It usually comes as quite a surprise to the parents that planned C-section births in my experience seem to give the most irritable, fractious and poorly sleeping babies. It seems strange as you would think your baby had avoided the trauma of the contractions of a normal delivery and also any instrument intervention, like forceps or ventouse.

However, I say to parents to try and imagine what it’s like to be curled up in a tight ball, floating in the warmth of your tummy to then be pulled out into bright lights and action! A bit of a shock I think and it’s this shock that seems to set irritability into some babies born this way. In fact the more fractious babies I see after C-section the more I realise how powerful the vaginal delivery process is at waking the baby up into the world, even if that is quite dramatic in itself.

C-section babies tend to want to be held all the time and walked around and jiggled because this contact and movement calms them. It’s a bit like rubbing your knee after you have banged it, the extra sensation of the rubbing takes your mind off the underlying knock.

You also mention your baby girl won’t lay on her back. This is another classic sign of a C-section baby. You may also find that she prefers to be held up in a little ball on your chest and when she does lay on her back she pulls her legs up in the air. They also in general like being in their car seat as this holds them in a slightly curled position too. What your baby is doing here is tending to want to stay in the same shape as she was inside you, curled up in the foetal position. When a baby is born through the vaginal canal they get stretched out so they don’t remain curled in a ball so much.

Cranial osteopathy is really amazing at unwinding these patterns you are describing in your baby. By very gently working on the babies head, spine and low back they will lengthen out and find laying on their back easier. Mothers always mention that after the treatment their baby is happier just laying by themselves, not crying, under their play gym on in their cot or on a blanket. This can give you some much need time to get a few personal things done or even get to the loo or have shower without a crying baby in the background.