Science-based critics highlight how this model can keep families locked into ongoing, expensive care with little
objective outcome tracking. Newborns, who can’t describe their symptoms and naturally change rapidly over time,
provide the perfect canvas onto which success can be projected.

Rare but serious harms

Some of the starkest stories come from case reports of serious complications. A baby is brought to a chiropractor
for fussiness or feeding problems. After a neck manipulation, the child becomes unusually sleepy or weak. Hours
later, they present to an emergency department with signs of stroke. Imaging reveals an arterial dissection in
the necka tear in a blood vessel that allows a clot to form and block blood flow to the brain.

These events are rare, and causation can be difficult to prove in individual cases. But even if the risk of such
an outcome is extremely small, it has to be weighed against the quality of the evidence for benefit. For a newborn
with a self-limited condition like colic, science-based medicine views that tradeoff as hard to justify.

Experiences that point to better solutions

Interestingly, many of the most positive parent stories about newborn chiropractic share themes that could easily
be built into evidence-based care:

• Longer, unhurried appointments where parents can ask every question on their mind
• Hands-on teaching in soothing holds, safe positioning, and gentle touch
• Validation that “you’re not a bad parent; this is really hard, and it’s not your fault”
• Encouragement to trust their observations and instincts while still watching for warning signs

These elements are not unique to chiropractic; they’re just good care. When pediatric clinics, lactation
consultants, physical therapists, and other science-based providers make space for this kind of relationship-centered
approach, the emotional pull toward unproven alternatives naturally becomes weaker.

In the end, newborn chiropractic sits at an uncomfortable intersection of genuine parental need, powerful marketing,
patchy evidence, and uncertain risk. A science-based perspective doesn’t require dismissing every positive storyonly
recognizing that anecdotes aren’t enough to justify exposing fragile infants to spinal manipulation for conditions
that usually resolve with time, support, and proven, safer strategies.

Bottom line: a touch to fearand to rethink

If you’re a parent, it’s not your job to decode every clinical trial on infant colic or dissect the biomechanics of
cervical manipulation. It is reasonable, though, to ask hard questions whenever someone proposes hands-on
treatment for a newborn’s spine:

• Is there high-quality evidence this helps babies like mine?
• What are the known and plausible risks, even if rare?
• Are there gentler, better-studied options that could provide similar benefits?
• Is fear being used as a sales tool?

Science-Based Medicine’s view is straightforward: there is currently no strong evidence that chiropractic
manipulation of newborns is necessary or uniquely beneficial, and there is at least some evidence of potential
harm. Gentle touch, responsive caregiving, infant massage, physical therapy when indicated, and ongoing partnership
with a pediatrician can deliver the comfort and support parents are seekingwithout turning a newborn’s spine into
a site of unnecessary risk.

As always, this article is for informational and educational purposes only and is not a substitute for personal
medical advice. If you’re worried about your baby’s health, talk with a qualified pediatric professional who can
evaluate your child and help you choose the safest, most effective options.