Stress breeds stress
Unfortunately, you can’t pretend stressful or traumatic things are not happening when, in fact, they are. Stressed-out babies who don’t feed well, don’t sleep well, and are highly dependent on mum creates mothers who are then even more stressed and go into a physiological stress response themselves, surviving on little sleep, poor diets, and often starting to feel anxious and depressed themselves. This causes a cycle where baby picks up on mum’s anxiety, which reinforces to them that something is wrong and heightens their stress response and stress behaviours, which of course further pushes mum into worry and anxiety about whether her baby is okay and what she should be doing to help him or her.
What to do if you suspect your baby is emotionally stressed
If you have a baby that:
- Is constantly upset
- Appears worried or distressed despite having no reason to be
- Is underweight or failing to put on weight
- Has high levels of separation anxiety
- Does not sleep well regardless of what you have tried
- There has been stress in the home or throughout pregnancy
- There is no medical reason for the above behaviours
Then it may be beneficial to seek the help of a holistic practitioner who is familiar with these issues and that you feel comfortable and confident with. In my practice, I use a combination of my own “Body Whispering” alongside Neuro Emotional Technique, Kinesiology, and Muscle Testing to find out what is going on for mum and baby, what and where they are storing stress in their bodies, or what the recurring stressor is. We then eliminate that pattern from their emotional memory.
These techniques are gentle, effective, and non-invasive, yet the results are truly profound. I cannot tell you how highly I recommend utilising tools and practitioners who incorporate emotional health and healing into the equation when looking at what is required for our little ones, because we are, after all, whole beings with emotional, mental, and spiritual needs, no matter what our age.
Dr Adeela Afiz is the director and Principal Chiropractor at Vital Chiropractic – Family Wellness Centre in Auckland. She is also the founder of Body Whispering with Dr Adeela Afiz and Co-Presenter of the Essential Baby Help Workshops in New Zealand.
