Literacy news

The benefits of baby massage

10 Mar 2005

A ten-minute massage, two or three times a week helps create a more confident mother-infant relationship, babies love it and it can help alleviate baby ailments too. You will probably ask yourself, do babies actually need massage? Surely they are supple, relaxed and do not seem to face the stresses that make us knotted and tense. Lorraine Tolley of The Guild of Infant & Child Massage explains that not every baby knows how to relax: Many babies are fussy, disorganised and have colic, cry a lot or sleep poorly. Massage can help with all these problems.

• Massage can begin from the day the baby is born, but many parents start later having been taught by health professionals or having been on a course
• Massage is an excellent way of connecting with your baby if you are a working mum. A short massage each night before bath time can help your baby feel loved
• Massage can alleviate trapped wind, soothe colic or alleviate constipation
• Massaging the jaw can relax a baby who has just begun to take solids
• Massaging the gums through the skin may ease the pain of teething
• A face massage can unblock a blocked nose
• Massage can alleviate the effects of postnatal depression and help a mother have a more positive interaction with their baby

The benefits of infant massage for your child:

• Smoothes transition from womb to the world
• Develops baby's first language: touch
• Teaches positive loving touch
• Develops a feeling of being loved, respected and secure
• Develops body, mind, awareness and coordination
• Can help to reduce the discomfort of colic, wind and constipation
• Helps to regulate and strengthen baby's digestive and respiratory systems and stimulate circulatory and nervous systems
• Promotes relaxation
• Can help to reduce 'fussiness' and improve quality of sleep
• Improves skin condition

The benefits of infant massage for parents:

• Helps parent to understand their baby's non-verbal communication
• Enhances parent's confidence and competence in dealing with their baby
• Can help with postnatal depression
• Both parents and baby relax together
• Promotes lactation in breastfeeding mums (through stimulation of hormones)
• Promotes nurturing instinct (through stimulation of hormone oxytocin)

(From The Guild of Infant & Child Massage website, The Guild of Infant and Child Massage, 2005)

Tags: Talk To Your Baby

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