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My third baby was a beautiful boy. We had an amazing home birth - a first for me. The labor was fast and furious, only 4 hours (#1 was 33 hrs and #2 was 18 hrs). I moaned a lot more. It took a very long time for his head to come down - seemed that he was almost there and then he would disappear again. With each contraction following what I thought would be the delivery of his head, I didn't even feel the urge to push. I remember being told, "This is going to be a big baby", and thinking to myself, "That's impossible, this is my smallest pregnancy yet." But they were right, he was a big boy - 9 lbs. 7 oz.
As I had envisioned my entire pregnancy, I had a soft little baby who was content anywhere and slept great. He nursed well and it was just as I had dreamed. But on day 6 all hell broke loose. Our previously content baby screamed the entire time he was awake. He was stiff to hold. He arched his back when he cried. When he nursed sometimes he pulled away at the breast. Now the baby who slept anywhere would only sleep on his right side and had to be in arms. He never spit up and often had a sour look on his face, so we thought maybe it was silent reflux or GERD.
We went to the doctor to find out how we could help. They said wait it out. Obviously they had no idea what we were going through. You cannot look at a baby in that much pain and just think, "Oh, I guess I'd rather watch my baby writhe in pain instead of trying to help." I felt completely alone.
I read every book I could get my hands on, I tried the elimination diet (it had worked when baby #2 Molly was "colicky"). I didn't know what else to do. So for a week I ate nothing but brown rice, turkey, pears and squash. It was great for weight loss, but the baby was no better off. He just cried all the time. He also wanted to suckle, but did not want milk, so we gave him a pacifier. I am adamantly against pacifiers and had tried using my finger to soothe him, but the skin was beginning to look worn and I couldn't bounce him the way he required us to on the birth ball while keeping my finger in his mouth. It was a tireless task to keep him happy (well, not happy, but less miserable), but how could we do any less.
When he was three and a half weeks old, I was scheduled to work at a three day La Leche League Conference. I brought my screaming baby, pacifier, and of course my birth ball. We were there for as many as twelve hours a day and everyone gave us advice to alleviate his screaming. Everything worked for a minute or two if we caught him in the right mood, but nothing really seemed to help. We tried every colic hold known to man, we swaddled with every type of swaddling blanket, we slept upright to keep the food down; it was awful.
Finally, Patty Jacobs, a La Leche League Leader, recommended CranioSacral Therapy. As I had never heard of it, I just said if it helps I want to go for it. I was told to look for Sylvia Boyd, and I searched every name tag but the screams of my little baby were what brought her right to us. Sylvia introduced herself and offered some help.
What I saw was something I had never seen before. Sylvia talked about how she was letting the baby move, and about how his body was telling her his story. With her hands, she was gently feeling for areas of strain and misalignment. She was helping baby David find his path back to balanced comfort with the inner alignment of his tissues from head to toe. She sat on the birth ball during the treatment which allowed her to easily move and rock him. My screaming baby calmed down within minutes and was quiet and pensive as he lay in her arms while she moved with him on our ball. I was so glad that I brought it.
Sylvia offered help for our car ride home since his past behavior was non-stop screaming for any car ride. She rolled up a little blanket to put under his knees, a baby wash cloth behind his neck and put two rolled swaddling blankets on the sides of him.
I don't know what she did that first day, but our car ride home was mostly peaceful. He slept almost through the night; it was as if some weight had been lifted and he could finally rest.
The next two days she worked with him again and each day we saw more and more improvement. I didn't know what I was going to do when Sylvia left me to go home to Hayward. Fortunately, she had the phone number of Benjamin Katz in my area, and he continued the magic she began. We didn't see him for about a week, and were still reeling from the amazing changes in our life that had already begun.
Now when the baby was hungry or tired or wet, he cried... Can you imagine? He cried for a reason that we could solve. And he had begun rejecting the pacifier - I recently discovered that suckling helps align your cranium, a need that Sylvia resolved in my baby. I cannot imagine our lives had Sylvia not entered. If only more mothers and fathers knew about the amazing work she does. Thank you so much Sylvia. I will be contacting you during my next pregnancy!
Carole |
More Client TestimonialsFor Sylvia’s Therapy Services |
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Thank you so very much for all the help with Siena as well as the references for Aaron and I. You do not know how much help you were to our family. Not only have you increased Siena's comfort level and flexibility, but ours as parents as well. I am sure you remember and know how much it pains you as a parent to see your child in pain or discomfort and not know what to do to fix the situation. Thanks to my friend Elena, you were there to help.
Since the day of her birth four months ago, my daughter has had discomfort and pain that we did not know how to fix. Most would have labeled her as a fussy or difficult baby since she cried frequently. But as a parent I knew that there was more to her crying than just fussiness, or colic.
She has always nursed frequently and aggressively and took very easily to the breast. However, she would grunt forcefully after each feeding. As a newborn, she spit up all the time, had frequent hiccups, and irregular stools. More often than not, she would also cramp. She would bring her legs into her chest and curl her body, kick them out again and arch her back, grunt and cry. I talked to her doctor about this and he suggested that she had reflux and to deal with it by keeping her upright, feeding less ounces, but more often, and to wait it out because it should pass. Ultimately, he was not worried because she was gaining weight well. So, I did not worry, but just put up with it. ;-( But the longer I put up with it, the worse it seemed to get.
Ultimately it also interfered with her sleep. After each nursing, I would rock her upright for over a half an hour. Within ten minutes of placing her back to sleep, she would wake up and thrash about in her crib while grunting and crying. I was finally convinced that my milk was causing her this discomfort. So, I cut out raw vegetables, peanuts, limited dairy, etc. But she still seemed to have the problems. Each person we talked to also gave us different home remedies; warm compresses on her tummy, camomile tea, elevating her head when she slept, gripe water, mylicon drops, you name it and we tried it, but nothing seemed to work. As we waited for her to "grow out of it" my husband and I became more desperate. The longer the discomfort and pain went, the more her smile disappeared.
A good friend of mine told me about Sylvia and her work. As a last effort I emailed her and much to my surprised received a phone call within an hour. We set up an appointment for the next Tuesday. Sylvia was not only concerned with the symptoms that Siena was currently showing, but also about her birth. At the appointment, Sylvia was able to relax her like I have never seen her relaxed. She also taught us many of the techniques that she was using so we may continue treating her at home. It has been a little over a week now and I see more improvements with Siena everyday. Her comfort level has improved, she seems more relaxed, and is also more flexible. Each day all of these things improve. Her "attacks" have also diminished only to be replaced by her smiles! |
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For more great stories from Sylvia’s grateful clients, click on our Testimonials link. |
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copyright © 2010 Sylvia Boyd. — Updated Aug. 14, 2010 |
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Home | About Sylvia | Services | Testimonials | Breastfeeding Help | Links | Contact |
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4-week old David with Sylvia while sitting on physical therapy ball at the La Leche League Convention |
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3-week old David with his Mom and (below) with his Dad |
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Two pictures of a healthy, happy, |
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A happy little David after Sylvia’s treatment |
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David at 3 months (Dec. 15, 2005) |
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Siena, December 2006 |
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Siena, May 2007 She is doing much, much better. We still have a little of the spitting up, but her pain and discomfort seem to be gone. She has grown into a very happy, happy and strong girl. I never would have guessed that under all that pain and crying was such a peaceful and happy girl. :-) |
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Sylvia Boyd doing the cross crawl exercise with Lara. |
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Aug. 9, 2008: “Our baby (Lara) had problems breastfeeding. We called Sylvia Boyd to get physical therapy for our little one. After 3 consultations, she is nursing so well, it doesn't hurt me anymore, plus I get more sleep because she is not nursing 24/7 after the treatment and our baby is so much happier and more relaxed. Besides the actual treatment, we got so much advice how to handle our baby. Seeing Sylvia with our baby was so helpful. Without her, I would have probably given up breastfeeding!”
Update: Dec. 8, 2008: “The treatment was helpful, as our baby is now almost 6 month old and never had anything else besides breastmilk. Thank you Sylvia.” |
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Declan, our son, had problems with breastfeeding, and had lost 12% of his bodyweight after only a few weeks. We worked with several lactation consultants (who all had great suggestions...but nothing worked!). It was not until he was almost 3 months old that one of the lactation consultants with whom we were working referred us to Sylvia for our son to have a consultation for cranio-sacral therapy.
I will admit that at first I was very, very skeptical...it sounds a lot like chiropractic work and I am not a believer in that - BUT, after seeing the amazing turnaround it brought about it my son, I am a sincere believer in infant cranio-sacral therapy for breastfeeding problems and wholeheartedly believe that it was the work that Sylvia (and her colleague, Dave) did that solved my son's problem once and for all. After only three sessions (two fairly consecutively and one "tune-up" about a month later) our son was 100% better, was gaining weight and nursing like a champ!
Sylvia is very good at what she does, very thorough, including asking detailed questions about the baby's birth and any interventions. She sends detailed reports to your pediatrician and OB/Gyn so that they are kept apprised of the treatment. She frequently follows up treatments with emails and genuinely cares about her tiny patients. She and Dave are both very gentle in the course of the therapy, I never felt for a second that my son was not in the best possible hands. And the proof, as they say, is in the pudding: our issues are a thing of the past, and our son is a beautiful chubby 7 month old now and a "pro" nurser!
I highly recommend Sylvia's services for those who are having breastfeeding issues, particularly where baby's latch is a concern and other interventions have failed. Don't give up! Sylvia can help.... |
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Sylvia places finger in Lara’s mouth. |
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Our son had problems with breastfeeding, and had lost 12% of his bodyweight after only a few weeks. We worked with several lactation consultants (who all had great suggestions...but nothing worked!). It was not until he was almost 3 months old that one of the LC's with whom we were working referred us to Sylvia for our son to have a consultation for cranio-sacral therapy. |
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My 3 month-old daughter was recently diagnosed with GERD after a bought of congestion/cold. It seemed strange to me that a child that nursed fine, could suddenly develop reflux. My pediatrian prescribed Ranitidine, told me she would grow out of it at some point and sent me on my merry way. This didn't seem like a great solution as it only creates a temporary solution. I also saw two different Lactation Consultants at Kaiser Hayward, they told me to feed/hold my daughter skin-to-skin and eventually it would pass. Not helpful, especially since I have a 2 year-old at home to attend to as well. |
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Sylvia helped to guide me through nursing through recurrent plugged ducts. I had a severe plugged duct on a Thursday morning which had blocked off almost the entire right breast - it didn't drain for almost 24 hours and was very painful. When the blockage finally opened (with lots of massage, compresses, and even ultrasound) my milk supply in that breast had decreased to almost none. With frequent nursing, the milk supply started to increase but the whole experience was painful, exhausting, and a crisis for our whole family. |
