I first visited Christian Bates in October 2010 when my 16 week old son Matthew had become very unhappy. I breastfed Matthew for the first 8 weeks of his life and he had a few minor problems: colic, eczema on one side of his face, and a very sticky eye, but generally he was a contented baby. However he was always hungry & demanded food every 2-3 hours during the day & night, so I decided to start bottle-feeding with formula milk in the hope that this would be more satisfying for him. For the first few weeks he appeared to be fine. However, his eczema began to worsen & appeared on both cheeks, he suffered with excessive wind and appeared very bloated & uncomfortable. He also had a lot of mucus in his throat & had become generally very unsettled. Sometimes he cried inconsolably for long periods of each day. As well, he started refusing to feed & would arch his back violently, throw his head around & cry when I tried to put the bottle in his mouth. When he did sleep, usually through exhaustion, he would wake after just 10-15 minutes & cry again. Oddly enough, he was actually worse in the day, but we put this down to him being exhausted by night time! Both Matthew & I had become very unhappy. I was at my wit’s end. This was also affecting my 2 year old son as he was not getting the attention he was used to, so he was very unhappy too. I really didn’t know what to do.
I recently bought my 2 year daughter to see Christian in desperation for help. From about 8 months she started having “tantrums” and after a significant delay in her development she was quickly diagnosed with severe hypermobility which impeded her getting around i.e crawling and sitting up.
With this also her “tantrums” escalated and could last for up to 1 hour and also led to her severely self harming and began having extreme night terrors. As well as being under paediatricians and other professionals as a family we were at our wits end and struggling to cope with on a day to day basis.
Christian's comment:
My baby boy was a very overdue baby and after being induced for five days I gave birth naturally. Jack seemed fine in the first couple of weeks but I was starting to find him more and more unsettled and very jumpy. I was exclusively breast feeding him for 3 months before I introduced formula. I was finding him to be demonstrating the symptoms of Colic and most afternoons from 4pm onwards I was having to have him in a front carrier jigging him until bath and bedtime every evening.
He was also a very light sleeper and woke every 2 to 3 hours every night, he was also very windy at night time. His day time naps were lasting approximately 20 minutes.
I visited Christian Bates in Aug 2010 when I was having problems with my 7 week old son, Nathaniel. Although he was eating well, gaining weight and generally settling throughout the day, come 7pm he was like a different baby – really hard to settle, couldn’t lie him down, unhappy feeding (from either breast or bottle) and seemed to have much worse trapped wind.
I had two sessions of Cranial Osteopathy and Christian recommended I start taking a pro-biotic, Culturelle, which I did immediately. The difference in Nathaniel was noticeable within 24 hours. He started settling at 7pm, happy to feed well, bring up his wind quickly and then go down in his cot to sleep without fuss – seeming more like the baby we were use to during the day.
I cannot say for sure which treatment is responsible but I personally can feel the effects of Culturelle so this must be being passed on and my baby is now much happier to breastfeed on both sides at all feeds (Christian advised that there has been some tension on the right side of his neck which may have been putting him off feeding well on a certain side).
I am a mother of a two year old who since birth hasn’t had a nights unbroken sleep. He would wake up screaming and continue for hours on end. Nothing I did would console him. It was wearing both of us out. I heard of Christian’s work from a friend and made an appointment. From the moment we saw him we both felt at ease and very calm and as a mother I felt very reassured. Within the first week I noticed a difference and by the second week my son was sleeping the whole of the night undisturbed and was even calmer during the day. A different child to the one I first took into the clinic. I really don’t understand how it works but it does. It’s non-intrusive, gentle and very calming and I highly recommend it. Trust me you will be amazed.
Hi Christian. Just want to say thank you for helping us with our fractious baby. Since having cranial osteopathy our baby has gone from being a baby that screams continuously while awake to now having calm wakeful periods, where he is cooing, smiling and peaceful. None of my family can believe the change in him and it has created a greater bond for everyone. It is so wonderful to be able to hold Bodhi and watch his facial expressions and him focus on me, when usually I am continuously rocking him and changing positions as he cries, to try to settle him. Also, he now sleeps really well night and day. What a change.
Thank you so much
I don’t really know where to begin, and I’m sorry if I sound a bit melodramatic at times, but I don’t think I can get across in words alone the impact you have had on my entire family’s lives.
My little girl Grace was born 3.5 weeks early. Although it was a bit of a shock (I hadn’t even started maternity leave yet, and had no essentials in the house such as nappies or cotton wool!), it was a natural birth without any medical intervention whatsoever, she was healthy and after a couple of nights of observation at PRH, we were allowed to go home. Because Grace weighed in at only 5.4lbs, she was too small to breastfeed. She literally could not open her little mouth enough to latch on. I had never imagined that we would have any problems with breastfeeding, and wanted to give my daughter the best start in life that I could, so I opted to express my milk and bottle feed it to her. I bought an electric pump (best invention in the world in my opinion, even if you feel like a cow in a dairy farm!) and away we went. Even once Grace got big enough to breastfeed, by that time, we had both just gotten used to expressing, and it meant I could let Grace’s big sisters (I have 3 lovely step daughters) help with the feeding! I expressed for 6 months and all was well.
I am writing this email to thank you for all your help. After having my baby gone through a difficult birth I was ready to try anything. I must admit I was quite sceptical at first seeing the procedure of the treatment which seemed as simple as a normal head massage. Nevertheless, after just three sessions my baby has been sleeping so much better now, feeds well and does not seem to be agitated anymore. At this point I can finally enjoy my motherhood and watch my little one grow. I would recommend this treatment to any mother whose baby has had a difficult birth.
Thank you a million”
