Paediatric Chiropractor Ottawa

Nurturing Care for Healthy Growth & Development

Many families and kids visit our clinics regularly. It’s critical for young, growing spines and nervous systems to be properly aligned. Our goal is to help them grow in the right direction.

Our gentle, age-appropriate pediatric chiropractic techniques address issues from birth through childhood—helping little bodies develop properly as they grow from crawling babies to active, resilient kids.

Infant sitting on treatment table

Baby Chiropractor Care:
Building Better Health From Day One

The birth process has the potential to cause misalignment in many kids. Even in a natural delivery without interventions, 80% of newborns have misalignments in their upper neck.

Our team is passionate about seeing newborns and children grow to achieve their full health potential. Many children come to our paediatric chiropractic clinic for preventative care before symptoms even appear.

Infant chiropractors address your newborn’s neuro-musculoskeletal system (nerves, muscles and bones). Did you know they can be safely adjusted the day they’re born? Some parents even arrange for their first appointment on the way home from the hospital.

Dr. Emilie checked all three of her babies within hours of birth — though it helps that she could check them herself, of course!

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“Our kids feel comfortable and welcome every time…”

Our kids feel comfortable and welcome every time—we can’t say enough about how much they enjoy coming! We highly recommend Oaktree to anyone looking for quality care in a supportive, family-friendly environment.
google review for Oaktree ChiropracticAlex Martel, 5-Star Google Review

“Why Would I Bring My Child To A Chiropractor?”

Many childhood issues seemingly unrelated to the spine often improve with chiropractic care. When we resolve physical misalignments, children’s natural healing ability improves — important for infants who express discomfort only through crying or fussiness. We’ll explain and address any spinal dysfunctions in your child’s system.

Parents most often bring their kids to us for help with:

  • Sleep difficulties and fussy babies
  • Colic, constipation and nursing challenges
  • Ear infections and frequent colds
  • Head tilt (torticollis) and posture concerns
  • Asthma and allergies
  • Growing pains and sports injuries
  • Headaches, back and neck pain
  • Attention and focus challenges

Modern childhood activities like device use stress developing spines, potentially leading to posture and spinal problems that affect your child’s entire nervous system.

Young boy laying on treatment table smiling

When to Bring Your Son or Daughter for An Adjustment

Children’s bodies constantly grow and adapt, so our pediatric chiropractic approach is tailored to your child’s specific age and development. We use gentle spinal adjustments and neurosensory integration to address joint dysfunction and restore brain-body communication.

Dr. Emilie Perras holding an infant at Oaktree Chiropractic Downtown Ottawa

Newborns (0-3 months)

It’s never too early! Bring your newborn for their first checkup as soon as you’re ready to leave the house. Early adjustments can help with:

  • Sleep difficulties
  • Breastfeeding challenges
  • Digestive issues (colic, reflux)
  • Head tilt/torticollis
Mother with infant son in clinic

Infants & Toddlers (3 months-3 yrs)

As your child learns to roll, crawl, and walk, they’ll experience many bumps and falls. Regular checkups during these milestone periods help:

  • Before major developmental stages
  • After significant falls
  • When experiencing sleep disruptions
  • If showing signs of recurring ear infections, or frequent colds
Dr. Emilie Perras and Martin Perras with children seated on treatment table

School-Age Children (4-12 yrs)

Modern childhood activities create new challenges for growing spines:

  • After sports injuries
  • When starting new physical activities
  • For posture issues related to schoolwork
  • If experiencing headaches or growing pains
Dr. Emilie Perras adjusting neck of young boy laying face down on treatment table

Adolescents (13-18 yrs)

For bigger kids, too! Hormonal changes, growth spurts, and increased physical activities make this an important time for spinal health:

  • During growth spurts
  • For sports-related strains
  • To address poor posture from device use
  • For help with headaches or back pain

The Oaktree Advantage: Specially-Trained Pediatric Chiropractors

Many chiropractors treat children, but at Oaktree, we specialize in pediatric care.

ICPA Certified Chiropractors

Our pediatric chiropractors have completed specialized training and certification through the International Chiropractic Pediatric Association (ICPA), ensuring they understand the unique needs of growing bodies.

Age-Appropriate Techniques

We use extremely gentle adjustment methods specifically developed for children at different developmental stages, from newborns to teenagers.

Whole-Family Approach

Our care extends to the entire family, allowing parents to receive treatment alongside their children, creating a comprehensive wellness approach for your household.

Three Convenient Ottawa Locations

With offices in Downtown Ottawa, Orleans, and Stittsville, you can access our specialized pediatric care no matter where you live in the Ottawa area.

Support Your Little One’s Wellness Journey at Any Age

From first smiles to graduation caps, our gentle techniques adapt to growing bodies at every stage.

Join our family of patients building a foundation for lifelong health by visiting one of our Ottawa chiropractor locations today.

Available at our Downtown Ottawa, Orleans, and Stittsville locations with kid-friendly scheduling options

Common Questions About Infant & Child Chiropractic Care

Paediatric chiropractic care is tailored to the specific needs of children, and is both gentle and safe. Our chiropractors adjust their spines using a special low-force method.

The chiropractic techniques used when adjusting infants are so gentle that infants sometimes sleep through their entire adjustment! We take a special interest in adjusting children and have taken advanced training in infant and paediatric care.

If there is a vertebral subluxation (misalignment) in the upper neck, the tension can interfere with the sleep centre in the brain and brainstem. As a result, it may prevent proper sleep patterns.

Headaches, joint pain and other discomforts can also affect the quality of your child’s sleep and make falling asleep more difficult. Restful sleep is an important part of healing and allows your body to recharge. Correcting subluxations may help your child settle into a more peaceful sleep.

The choice is always yours! Many parents choose to keep their children in regular paediatric chiropractic care to ensure their spine keeps developing properly. This is a proactive approach to healthcare.

The reality is that whatever stresses and traumas have happened to their spine in the past may continue to happen in the future through sports, injuries, or poor posture—staying on top of it is a great way to prevent long-term problems.

Children respond very quickly to chiropractic care. Much faster, in fact, than adults do! Children tend to have many fewer years of damage and stress to their bodies. The amount of care needed will depend on your child’s unique situation.

After your first appointment where we do a thorough history and examination, we will recommend a specific plan and walk through the outline of that plan with you.

The most common finding in a child’s spinal examination is vertebral subluxation (misalignment) in the upper neck. This creates tension on the brainstem and upper spinal cord, areas which are integral to proper immune function. If tension is present, it is common for children to have more colds, flus, ear infections and allergies.

Correcting these subluxations allows the brain to communicate properly with the body, so that the body can heal itself more efficiently. The most common observation we hear from parents whose children are under regular chiropractic care is that they get sick much less often than those around them—and if they do get sick, they recover much more quickly. It is amazing to see the power the body has to heal itself!

Medical doctors and pediatricians are not usually taught about chiropractic care in medical school. They aren’t generally familiar with how chiropractic care works. Ideally, your child would have both a paediatrician and a chiropractor for babies and children. Your pediatrician or medical doctor will be available for crisis care, and your chiropractor will focus on quality-of-life care and boosting the body’s natural ability to thrive.

Because chiropractic care is new to most medical practitioners, we are always available and happy to answer any of your practitioners’ questions and provide them with the latest research on paediatric chiropractic care.