Often children are labelled as naughty, disruptive, dreamers or slow learners when in fact often screaming babies, toddlers with growing pains, attention disorders, restless behaviour or bed wetting might actually be suffering from body stress.
A common sign that a baby has body stress in the neck is constant crying for no apparent reason. When body stress is present in the lower back the baby might cry or niggle when the hips are lifted during nappy changes or the child may present with constipation. Stress in the diaphragm area could influence digestion, colic, and reflux. Niggly babies, babies that cry all the time, or babies that have disrupted sleep, cramping, and wind, may be suffering from sites of body stress; and toddlers refusing to walk or young children who complain of having sore legs (so-called “growing-pains”) may likely have body stress in the lower back and hip area.
When there are sites of tension in the lower back, hip and pelvis the leg muscles may be affected, causing a tendency of the feet to turn inwards. Bed-wetting may occur if the nerve supply to the bladder is irritated.
At school, a child with tension in the neck may lack concentration and become disruptive. If there is pressure in the lower back, the child may be restless and unable to sit still. Teenagers may start to develop problems with spine curvature or scoliosis and this can be exacerbated by carrying heavy shoulder bags, high impact sports or poor posture.
Many parents bring their babies children for regular check ups to ensure that the body remains free of stress and tension and that their child’s growth and development is normal and healthy.
CAUSES OF BODY STRESS IN BABIES & CHILDREN
Often babies carry stress soon after birth, especially in the neck and lower spine – this may be severe in traumatic births, but is often apparent even if the baby had an easy entry.
Small children are likely to accumulate body stress as a result of frequent falls and jerks while playing, or trying to lift heavy objects while older children may sit incorrectly or spend too much time reading hunched over, watching television slouched on the couch (putting pressure on the lumbar curve) and causing pressure to build up in the spine.
As they approach puberty, children become more self-conscious and may develop poor posture, hunched shoulders, a contracted chest and downward tilted head as a defensive mechanism against the new challenges and stresses in life.
Muscles tighten and tension becomes locked into the body. Prevention is the operative word! It makes sense to have babies and children assessed for stress regularly, even if there does not appear to be any problems. In this way, if there is any tension stored in the body will be released before it accumulates to have an adverse impact on the nervous system.
Quite often small children cannot always verbalise what they are feeling, but the parents may observe signs indicating the presence of body stress.
For example, a normally good-natured child will become sullen and uncooperative, or the child may talk about a “funny feeling in the tummy”, become exceedingly restless or complain of sore legs. Children enjoy experiencing BSR as it is a gentle procedure and they become aware of how different they feel once the stored tension has been released Babies & children respond very quickly to BSR, as the pressure has not been present in the body for a long time and is readily released.
SIGNS OF BODY STRESS IN BABIES
A baby that has pain or discomfort will cry, often constantly. If medical conditions have been ruled out its possible the baby has body stress which could be causing colic, reflux, digestive stress or restlessness. The baby may squirm and cry when his hips are lifted during a nappy change, or there may be constipation or diarrhea. https://bodystressreleasesa.co.za/2012/12/01/the-baby-with-reflux/
Neck stress from forceps delivery
A desperate mother arrived at the BSR practice announcing that she’d had “6 months of hell” with a child who never stopped screaming and barely slept. She was close to tears and worn out and medical tests had not revealed any problems, the lady felt that there was something wrong with her and she was frustrated and desperate as she felt that she must be doing something wrong.
When placed on his stomach it was evident that the baby was uncomfortable and he bellowed and twisted, making it difficult for the practitioner to reach the contact points in the neck. The patterns of body stress were similar to those seen after a whiplash in a car accident.
As the stress in the neck was released, the baby fell instantly asleep. 3 days later the mother reported that her child had slept for 10 hours, and while he was still crying constantly he had toned down the screaming.
There was ongoing improvement and after 5 sessions the mother and baby were both transformed, he was sleeping normally and no longer such an unhappy baby.
A SEVERE ARM SPASM
A five-month-old baby kept his arms in spasm against his chest and his gaze appeared to be unfocused. Cerebral palsy was suspected by the doctors.
After one session of BSR his arms relaxed. After a second session, his mother reported that he was able to focus on her face and respond to her. Six months later his grandmother sent a photograph of him and a letter to say that his development was normal in every way.
Difficultly suckling
A two-day-old baby could not suckle, as her tongue kept flicking to the corner of her mouth. After body stress was released in the neck she began suckling normally.
Bedwetting
A three-year-old girl was described by her father as naughty, as medical tests showed no reason for her continued bed-wetting. During the two weeks after the stress in the lumbar spine was released, the bouts of bed-wetting steadily decreased in frequency, and then ceased entirely
