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Infant Massage
Human touch is an innate need of all people. Babies are especially born with that basic need. They want to feel protected and safe. Being born is such a startling change for them after the nine months they spend in utero. When mothers massage their babies, it helps the baby to feel secure in his brand new world. Massage and other natural healing techniques have been used for years in other countries. In the United States, there is a newfound interest in it. Research is now proving that there are many benefits for both the baby and mother.
When your child is born, it takes some time to get to understand their wants and needs. Learning feeding cues, sleep patterns and understanding what your baby needs when he cries can take time. If you spend time each day massaging your baby you will quickly learn and discover all of these things as you build a beautiful bond together.
You can choose to sing to them, talk to them or just massage them quietly. Each massaging session can be different and completely tailored to how you both feel that day. Gentle and caring touch is so important for our babies. They get to feel secure with mom and dad. They start to really feel how much you love and care for them.
Massage is wonderful for the emotional benefits to you and your baby but it also has many physical benefits. It helps to relax them. It can improve circulation and most importantly improve gastrointestinal function. Lots of babies develop GI problems like constipation, gas and colic. Massage has been proven to greatly reduce these symptoms. I have seen this first hand as my son was fairly colicky.
I started massing him regularly at bedtime. It took a few days before I noticed the difference but I was clearly able to see how improved his symptoms were. He went from a crying, fussy baby that just couldn’t settle due to gas, to a wonderful happy baby who only had occasional belly issues.
You can add massage to your baby’s daily or nightly routine. Massaging your baby without lotion or oil is fine but you may want to use a light weight oil such as grape seed oil. Be careful in choosing the type of oil you use because some oils can cause an allergic reaction. Peanut oil or oils that have a nut base are common allergens.
If you want additional help on learning how to massage your baby, you can find information online. There are tons of instructional books you can get too. Many hospitals are also teaching infant massage as part of their prenatal classes. |
