Colic & Excessive Crying in Infants in Frisco TX

Having a baby who cries for hours and can’t seem to be comforted can be exhausting and stressful for the entire family. When feeding, changing, rocking, and soothing don’t seem to help, parents naturally want to understand why their baby is uncomfortable and whether something else may be contributing.

At Venn Chiropractic and Wellness Center, Dr. Jason Venn has more than 25 years of experience caring for families and has worked with many infants and children during that time. Parents sometimes bring their babies to the office because of excessive crying, difficulty settling, apparent discomfort, or concerns about how their baby is moving or positioning their body.

The first priority is not to assume that crying is caused by the spine. Babies cry for many reasons, and persistent or unusual crying can sometimes signal a medical problem that needs evaluation by a pediatrician.

When appropriate, Dr. Venn can evaluate an infant’s spine and musculoskeletal system for areas of restricted movement, asymmetry, or other findings that may be relevant to the baby’s comfort and movement. Any chiropractic care provided to an infant is modified for the baby’s age, size, and individual findings.

If you’re wondering whether a chiropractic evaluation may be appropriate for your baby, contact our Frisco office to speak with our team.

What Is Infant Colic?

Colic is a term used to describe recurrent, prolonged periods of crying, fussiness, or irritability in an otherwise healthy young infant when there is no obvious cause and caregivers are unable to consistently soothe the baby.

Colic isn’t a specific disease. It describes a pattern of excessive, difficult-to-console crying after other explanations for the baby’s distress have been considered.

The current Rome IV clinical criteria describe infant colic as occurring in a baby younger than 5 months when the symptoms begin and resolve, with recurrent prolonged crying or fussiness that has no obvious cause, cannot consistently be prevented or resolved by caregivers, and occurs without evidence of fever, illness, or failure to thrive.

You may also hear about the traditional “rule of threes”—crying for more than three hours a day, more than three days a week, for more than three weeks. That definition is still commonly discussed, but modern clinical criteria don’t require every baby to fit that exact pattern before the crying deserves attention.

What Can Colic Look Like?

Parents may describe:

• Long periods of crying that are difficult to soothe
• Fussiness or irritability without an obvious reason
• Crying that tends to occur around similar times of day
• Clenched fists or a tense-looking body during crying episodes
• Drawing the legs toward the abdomen
• A red or flushed face while crying
• A baby who appears uncomfortable despite being fed, changed, and cared for

Crying associated with colic commonly peaks during the early weeks of infancy and generally improves as the baby gets older.

Colic Doesn’t Tell Us Why a Baby Is Crying

This distinction is especially important.

A parent may understandably say, “My baby has colic,” but the label itself doesn’t explain the underlying reason for the crying.

Excessive crying can occur for many reasons, including feeding difficulties, hunger, significant vomiting or other gastrointestinal problems, food-protein allergy, infection, illness, discomfort, or other medical concerns. Sometimes, after appropriate evaluation, no specific cause is identified.

That’s why Dr. Venn doesn’t begin with the assumption that every excessively crying baby has a spinal problem—or even that every excessively crying baby truly has colic.

When a baby is brought to Venn Chiropractic for pediatric chiropractic care, the goal is to understand the history, consider whether the child has already been appropriately evaluated, and determine whether there are musculoskeletal findings that make a chiropractic evaluation relevant.

When Excessive Crying Needs Medical Evaluation

Most babies cry, and some healthy infants cry considerably more than others. But excessive or unusual crying should not automatically be assumed to be colic.

Because babies cannot tell us what hurts or how they feel, a sudden change in crying, feeding, alertness, breathing, or behavior can sometimes be an important sign that something else is wrong.

Contact your pediatrician promptly or seek appropriate medical care if your baby:

• Is younger than 3 months and has a temperature of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher
• Is unusually sleepy, difficult to wake, weak, floppy, or much less responsive than normal
• Is having difficulty breathing, breathing unusually fast, grunting, or developing a blue or gray color around the lips or face
• Is refusing feeds, feeding substantially less than usual, or showing signs of dehydration
• Has repeated vomiting, especially green (bilious) vomit
• Has a bulging or swollen soft spot
• Has a seizure or abnormal movements
• Cries when touched, moved, or held as though movement is painful
• Has experienced a fall, injury, or other possible trauma
• Develops a cry that sounds unusually weak, high-pitched, or distinctly different from the baby’s normal cry
• Cannot be consoled and is crying continuously for an unusually prolonged period
• Simply looks or acts seriously ill or markedly different from normal

The American Academy of Pediatrics advises prompt medical evaluation for several of these findings, particularly fever in an infant younger than 12 weeks, abnormal alertness, feeding changes, breathing difficulty, persistent inconsolable crying, or other signs that a young infant may be ill.

Parents Should Trust a Meaningful Change

Parents know their baby’s usual patterns better than anyone.

If your baby’s cry, behavior, feeding, movement, or level of alertness suddenly seems significantly different, don’t wait for a chiropractic appointment to have the baby evaluated.

Dr. Venn believes pediatric chiropractic care should complement—not replace—appropriate pediatric medical care. If the history or examination suggests that a baby’s symptoms require medical evaluation, that takes priority.

And One Important Reminder for Exhausted Parents

Hours of crying can be extremely difficult for a parent or caregiver.

If you become overwhelmed or frustrated, place your baby safely on their back in an appropriate crib or other safe sleep space and get help from a family member, friend, or other trusted person.

Never shake a baby.

The American Academy of Pediatrics specifically recommends putting the baby somewhere safe and stepping away briefly if a caregiver feels unable to cope with the crying.

What Does Dr. Venn Evaluate in a Crying or Uncomfortable Infant?

When parents bring an infant to Venn Chiropractic and Wellness Center because the baby seems uncomfortable, unusually fussy, or difficult to settle, Dr. Venn doesn’t begin by assuming that colic is caused by a spinal problem.

He begins with the history and an examination.

Understanding the Baby’s History

Dr. Venn may ask about the pregnancy and delivery, when the crying began, whether the baby seems comfortable in certain positions, feeding patterns, sleep, bowel habits, and whether the baby has already been evaluated by a pediatrician.

The birth history can also be relevant. Even during an uncomplicated delivery, an infant’s body experiences physical forces during birth. A difficult or assisted delivery may provide additional information worth considering during a musculoskeletal examination.

A birth history alone, however, doesn’t mean an infant needs an adjustment. The examination still determines whether relevant findings are present.

Looking at Movement, Positioning, and Symmetry

An infant can’t point to an area that feels uncomfortable, so observation becomes particularly important.

Depending on the baby’s age and reason for the visit, Dr. Venn may evaluate things such as:

• How comfortably the baby moves the head and neck in both directions
• Whether movement appears symmetrical
• Preferred head or body positioning
• Areas of restricted spinal or joint motion
• Muscle tension or asymmetry
• How the baby responds to gentle examination and movement
• Other musculoskeletal findings relevant to the baby’s presentation

If something in the history or examination doesn’t appear appropriate for chiropractic care, Dr. Venn may recommend that the baby be evaluated by the child’s pediatrician or another appropriate healthcare provider.

Does Every Baby With Colic Need an Adjustment?

No.

The fact that an infant cries excessively does not, by itself, tell Dr. Venn where to adjust—or whether an adjustment is appropriate at all.

When chiropractic findings are present and care is appropriate, the goal is to address those specific musculoskeletal findings rather than treating the word “colic” as though it identifies a particular vertebra or automatically calls for an adjustment.

That distinction is an important part of the way Dr. Venn practices.

Infant Chiropractic Is Different From Adult Chiropractic

Parents sometimes picture an adult chiropractic adjustment when they hear that an infant is being evaluated, but pediatric care is modified substantially for the baby’s size, age, anatomy, and examination findings.

Dr. Venn uses gentle, specific chiropractic techniques and very little force when caring for infants. He does not simply perform a smaller version of the same adjustment used on an adult.

The examination determines whether care is appropriate, where a finding is located, and what technique and amount of force are appropriate for that individual child.

Parents are encouraged to ask questions and understand what Dr. Venn has found before care is provided.

Can Chiropractic Care Help With Colic or Excessive Crying?

For more than 25 years, Dr. Jason Venn has cared for infants whose parents brought them to the office because of persistent crying, difficulty settling, apparent discomfort, poor sleep, or other concerns.

And over those years, Dr. Venn has seen many babies improve during chiropractic care.

Parents have reported babies becoming more comfortable, crying less, settling more easily, sleeping better, and appearing more relaxed following care. Sometimes the change is gradual. In other cases, parents have noticed a significant difference very quickly.

Those clinical experiences are an important reason Dr. Venn continues to offer gentle chiropractic care for infants when his examination identifies findings that make chiropractic care appropriate.

Why Might Chiropractic Care Make a Difference?

A baby can’t tell us that turning the head feels uncomfortable, that a particular position bothers them, or that an area of the neck or spine isn’t moving normally.

They communicate discomfort in the ways available to them—including fussiness, difficulty settling, changes in positioning, and crying.

When Dr. Venn examines an infant, he looks for specific areas of restricted movement, asymmetry, muscle tension, and other musculoskeletal findings that may be contributing to discomfort.

When those findings are present, gentle, specific chiropractic care is intended to improve the function and movement of those areas and reduce a potential source of physical discomfort.

When a relevant musculoskeletal problem is present, addressing it may make an important difference in how comfortable that baby feels.

What Does the Research Show?

Research into chiropractic and other manual therapies for infant colic is still developing, but there are clinical trials and reviews reporting reductions in crying.

A randomized controlled trial of 104 infants with unexplained persistent crying found significantly greater improvement in crying behavior among infants receiving individualized chiropractic manual therapy. Importantly, the study included parents who were blinded to whether their infant had received treatment, helping reduce the influence of parental expectation on the results.

A systematic review and meta-analysis examining manual therapy for unsettled and excessively crying infants found a reduction in crying time of approximately 1.27 hours per day, although the authors noted uncertainty about how meaningful that difference was to parents and about the mechanism responsible.

More recently, a 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis found a favorable effect of chiropractic therapy on crying-time change in infants with colic, while also concluding that the overall evidence remained limited because of differences among the studies and their quality.

Not every review has reached the same conclusion. Another 2023 meta-analysis found that chiropractic and osteopathic interventions did not produce a statistically clear reduction in crying compared with no additional intervention and rated the evidence as very low quality.

So the research isn’t finished—but it also isn’t accurate to say there is no evidence of benefit.

Dr. Venn’s Approach Is Individualized

Dr. Venn doesn’t use a standard “colic adjustment” on every crying baby.

The baby’s history and examination come first.

If he identifies relevant musculoskeletal findings and determines that gentle chiropractic care is appropriate, care is directed specifically toward those findings.

If he doesn’t find something appropriate to address chiropractically—or if the baby’s presentation suggests that medical evaluation is needed—he will not simply adjust the baby because the parent came in for colic.

That distinction matters.

The goal isn’t to treat a label. It’s to identify whether there is something within Dr. Venn’s scope that may be contributing to the baby’s discomfort and, when appropriate, address it as gently and specifically as possible.

No baby can be promised a particular result. But when a parent has an otherwise healthy infant who continues to be unusually uncomfortable, fussy, or difficult to settle, a careful chiropractic evaluation can be a reasonable option to consider after appropriate medical concerns have been ruled out.

Learn more about pediatric chiropractic care at Venn Chiropractic

25+ Years of Experience Caring for Infants and Families

Dr. Jason Venn has practiced chiropractic in Frisco since opening Venn Chiropractic and Wellness Center in 2000. During more than 25 years of clinical practice, he has cared for patients across every stage of life, including infants, children, parents, and grandparents.

Dr. Venn earned his Doctor of Chiropractic degree and Bachelor of Science in Anatomy from Parker College of Chiropractic. His extensive experience with spinal anatomy, biomechanics, and the nervous system shapes the careful, specific approach he uses when evaluating pediatric patients.

Infants Are Not Small Adults

Evaluating and caring for an infant requires a very different approach from caring for an adult.

An infant can’t describe where something feels uncomfortable. Dr. Venn therefore relies heavily on the baby’s history, observation, movement, symmetry, gentle examination, and the physical findings he identifies.

When an adjustment is appropriate, the technique and amount of force are modified for the baby’s age, size, anatomy, and specific findings.

Dr. Venn does not use the same force or adjusting approach on an infant that he would use on an adult.

Specific Care Based on What Dr. Venn Finds

Dr. Venn’s approach is influenced by the Gonstead System, which emphasizes careful examination and specificity rather than routinely adjusting multiple areas simply because a patient has a particular symptom.

That principle is especially important with infants.

The goal is not to search for as many places as possible to adjust. It is to determine whether a relevant musculoskeletal finding is present and, if so, address it as specifically and gently as possible.

Parents are encouraged to ask questions about what Dr. Venn finds, why he believes care may or may not be appropriate, and what he intends to do before their baby is adjusted.

Experience Parents Can Talk to Directly

One advantage of bringing your baby to Venn Chiropractic is that the person evaluating your child is the same doctor who has been caring for Frisco families for more than 25 years.

Dr. Venn personally evaluates his pediatric patients and makes recommendations based on the individual child rather than using a predetermined protocol simply because the parent reports colic or excessive crying.

If something about the baby’s history or examination suggests the problem belongs outside chiropractic care, Dr. Venn will recommend appropriate medical evaluation rather than trying to treat something that isn’t appropriate for his office.

Frequently Asked Questions About Colic & Infant Chiropractic Care

Is chiropractic care safe for infants?

Pediatric chiropractic care uses techniques and forces that are modified for an infant’s age, size, anatomy, and individual findings.

Dr. Venn has cared for infants and children throughout more than 25 years in practice and uses a gentle, specific approach to pediatric chiropractic care. Before providing an adjustment, he first evaluates the baby to determine whether there is a musculoskeletal finding appropriate for chiropractic care.

As with any healthcare intervention, chiropractic care is not completely without risk. That’s one reason appropriate examination, age-specific technique, and recognizing when a baby needs medical evaluation are so important.

What does an adjustment on a baby actually look like?

It is very different from what most people picture when they think of an adult chiropractic adjustment.

Dr. Venn uses very little force and modifies his technique for the baby’s size and anatomy. He does not simply take an adult adjustment and perform a smaller version of it.

The exact technique depends on what Dr. Venn finds during the examination. If there isn’t an appropriate finding to address, the baby isn’t adjusted simply because the parent came in concerned about colic.

Is an infant chiropractic adjustment painful?

Infant chiropractic care is intended to be gentle and comfortable. Dr. Venn uses minimal force and avoids unnecessary twisting or forceful manipulation.

Babies may occasionally fuss during an examination or adjustment for many reasons—they may be hungry, tired, dislike being positioned a certain way, or simply object to being examined by someone unfamiliar. Fussing by itself doesn’t necessarily mean the baby is experiencing pain.

Parents remain involved throughout the visit and are encouraged to ask questions about anything Dr. Venn is doing.

How quickly might I notice a change?

Every baby responds differently.

During more than 25 years of practice, Dr. Venn has had parents report noticeable changes very quickly in some infants, while others improve more gradually.

Changes parents have reported during care include less crying, easier settling, improved comfort, better sleep, and changes in bowel habits or other behaviors.

Dr. Venn once cared for an infant whose parent reported that the baby had not had a bowel movement for more than a week. The baby had a bowel movement in the office immediately following an adjustment.

That is one individual clinical experience—not a prediction that another infant will respond the same way—but it illustrates why parents sometimes notice changes sooner than they expected.

How many chiropractic visits will my baby need?

There isn’t a predetermined number of visits for every infant with excessive crying.

Dr. Venn bases recommendations on the baby’s examination findings and response to care. Infants also shouldn’t automatically be placed on an adult-style treatment plan simply because they were brought in for colic.

Dr. Venn will discuss what he finds, whether he believes chiropractic care is appropriate, and what he recommends for your individual baby.

Does every baby with colic need an adjustment?

No.

Colic describes a pattern of excessive crying; it doesn’t identify a particular spinal problem or automatically mean that an adjustment is needed.

Dr. Venn examines the baby first. If he identifies relevant musculoskeletal findings, gentle chiropractic care may be appropriate. If he doesn’t, or if the baby’s presentation raises concern for a medical problem, the recommendation should reflect that.

Can chiropractic care help a baby with constipation?

Dr. Venn has had parents report changes in their baby’s bowel habits during chiropractic care, sometimes unexpectedly.

The nervous system is involved in regulating gastrointestinal function, but constipation in an infant can have multiple causes and should not automatically be assumed to originate from the spine.

Significant or persistent constipation—particularly when accompanied by vomiting, abdominal swelling, poor feeding, blood in the stool, fever, poor weight gain, or an infant who appears ill—should be discussed with the baby’s pediatrician.

Can chiropractic care help infant reflux?

Some parents have reported improvements in feeding comfort, fussiness, or reflux-like symptoms while their infants were receiving chiropractic care. However, spitting up is extremely common in healthy infants, and reflux symptoms can have several explanations.

Dr. Venn doesn’t diagnose every fussy or spitting infant with a spinal problem. If relevant musculoskeletal findings are present, those can be addressed appropriately while the child’s pediatrician remains responsible for evaluating significant feeding, vomiting, growth, or gastrointestinal concerns.

Should my baby see a pediatrician before seeing a chiropractor?

A baby’s pediatrician should remain an important part of the child’s healthcare.

If your baby is otherwise healthy, has been receiving appropriate pediatric care, and you’re concerned about persistent fussiness, apparent musculoskeletal discomfort, positioning, movement, or excessive crying, you can contact Dr. Venn to discuss whether a chiropractic evaluation may be appropriate.

If your baby has fever, breathing difficulty, poor feeding, dehydration, repeated or green vomiting, unusual lethargy, seizures, significant injury, or other concerning symptoms, medical evaluation takes priority over a chiropractic appointment.

Why would I bring my baby to Dr. Venn for excessive crying?

Because sometimes an infant who cannot tell you what feels uncomfortable may have a musculoskeletal issue worth evaluating.

Dr. Venn has more than 25 years of experience caring for families and has seen many infants improve during chiropractic care. His approach is to examine the baby carefully, identify whether relevant musculoskeletal findings are present, use gentle and specific care when appropriate, and recognize when the baby’s symptoms belong with a pediatric medical provider instead.

The purpose of the evaluation isn’t to promise that chiropractic will “cure colic.” It’s to determine whether there is something appropriate within chiropractic care that may be contributing to the baby’s discomfort and can be addressed.

Pediatric Chiropractic Care for Colic & Excessive Crying in Frisco, TX

Venn Chiropractic and Wellness Center has served families in Frisco since 2000. During more than 25 years in practice, Dr. Jason Venn has cared for infants and children as part of his family-focused chiropractic practice.

Parents sometimes bring their babies to Dr. Venn because of excessive crying, difficulty settling, apparent discomfort, restricted movement, or concerns about positioning and symmetry.

Dr. Venn’s approach begins with an individual evaluation to determine whether relevant musculoskeletal findings are present. When relevant musculoskeletal findings are present, he uses gentle pediatric chiropractic care modified for the baby’s age, size, and specific findings.

If you’re concerned about your baby’s crying or apparent discomfort and wonder whether a chiropractic evaluation may be appropriate, you can contact our Frisco office to discuss your concerns.

Reviewed by Dr. Jason Venn, DC
Doctor of Chiropractic | BS in Anatomy | 25+ Years of Clinical Experience
This page has been reviewed by Dr. Jason Venn and reflects his experience providing gentle, individualized chiropractic care to infants and children throughout more than 25 years of clinical practice.
Venn Chiropractic and Wellness Center | Frisco, TX

Colic & Excessive Crying in Infants Frisco TX | Venn Chiropractic and Wellness Center | (972) 668-9200