Torticollis can cause many problems for babies including difficulty nursing and sleeping, which can be extremely disruptive. Unfortunately, the pressure of having a newborn can already be overwhelming, so parents sometimes don’t realize the importance of working with their baby to help improve this problem. Once they begin therapy for torticollis, they’re often amazed at the difference it makes. Baby Hudson is a great example of such a case, and his mom shared his story with us.
Our sweet Hudson joined our family October 4th, 2013. We were in love the moment we met him! He has always been such a sweet baby and loves to be held. But from the very beginning, Hudson had trouble nursing. At first, I thought he was having a hard time latching; then I realized he practically could not nurse on one side. I desperately wanted nursing to work, so I weaned off of one side completely and exclusively nursed on the other side (which was much harder than I expected). At 2 weeks, we noticed Hudson was very gassy, fussy and would only sleep upright in a baby carrier. His diapers were not looking great, and after talking with our pediatrician, she sent us to a GI doctor, who we spent weeks working with to conclude Hudson had a very sensitive dairy allergy. I am convinced Hudson’s dairy allergy was a sign from God because our GI doctor brought up “torticollis.”
At that point, Hudson was 8 weeks old and still very fussy, waking up every 2 hours and would only sleep if held or in an inclined sleeper. Frustrated, I focused on other “more important issues.” I just told myself, “I’m sure there are some stretches or something we can do later.” At Hudson’s 2-month well check, I talked with our pediatrician, and she gave us a handout with stretches to work on. During the stretches, Hudson would just scream, so I did them less and less. When Hudson was a little over 3 months old, we followed up with our GI doctor and found Hudson was doing much better. But as we were leaving the office, the doctor asked if we had followed up on Hudson’s torticollis. We hadn’t, but his reminder made me take action.
I called our pediatrician to make an appointment. When I was finally able to step out of the newborn/colic fog, I realized my baby had a really bad head tilt and a flat spot on his head. Our pediatrician recommended Baby Begin. After our first meeting with Jennifer, I felt so at ease. These confusing and unproductive stretches suddenly made so much more sense. She showed me how to incorporate his stretches and therapy into our everyday life. We spent time learning how to swaddle, position and hold Hudson in a way that encouraged the use of his other side. Play and cuddle time became a great opportunity to help our little man stretch. After 2-3 weeks we started to see huge changes in Hudson’s head shape. Due to the magnitude of his torticollis, his tilt took longer to address, but each week it got a little better. Jennifer was able to help me see that Hudson’s difficulty nursing and discomfort sleeping were all linked to his torticollis. His time in baby carriers when he slept at night also contributed to his flat spot, and Jennifer was able to help us set up his swaddle and positioning perfectly. He was comfortable and out of the carriers!
I truly cannot imagine what we would have done without Baby Begin. Hudson is thriving and healthy with no long-term effects of torticollis because of the amazing therapy he received. I just want moms out there to know that in a lot of cases there are other options, instead of an expensive and uncomfortable helmet. We had several doctors tell us Hudson’s torticollis was “severe,” but we were able to avoid helmets altogether. We are thankful for how much the Lord taught us through our little Hudson’s first year. A week ago, we celebrated our healthy boy turning one year old! We are so grateful for the friendship we built with Jennifer and the resources and teaching she gave our family.
The story of Hudson is just one of the success stories we’ve heard about infant torticollis therapy from Baby Begin. With all the necessary knowledge and training to help prevent and correct torticollis in babies, Baby Begin has proven an invaluable resource for many parents. For more information about treatment and therapy for torticollis, please visit our website, or connect with our online community on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.