Retained moulding can cause many problems in the first few months, because it makes the baby uncomfortable. On examination osteopaths frequently find areas of tension and strain in the head and body of the baby. Babies cannot explain their discomfort other than in their behaviour. Hence excessive crying, irritability, sleep disturbance, feeding and digestive disturbances are common.

In a research study into the effects of cranial osteopathic treatment on babies, some parents perceived the following changes in their baby's behaviour:  reduced colicky crying, improved sleep, less unsettled irritable behaviour and increased quiet happy spells.

After a time the child may appear to grow out of these early symptoms as the flexible nature of the newborn skull and body learns to adapt, but without treatment the cause of the problem remains in the body. With age the whole system becomes less fluid and more bony, so its capacity to manage these strains decreases, while at the same time it is growing into a strained pattern: “As the twig is bent so shall the tree incline”. Thus birth trauma can appear not to be an issue, sometimes for many years, until a time when the body is asked to cope with some new challenge that it cannot meet.

As the child grows, abnormal tension in the musculo-skeletal system can make it difficult to sit still and may lead to poor concentration, often an important factor in learning difficulties and behavioural problems. By around the age of seven the sutures or joints between the bones in the head are maturing, and the bones  are becoming harder and less springy. Some children then start to have symptoms such as headache because the body is finding it increasingly difficult to compensate for the strain patterns in the structure.