Importance of Baby Massage

Some say that Baby Massage is "The Art of the Mother's Touch"

It creates relaxation through your babies whole body. It is a form of touch that will help you develop a relationship with each of your babies and will help you understand them and their individual needs better.
As your newborn babies slowly begin to uncurl from their squished up little fetal positions, massaging them will help you to stretch out their little muscles and joints and help give their movements some balance and co-ordination. It helps to prepare their bodies for movement and for relaxation. It helps to stimulate the circulatory system and can help with regulating the heart rate, breathing and your babies digestive system.


Let's Get Started!
Give yourself about 15 minutes , find a quiet place, maybe play some soothing music and make sure that you are feeling relaxed yourself. The room should be warm and not drafty and find a comfortable blanket or thick towel to lay down . Infant massage is best performed after your baby bath and you'll want something handy in case of an accident . Keep a diaper and some wipes nearby too - you just never know .You'll want to have a gentle oil or gentle lotion- just don't use something too perfumed as it may irritate your baby's skin. This helps your hands to slide gently. Some moms like to use a baby lotion but I find it absorbs too quickly into the skin. Never pour the oil onto your baby as it will feel cold and make them tense up. Pour some into the palm of your hands and rub them together to warm it up. Start with a very gentle touch as you and your baby get used to infant massage. You can use this time to talk with your baby , as you touch a leg, say LEG, same for when you massage the tummy, arm, hand etc.

Another important reason that many moms choose to perform baby massage on young infants is to help them with Gas. This method is called the "I love you" Method. First, make a down stroke on your baby's tummy that spells the letter "I". Then make an upside down "L" going from your left to right for "love", and then make an upside down "U" going from your left to right. As you do this tell your baby " I love you " and watch them smile. Although we only had to deal with Gas a hand full of times we have always had good luck with this method.

From our experience with Bastian we really understand the benefit of Infant Massage. OUr first 3 months together we categorized him as a "high needs baby" once we began giving him a massage every night and we started to see a new Bastian. I am sure that there are many other factors that we can attribute the change from a fussy clingy newborn to a happy confident baby boy.

We recommend baby massage to all parents, it will not only be beneficial to your child but it will also benefit the parents!

For more information please see the following links!

http://www.iaim.ws/home.html

http://www.childbirth.org/articles/baby/infantmassage.html

http://www.lovingtouch.com/