# Craniosacral therapy and better sleep?



## Italiamom (Mar 18, 2009)

Alright ladies, I'm desperate. My son is nearing a year old here in less than 3 weeks. Great, right? Not so much. His birthday will mark a year of next to no sleep for me. I haven't slept for more than 2 hours at a time since he was born. I wake up every 20-40 minutes for the vast majority of every night. We're tried diet changes (both in him and in me) despite not seeing any other allergy symptoms, no cry sleep solution, happiest baby on the block, etc. We currently bed share because my son will really only fall asleep nursing, or in the Burley, and obviously long walks multiple times per night aren't an option for getting him back to sleep every 20-40 minutes.

My questions is, did craniosacral therapy work for your LOs? We've put it off this long because we really, really can't afford it. But I could get enough for 3-4 sessions if I hawk my wedding ring. Not super excited about the idea, but if I can sleep for 2 hour stretches at a time then it would be worth it. Tell me about your successful/unsuccessful craniosacral stories please!!


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## penstamon (Nov 6, 2008)

My heart goes out to you mama. We have had a similar situation with our 8 mo DS and started taking him to a CST at 6 months. We go twice a week, now for over two months, and have not seen any lasting changes in sleep patterns. Currently he is up every 30-1.5 hours all night long which was similar to a few months ago. If insurance wasn't covering it I would never pay for any more sessions, especially considering that a session is roughly $200+ for CST and $300+ for CST in the pool. The only reason (besides insurance) that we continue is that DS has torticollis and the therapist is helping with that.

I wish I knew what could help you, but please don't hawk your wedding ring!


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## Italiamom (Mar 18, 2009)

Ooof. Not necessarily the response I was hoping for. I was hoping to hear "MIRACLE!!," but then I'm guessing that's what most of the mamas posting in this forum are hoping to hear. I know I'm not alone in my sleeplessness. But more that after a year of no sleep, I'm just a shell of a person. I'd give up just about anything for 4-5 straight hours of rest, ya know!?


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## MujerMamaMismo (Oct 28, 2005)

Oh Mama, I hear your pain. We're currently night weaning our 15month old who has woken in similar patterns to your LO since he was 3 months old. He's had craniosacral osteopathy all his life. It's helped with other bits and pieces but sadly, not his sleeping. I've heard that's it's been miraculous for others though.

What seems to be our miracle is classical homeopathy - DS has been taking homeopathics, under the care of an awesome homeopath for just over a week and we are seeing big changes. And 5 nights into nightweaning and he is only waking 3 or 4 (as opposed to 12+ ) times and going back to sleep with just a couple of rounds of baa baa black sheep. I have great hope that this is it!

Anyway, try cranial sacral therapy and if that doesn't work, think about classical homeopathy...

Good luck!


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## MujerMamaMismo (Oct 28, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *penstamon* 
We go twice a week, now for over two months, and have not seen any lasting changes in sleep patterns. Currently he is up every 30-1.5 hours all night long which was similar to a few months ago. If insurance wasn't covering it I would never pay for any more sessions, especially considering that a session is roughly $200+ for CST and $300+ for CST in the pool. The only reason (besides insurance) that we continue is that DS has torticollis and the therapist is helping with that.

This worries me. The point of cranial sacral therapy is that it requires few treatments to fix/heal etc etc. Maybe your DS has very complex needs, but I'd be worried that you're being taken for a ride, here.


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## penstamon (Nov 6, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MujerMamaMismo* 
This worries me. The point of cranial sacral therapy is that it requires few treatments to fix/heal etc etc. Maybe your DS has very complex needs, but I'd be worried that you're being taken for a ride, here.

Yeah, we had heard that too. Our CST has many years of experience under her belt and came highly recommended so I trust her abilities but I realized after the third week that she would not be helping his sleep much. We continue to go to her because she has extensive PT experience with kids and is helping his torticollis. We would either be continuing with her or just going to a regular PT if insurance wasn't covering her.

Thanks for your concern!


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## Italiamom (Mar 18, 2009)

The CST that I would be using charges about $80 per session, but it's still a lot for our family right now. But if no one here is really piping up to sing its praises, than maybe CST isn't for us. I've gone back and forth between trying CST or having chiropractic work done, as it's going to kind of be one or the other (or neither).


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## jannk (Jun 14, 2006)

Your year of no sleep sounds like mine. My son never slept for more than 90 mins at a time- usually less. He's now 4 and is still up 4 times a night. I took him for CST throughout his first year. The woman we went to was excellent (I went for myself too). However, he'd sleep better that night but it didn't stick. Now, at 4, the one thing that helps is keeping him very busy throughout the day. Trust me when I say that I tried everything - EVERYTHING!!! (except cry-it-out). Homeopathy, CST, chiropractic, diet changes, sleeping in his room w/ him... the list goes on. Then finally I started to think that this must just be his energy. My husband only needs about 5 hours of sleep and has a ton of energy. I found I started sleeping more effectively and felt less frustrated when I just accepted that this is the way it will be for a while. My time will come.
If you do try CST, check w/ the provider. As it turned out, the one we saw had been a physical therapist and could bill it as physical therapy so our insurance covered it.
Good luck. I know how crazy lack of sleep can make a mom. One more note: while my son was very challenging in the first year, he is now an absolutely amazing child - very kind and unbelievably smart. Not a sleeper, but I wouldn't trade any of it for the world.


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## feraque1 (Aug 24, 2008)

My 22-month-old has been having craniosacral work for the past few weeks. Before, she would not sleep more than 45 minutes without waking if I were not there at night (30 min for naps) and would toss and turn and cry out from 4:00 until she woke for the day at 6:30.

I am beginning to see a change. Right now she has been asleep for the night for 2 hours without waking! A couple days ago she napped for an hour without waking. The early morning tossing and turning still occurs but is not as bad as it was.

I took her to a chiropractor for months with no success. We did allergy tests. Everything. Either it is a coincidence that she is sleeping better, or the craniosacral therapy is helping. Either way, I'm a better rested mama!

Now, if I could just get my 5-year-old to not wake up for 2 hours at 2am each night. . .


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## LaydieBugs (Apr 9, 2010)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *MujerMamaMismo* 
This worries me. The point of cranial sacral therapy is that it requires few treatments to fix/heal etc etc. Maybe your DS has very complex needs, but I'd be worried that you're being taken for a ride, here.

It's not necessarily the case that CST only requires a few treatments.

There are several very different types of cranial work with similar names that often get confused (in this thread we are speaking both of CST and cranial osteopathy, which are different).

Also, with complicated conditions, or conditions where there are many layers of stuff happening, it can take many treatments.

My recommendation to the OP, not as a parent but as an osteopathy patient ... check if your insurance (if you have it) covers an osteopath in your area who 1) does osteopathic adjustments and 2) practices cranial osteopathy. All insurance should have some DOs, it's usually required, but not all DOs really do osteopathic manipulation. And then call and ask about insomnia.

But yeah consider homeopathics too ... Hyland's has some sleeplessness formulas for young'uns. It sounds like you need low-cost solutions.

My DO does osteopathic adjustments and cranial osteopathy, and I've got a lifelong history of insomnia (the only thing that has ever really worked for me is Xanax, it's neurological). I've been seeing him for 18 months to work on residue from many injuries over many years. He has told me that he thinks a few cranial treatments might help me sleep better and he's always been right so far. I trust him completely, and he's always surprised me by being able to fix stuff nobody could, so I don't doubt it's possible but I wouldn't go for an expensive solution before trying a cheap one (like a $5 bottle of Hyland's).


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