Jolee’s Journey with the Bottle – Part 4 of 4

infant speech therapy

Throughout the whole Jolee’s Journey with the Bottle…I have remained cautiously optimistic about the whole situation.

She’s taken a bottle and then not taken a bottle and then taken a bottle again.

I hoped this was the end of everything. I hoped she was really going to take a bottle forever. Well, not forever, but you know what I mean.

And it seemed this was truly the end.

I am writing this on September 24th and she is still successfully taking the bottle three times a day while I am at work.

I honestly did not think we would ever be here.

It was such a stressful 3 months. Between all of the appointments and mouth exercises and missing work and constant worry, I am so happy to finally be at the end of this journey.

This journey was truly an eye opening experience in so many ways and I want to share my takeaways.

If you have a newborn that is not nursing well or not taking a bottle, go see a lactation consultant, preferably one that independent of the hospital.

I’m not saying the hospital lactation consultants aren’t good, because they are! BUT, I had such a great experience with the one I sought out privately. I went to her office, but she gives the option to come to your house which is perfect for moms that are really struggling or not wanting to leave the house yet. She was able to tell me almost immediately what was wrong with Jolee and she had built a network with the chiropractor and speech therapist. I know I have said it before, but the relationship between these three individuals are absolutely invaluable.

If you have a newborn that is not nursing well or taking a bottle well, go see a chiropractor that specializes in infant care.

In addition to the lactation consultant or in placement of a lactation consultant, I whole heartedly believe in a chiropractor that specializes in infant care.

When the lactation consultant told me that I needed to go to a chiropractor, I was 100% hesitant. I’ve been to the chiropractor before and I know the type of work they do to your body. I get it.

But I will be the first to advocate for an infant chiropractor now. What they do is SO gentle. I am super protective of my kids and if I ever felt for one second they were going to hurt my baby, I would have stopped the situation. It’s more so of a massage and pressure point stuff. There is no neck cracking or back cracking, NOTHING like that.

I never even knew chiropractors for infants existed until Jolee. And I 100% wish I would have known about them from my first kid.

infant chiropractor

At my chiropractors office, they had a sign that said, “Why do infants need chiropractic care?” And some of the things that were listed were what I would consider normal and abnormal: colic-like symptoms, hates the car seat, crying all the time, not sleeping, torticollis, head tilts, not latching onto breast, not taking a bottle, hates tummy time, traumatic birth, “seemingly-normal” birth…

It was really eye opening.

Think about it. Your baby is crammed into your stomach for 9 months. I know it’s “normal”, but think of the position your baby is in. And then, no matter how the baby comes out, via vaginal delivery or C-Section, it’s traumatic. I mean, on average, a baby weighs, what..like 5-9 pounds? And it will exit your body in one way shape or form. I am not meaning that it’s a bad type of traumatic, but it’s a lot for your body to go through and for a baby to go through.

For me, I thought everything was “normal” with Jolee.

Besides the pelvic pain, I got the birth I wanted. But, it was not normal. It was very traumatic for her to enter the world in such an abnormal position and it screwed her up. And it only took 2 visits to the chiropractor to see significant improvement.

I just wish this was more talked about. I wish people were more educated about this. I wish there were more resources about this and how helpful it could be to your child. I absolutley could not imagine the hell we would have went through with Jolee had we not visited the chiropractor.

Side note…in MOST cases, you do not need a referral to go to the chiropractor.

My chiropractor did not take my insurance, BUT she was specialized in infants and I knew she could help Jolee, so I paid out of pocket for every single visit and it was 100% worth it and I would make the same decision 1,000 times over.

If I could do it all over again, I would have automatically taken Raelynn and Briar to the chiropractor without question.

If you have a newborn that is not nursing well or taking a bottle well, try to go see a speech therapist.

infant speech therapy

I think it’s great if you DON’T have to go this route and I think Jolee was probably an exception. But, if it’s recommended, do it.

Normally, you need a referral to go see a speech therapist, but it’s relatively easy to get. I called my pediatrician and told them the issues I was having and they did not hesitate to give me the referral.

If you have a newborn that is not nursing well or taking a bottle well, TRUST YOUR GUT AND DO WHATEVER YOU NEED TO DO.

YOU ALWAYS HAVE OPTIONS.

Don’t think, “Well, this is it…I will never be able to breastfeed or I will never be able to bottle feed or my baby is just going to cry forever or my baby will never sleep.”

I will be the first to tell you that everyone will NOT be on your side.

I was in the thick of taking Jolee to the chiropractor and the speech therapist and I was starting to see some results.

And then her pediatrician knocked me down on my ass.

At every appointment they ask if she is seeing any specialists. I proceeded to tell them she was seeing a chiropractor and a speech therapist. My pediatrician told me these exact words, “There is no reason a 10 week old should be going to the chiropractor. I have saw some really awful things done to an infant by a chiropractor.”

I was sad. I was mad. I was angry. I WAS PISSED.

Here I am thinking I am doing what is best for my child and then the person who is supposed to medically know what’s best for my child is telling me that I am doing it all wrong.

And then…the icing on the cake…

The pediatrician put a glove on and messed in her mouth and agreed that she was not sucking at all, but said being diagnosed with oral dysfunction was definitely not correct and the speech therapist must have been “reaching” for a diagnosis.

The pediatrician then asked if I had a bottle so they could try and give it to her.

My eyes had to have been glaring red at this point.

They basically thought they were just going to give her a bottle and all was going to be right in the world.

I was floored. I was so disheartened and disconnected from the appointment after this.

My point to this…TRUST YOUR GUT AND DO WHATEVER YOU FEEL IS RIGHT FOR YOU…YOUR BABY…AND YOUR FAMILY.

Had I listened to my pediatrician and stopped going to the chiropractor, there is no telling where we would be at. I am sure Jolee would not be taking a bottle yet.

You 100% have to be your own advocate.