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Pediatricians are warning parents about “outlandish” claims made by some chiropractors who promote spinal manipulations for babies and children.

Chiropractors say their adjustments on newborns are gentle, with no popping, cracking or crunching. Instead, pressure is applied to a specific vertebra with about the same amount of force used to check a tomato’s ripeness, as they like to say.

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But some doctors are worried that chiropractors are using “scare tactics” to claim that up to 80 per cent of newborns need a spinal adjustment to treat the “trauma” of entering the world. Newborns experience “nerve interference” or a misaligned cervical spine from the birthing process, even when delivered via caesarean section, and should get treatment as soon as possible, chiropractors say. While others claim chiropractic manipulations can “peel away” the symptoms of autism and help non-verbal toddlers speak.