Catherine:

Has anyone ruled out cranial compression?  Here in Dayton, there is a DO who
is certified in Cranial Osteopathy.  She works miracles.   She has helped a
number of babies who had awful sucks, hyper or hypo tonia, developmental
delay, reflux and who are high need babies.  I took my 8 year old last summer
(hx. recurrent otitis media, we have had tonsils and adenoids out, tubes in ,
tubes out and still had problems.  Also was a chronic spitter, but a good wt
gain.  He began sucking his index fingers at age 6 after his front teeth came
out.)  Turns out that he had a misshaped jugular foramen which was
compressing the vagus nerve (cranial nerves 9, 10 and 11 go through there).
 His palate was also "stuck".  Once all of this was released, he said "I
never want to feel 'normal' again.  He has not had another ear infection
since then!!!

Certified practitioners can be obtained from The Cranial Academy
(317)879-0713 (its in Indianapolis).

Another interesting case I had with her was a 6 month old baby.  The mother
called me because her pediatric gastroenterologist wanted her to wean
immediately since they had discovered lactose in the baby's stool.  She
indicated that the baby had been difficult to nurse, turned blue when nursing
the first week and that she did not want to wean.  I questioned her if they
would consider having her express some milk, mix in Lactaid enzyme drops and
then breastfeed (I was proud of myself for thinking on my feet!) and then
questioned her in more detail about her baby.  Turns out the baby had a flat
head on 1 side since birth, one ear was lower and forward of the other, the
baby could not hold her head up when pulled from lying down, could not reach
out directly in front of herself unless she started her arms at 180 degrees
and then globally brought them forward together, etc. etc.   To make a long
story short, her cranial bones were totally misaligned.  She went from a
developmental age of 2 months to 6 months in 4 weeks.  The night after her
first treatment, she slept longer than she had ever slept at one time and
abruptly quit spitting up.

Articles you may find helpful:

Frymann, Viola M. DO, FAAO. "Cerebral Dysfunction: Prevention and  Treatment
in the Light of the Osteopathic Concept". Osteopathic Medical News Vol IV,
No.9 18  - 37 (I don't have the year)

Frymann, Viola M. DO, FAAO, "Relation of disturbances of craniosacral
mechanisms to symptomatology of the newborn: Study of 1,250 infants. Journal
AOA, vol 65 1059-75. 1966

Frymann, Viola et al. "Effect of Osteopathic Medical Management on Neurologic
Development in Children"  JAOA vol 92 No. 6 729-744. 1992.

A booklist and more information about workshops for this type of therapy is
available from the Upledger Institute, Inc. 1-800-233-5880

Martha Brower
Kettering, OH