The Experience Miracles Podcast

Kids Don’t just ‘Grow Out of It’… Here’s Why

Nov 19, 2024

Kids Don’t Grow Out of It: How Early Symptoms Become Chronic Conditions

Episode 53 — Experience Miracles Podcast | Host: Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP — Pediatric Chiropractor & Founder of PX Docs | Published: November 19, 2024 | Duration: ~10 min

Key Takeaways

  • Colic, missed milestones, sensory meltdowns, and chronic ear infections are not phases children outgrow — without addressing the root cause, they typically progress into autism spectrum disorder, ADHD, anxiety, and chronic illness.
  • The Autonomic Nervous System governs digestion, immune function, sensory processing, and respiratory health simultaneously, which is why one underlying dysfunction creates what appears to be multiple unrelated problems.
  • The Perfect Storm — a high-stress pregnancy, birth interventions (forceps, vacuum, emergency C-section, or induction), and early antibiotic exposure — is the sequence of events that sets the neurological dysfunction in motion.
  • Vagus Nerve dysfunction is the common denominator across colicky infants, chronically sick toddlers, and children later diagnosed with sensory or spectrum disorders; it controls digestion, speech, immune regulation, and emotional regulation.
  • Research spanning 15–20 years confirms that the “wait and see” approach to early childhood health challenges is not supported by evidence — and that Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care can address the root cause before these patterns solidify.

Do Kids Really Grow Out of Early Health Challenges?

The short answer: no. Fifteen-plus years of clinical experience and 15–20 years of research confirm that when early childhood health challenges go unaddressed, they rarely disappear. They escalate.

Colic progresses into chronic gut inflammation. Missed developmental milestones become sensory processing disorder or a spectrum diagnosis. Chronic ear infections and sinus congestion signal ongoing immune dysfunction rooted in nervous system dysregulation — not a string of bad luck. What looks like a series of disconnected problems is almost always the same underlying issue showing up with different names at different ages.

The reason this progression happens is that every system parents and pediatricians tend to treat separately — the gut, the ears, the immune system, the brain — is actually controlled by one system: the Autonomic Nervous System. When that system is stuck in a dysregulated state from early infancy, no amount of treating individual symptoms will resolve the core problem.

Why “They’ll Grow Out of It” Is the Wrong Answer [00:01:00 – 00:02:30]

Dr. Tony Ebel, DC, CACCP: The number one most frustrating, most maddening, most disheartening phrase uttered still today — again and again — by conventional pediatricians to parents is this: “Don’t worry, they’ll grow out of it. It’s normal.”

No, it’s not.

Moms, dads — you know in your gut that when your brand new baby is up all night screaming, colicky, uncomfortable, arching their back, constipated, growing into chronic ear infections, sensory processing disorder, constant sinus congestion, frequent respiratory infections, missed milestones, speech delays, sensory tantrums, and meltdowns — and then maybe three or four years in, growing into an autism spectrum diagnosis, ADHD, or anxiety — that phrase probably wasn’t true. And it isn’t.

We now have research after research, along with 15-plus years of clinical experience, showing we’ve known for 15 to 20 years that we can’t keep saying this.

What conventional pediatricians are doing is essentially a “kick the can down the road” approach. And what’s almost ironic is they’re supposed to use a wait-and-see approach for ear infections and respiratory infections because most of them are viral — antibiotics shouldn’t be prescribed. But still today, millions of kids are unnecessarily prescribed antibiotics, which destroys their gut, destroys their microbiome, and further increases the risk of them growing into these neurosensory challenges.

“It’s not that kids grow out of colic — they grow into chronic gut issues. It’s not that kids grow out of missed milestones — they grow into sensory and spectrum disorders.”

Ruby’s Story: What Happens When Parents Trust Their Gut [00:03:00 – 00:04:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: When your little one is sick all the time, having sensory problems, gross motor and fine motor challenges, and you’re wondering what’s going on — you’re in the same position as Ruby’s parents.

Thankfully, Ruby’s parents listened to their gut instead of their conventional pediatrician. They did further research, asked around, got online, and found out that the challenges of a stressed-out, stuck-off-track nervous system lead to issues with the gut, the ears, and milestone and motor development.

For their little one, Ruby — who would go from zero to a hundred in a hot minute — they knew something more was going on than “she’s being a kid, it’s the terrible twos.”

They found out about Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care, a specialized form of pediatric chiropractic care that gets to the root cause of what’s really going on with a child’s nervous system. The message it delivers is clear: if we don’t get this neurological, neurosensory stress dysfunction addressed, it’s much more likely this child will grow into these things.

How the Nervous System Connects Every Childhood Health Challenge [00:04:00 – 00:05:30]

Dr. Tony Ebel: The truth is that all of these challenges — the gut issues, the respiratory problems, the ear infections, the immune dysfunction, the sensory and behavioral struggles — are all connected to one singular system: the nervous system.

The central and autonomic nervous system controls digestive motility, absorption, and elimination. It controls the respiratory system — the drainage, the plumbing from the ears, the lymphatics, the lungs. It controls the immune system and helps regulate inflammation. And it controls our sensory processing and neurodevelopmental system — behavior, focus, transitions, emotional regulation.

So what looks like colic and digestive issues in an infant? We now know that the vast majority of kids who receive autism diagnoses later on in life have chronic constipation and chronic gut inflammation. Those colic, reflux, and indigestion challenges are still there. The immune challenges are still there. The motor challenges are still there. It’s all linked to the nervous system.

“All of these challenges — the gut, the ears, the immune system, the sensory struggles — they’re all connected to one singular system: the nervous system.”

What Triggers the Perfect Storm: Pregnancy Stress and Birth Interventions [00:05:00 – 00:07:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: To get the full picture of why kids don’t grow out of these things but instead grow into them, you have to understand the early onset triggers of what we call The Perfect Storm.

The first trigger can go as far back as a stressful, high-risk, high-anxiety pregnancy. When mom’s nervous system is stressed out, it can alter the development of the baby’s nervous system and leave it more likely to be stuck in a sympathetic fight-or-flight state from day one.

The second trigger is birth interventions. We find, again and again, that a colicky baby, a stressed-out, constipated, chronically sick toddler, or a three-year-old struggling with sensory, speech, and spectrum challenges — they all share a common denominator: a greater incidence of birth interventions. Forceps, vacuum, emergency C-section, induction.

A lot of those kids end up with enormous physical stress — yanking, twisting, pulling on their neck and their brainstem. And the brainstem is where all of the crucial neurological functions are controlled. We call that area “air traffic control” of the body.

When that area is physically triggered and injured through birth trauma, it shuts down something called the Vagus Nerve.

The Vagus Nerve: Why So Many Systems Break Down at Once [00:07:00 – 00:08:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: The Vagus Nerve controls digestion. The Vagus Nerve controls regulation. The Vagus Nerve controls speech. The Vagus Nerve controls social and emotional regulation.

The Vagus Nerve is the one thing that is dysfunctional — what we call subluxated and interfered with — in colicky, fussy, hard-to-latch, hard-to-digest babies. And it’s still dysfunctional later on when kids are struggling with sensory, behavioral, and emotional challenges.

This is why so many parents end up chasing individual symptoms — trying OT for sensory, reward charts for ADHD, probiotics for the gut, vitamins for immunity — without ever getting lasting results. They’re addressing separate branches of a problem that has one root.

“The Vagus Nerve controls digestion, regulation, speech, and social-emotional regulation — and it’s the one thing that is subluxated and dysfunctional in colicky infants and in older kids struggling with sensory and emotional challenges.”

The Third Element: Antibiotics, Toxins, and the Gut-Brain Connection [00:07:30 – 00:09:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: The third element of The Perfect Storm is early and frequent exposure to toxins, medications, and especially antibiotics.

When a child is given multiple rounds of antibiotics in that first one to two years of life — even just one or two rounds — it really disrupts the brain-gut and gut-brain connection. It leads them much more likely to grow into neurological challenges as well as autoimmune and chronic health challenges.

So out of The Perfect Storm — a high-stress pregnancy, birth interventions and trauma, and early overuse of antibiotics and other toxins — a child’s nervous system gets set on a trajectory of growing into these neurophysiological dysfunctions. They just get different names and different diagnoses as the years go on.

All the things parents have tried — the OT, the behavior charts, the probiotics, the supplements — are addressing individual branches of a problem that has one root. They can all be linked to the nervous system. They can all be linked to Vagus Nerve dysfunction and subluxation.

What to Do Instead of Waiting [00:09:00 – 00:10:00]

Dr. Tony Ebel: We’d love for you to go get more information through the articles and videos available on our platforms and on this podcast. But also — the moment you’re ready, so is your local PX Doc.

I’ve been in practice for 15 years, and I’ve been training and teaching other Neurologically-Focused Pediatric Chiropractors very actively for the last 10. We now have an incredible clinical protocol certification program, and the best doctors doing this work are in that network.

If you’re ready to find a Neurologically-Focused Chiropractor to lead your child through — and to the other side of — the storm, you can find one in the directory at pxdocs.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do kids actually grow out of colic, sensory issues, and missed milestones?

Research spanning 15–20 years and clinical experience with thousands of children consistently shows the opposite. Without addressing the root cause — Autonomic Nervous System dysfunction — early challenges like colic typically progress into chronic gut inflammation, and missed milestones often develop into sensory processing disorder or spectrum diagnoses. The symptoms change; the underlying dysfunction doesn’t.

What is The Perfect Storm, and how does it cause these problems?

The Perfect Storm is a three-part sequence described by Dr. Tony Ebel: a high-stress pregnancy that dysregulates the baby’s developing nervous system; birth interventions (forceps, vacuum extraction, emergency C-section, induction) that create physical stress to the neck and brainstem; and early, frequent exposure to antibiotics and toxins that disrupt the gut-brain connection. Together, these factors create a nervous system stuck in a chronic stress state.

Why does birth trauma affect so many different systems — gut, immune, sensory, speech?

Birth interventions that stress the neck and upper cervical spine can injure or compress the Vagus Nerve and the brainstem — the “air traffic control” of the body. The Vagus Nerve directly controls digestion, immune regulation, speech, emotional regulation, and social development. When it’s subluxated or dysfunctional, every system it governs is affected simultaneously, which is why children with birth trauma histories often present with multiple overlapping challenges.

Why don’t probiotics, OT, and other therapies fully resolve these issues?

These approaches address individual branches of a problem that shares one root: nervous system dysregulation. Probiotics improve gut bacteria but don’t restore nervous system control of digestion. OT builds skills but doesn’t resolve the sensory processing dysfunction at the neurological level. Each intervention helps a symptom; none addresses the underlying Vagus Nerve dysfunction and autonomic imbalance driving all of them.

How do I find a chiropractor trained in Neurologically-Focused Chiropractic Care?

Dr. Tony Ebel has spent 10 years training pediatric chiropractors in the clinical protocols discussed in this episode. The best practitioners in this approach are part of the PX Docs network. You can search by location at the PX Docs Directory.

Resources & Related Content

Find A PX Doc

Welcome to PX Docs. The place to find Hope. Answers. Hope. for you and your family.