parentaltidbits

As an Osteopathic Therapist, Aerospace Engineer, Inventor, world citizen and concerned parent, I am offering my
suggestions, knowledge and ideas on a number of different parenting subjects. These are offerings to humanity as we
journey farther into the unknown territory of modern and progressive procreation.

Child Car Seat Warning!

In my practice as an Osteopathic Therapist, I have noted numerous cases of children with a unique type of neck pain.
The children’s neck pain began after long car rides in which they fell asleep with their heads falling forward. Since car
seats tend to be more upright, there is a tendency for sleeping children to often times drop their head forward. This is a
very unnatural position in that it reverses the curve of the neck and puts the weight of the head downward, pinching the
front of the vertebral body. Being that young bones are very spongy and cartilaginous, the result is a compression of the
bone and/or disc between the bone, inevitably leading to pain and dysfunction. One five year old client developed a tick
of throwing his head to the side, while the body naturally tried to correct problems in an attempt to relieve the tension. If
the bones stay squished and ossify in this ‘malformation’, the outcome may produce problems later in life.
I am conveying this information so that, hopefully, such awareness will inspire parents to not allow this injury to happen. A
simple solution is to get a car seat that has multiple tilting positions. A sit up position during wakefulness is preferable, as
children will strain to lift their heads and look around. A reclined position is the optimal choice for sleeping, so that the
head lies back against the cushion. (Additional cushions are sometimes available by the manufacturer to further stabilize
the head). For children that are older and no longer require the use of car seats, a cervical neck cushion, like those
found in airplane travel, tend to provide the necessary support. Also, placing small hand towels and pillows behind the
back and around the head to stabilize the fragile neck will ensure your baby a snuggly sleep, as opposed to waking with
irritation and pain. Remember, compared to adults, children’s heads are proportionally much larger than their bodies. Try
sitting with your head flopped forward for a few minutes and you will quickly relate to the effect it has on your neck.
Understandably, babies have no personal choice to their posture when sleep overtakes them while confined in a car seat.
Being unconscious, they are unable to communicate their discomfort, so it is up to our own parental insight to protect our
little bundles of joy!

Car Care For Pregnant Mothers
As the husband of a beautiful round-bellied mother, I have been feeling increasingly uncomfortable driving at freeway
speeds with a seatbelt strapped around the bulging belly. My wife adjusts the waist strap as low as possible, but it is still
above the pubic bone and may seriously injure the fetus in the event of an accident. The solution is to situate the belt
below the level of the pubic bone.
My creation is to construct a retaining belt that pulls the waist portion of the cars’ seatbelt below the pubic bone. You can
buy universal seatbelt kits, (complete with straps, buckles and retainers), from most Auto Supply stores. The webbing on
one side of the buckle needs to be looped around the midsection of the waist belt. Next, the webbing on the other side of
the belt will go over the front of the seat and loop around a cross bar underneath the seat. When the Mother-to-be sits in
the car, she will buckle up as usual. In addition, she will also pull the buckle attached to the midsection of the waist strap
between her knees and fasten it to the other side of the buckle coming from under the seat. Finally, she needs to adjust
the tension in order to pull the midsection of the waist belt below the pubic bone. Expectant mothers find this particularly
comfortable during travel as it also pulls the waist away from the belly and more around the legs.
Essentially, you will have converted a three-point seat belt into a four-point creation; similar to a racing car set up and,
consequently, a child’s car seat arrangement. As I do not have pregnant manikins and extra cars sitting around to crash
test this idea, please use your own common sense.

Concerning Almost-Walking Babies
Having been through the process one time already, I am currently looking through my storage boxes in search of an old
invention I brainstormed for an inevitable dilemma that every parent faces. Namely, if you are like me, I was delighted to
allow my eight-month-old daughter to hold my fingers while she developed the skills of walking. On the other hand, my
back became increasingly fatigued and sore from stooping over a very short person. Her endurance was much greater
than I could bear in this awkward position.
My nagging lower back quickly prompted a simple invention utilizing both a two-inch piece of plastic tubing from the
hardware store and some stretchable fabric. The tubing should be about half-an-inch in diameter…. a perfect size for a
precious little pudgy hand to grab onto. Then I slid some spandex type fabric, (rope will also due), through the dowel and
tied a knot, making a loop about a foot-and-a-half long. In this way, I could stand up straight and essentially support the
little toddler like a marionette. She was delighted and my back was saved!

Fetal Friendly Air Travel
In our modern life, we have devised methods of travel that are not fetal friendly. Flying is one of them. During jet travel at
high altitudes, the cosmic radiation is significantly increased without the filtering protection of our atmosphere. I have
been informed that a three-hour flight at 40,000 feet is nearly equivalent to the exposure of a chest x-ray. Couple this bit
of insight with the knowledge that embryos, fetuses and babies are splitting and multiplying their cells at an accelerated
rate and one immediately understands how they are at higher risk than adults for damage and mutation. If a gamma ray
hits the DNA during a vulnerable cellular split, the end product might not be what was intended for a healthy outcome.
Child deformities and cancer are a real concern and need to be addressed. The authorities state that studies show low
risk for pregnant mothers that fly occasionally. I personally prefer ‘no risk’ to low risk. At the same time, not wishing to
completely restrict our family’s ability to vacation on the inviting warm sands of Hawaii this winter, I have installed three
principles of safety for air travel.
Without being an alarmist, they are as follows:
·        Fly at night whenever possible. This is when the earth blocks much of the radiation given off by the sun.
·        Check the website listed here for sunspot episodes within twenty-four hours prior to flying (http://www.spaceweather.
com). Sunspots are able to increase the radiation by over one hundred fold, not a good time to be without the protective
blanket of the atmosphere. In my opinion, it is worth the financial penalty to change the flight to a later time and wait out
the radiation storm.
·        Purchase an x-ray shielding lead blanket for further protection from www.pnwx.com/Accessories/LeadProducts. For
the low cost of $30 each, you receive the same blankets that are used to shield you at the dentist or radiology lab. The
two-foot square blanket we acquired only weighs three pounds. Place this over the pregnant belly since the cosmic
radiation primarily comes from above. Jet airplanes are mostly made of aluminum alloy and this type of metal will not
shield radiation.

Gift To Newborn Babies
It has been a great pleasure and honor in my life to receive the teachings in the science and art of Osteopathic Therapy.
Moreover, an honor and a pleasure to provide these powerful therapeutic services for people, (and sometimes animals),
aspiring to free themselves from pain, dysfunction and disease which restrict their abilities to pursue joyful lives. In my
appreciation, I tithe where I am able to make the most difference. It is from this place that I ‘gift’ each baby an osteopathic
therapy appointment to help mitigate the affects from the birthing process. As anyone trained with the palpation skills of
cranial touch, (cranial osteopathy or cranial sacral therapy), will tell you, the birthing process may often times be
traumatic for the newborns’ body, thus causing lifelong ramifications.
In my practice, I often find distortions, compactions and compensations stemming from birth origins at the core of many
symptoms. The use of forceps, suctioning, c-section, prolonged pushing and other natural/unnatural challenges babies
and mothers face in the birthing process can reek havoc on their delicate, tiny structures.
Typically, it is the upper neck and cranial bones that receive most of the traumatic forces. For instance, frequently the
cause of a colicky baby comes from the compression of the temporal and occipital bone. At the junction of these two
cranial bones, at the base of the skull, the vagus nerve exits the head and follows all the way down the body in front of
the spine to innervate the intestine and other organs. If this vagus nerve pinching is not addressed, which is quite a
simple procedure at the infant stage, problems in the organs may develop throughout life.
I believe the world would be a different place if we all had some helping hands to support our transition from the warm
waters of the belly to the sometimes harsh realities of life on the outside. When I effectively work on a baby in one session
with a lesion pattern, then work on an adult say thirty, forty or fifty years later with the same lesion pattern from birth, I find
myself wondering what a different life this person might have lived if someone had removed these issues from the
beginning.

Copyright©2006 - Rick Williams