Infants communicate through their bodies. When you engage an infant in a massage, you begin to listen to the infant; you listen to sounds, you watch movements, you listen with your eyes, your ears and your heart. Infant massage, or touch communication, nurtures the most important relationship the child will ever have: the relationship between the parent and infant. By using infant massage, a parent grasps the art of listening, asking permission, communicating, interpreting and responding to cues. The infant displays engagement/disengagement cues, furthers body awareness, self-esteem, listening and communication. Both infant and parent benefit from eye contact, relaxation, bonding, synchrony, love and trust.
Some benefits :
Greater bonding between baby and caregiver
The skin-on-skin contact is great for bonding as well as tactile stimulation. The bonding is especially great for adopted babies, for dad to massage babies who mom nurses, and babies who spent time in the NICU.
Relaxes the baby and the caregiver
Massage releases endorphins in the baby and the caregiver, helping to relax everyone while also regulating baby’s sleep/wake cycles.
Improved immunity
Because massage stimulates blood flow, it is great for immunity and keeping the baby healthy. This is especially beneficial during flu season.
Can infant massage help baby with gas?
Yes! Some babies are a bit gassier than others; massage can be a way to help your little one pass the gas and feel better.
One technique is to massage in a clockwise direction on your baby’s stomach, from baby’s right to left. Start at the top right of baby’s abdomen and stroke across just under the ribs, down the left side of baby’s stomach, then across and back up to the start. Gently rubbing in this circular motion can help move gas and stool along in the direction of baby’s intestine.
You can also do the “I Love You” massage. This massage has you going down the left side of baby’s belly to form an “I”. Then draw an up-side-down “L”: Start at the top right of baby’s belly, move across, then down baby’s left side. Last, form an up-side-down “U”, starting from the bottom right of baby’s belly
When is the best time to massage my baby?
Waiting until at least 45 minutes after baby eats will help prevent tummy troubles or spitting up.
Take cues from your baby. Your little one will let you know what feels good to them almost instantaneously: watch for positive cues like eye contact, smiles, cooing sounds and relaxed movements with baby’s arms and legs.
Stop massaging if your little one turns their head away from you, becomes stiff, squirms away, arches their back, flails their arms and legs, or cries. These may indicate your baby is not in the right mood for a massage or is not enjoying the massage.11 When you try again, try massaging in a different way to see if that helps.
Communicate more than stimulate
Babies communicate primarily through their bodies. Infant massage combines this tactile and emotional stimulation in a gentle but purposeful way — you’re not trying to manipulate her muscles as much as you are communicating with baby in a way that pleases and soothes you both.
Rather than remaining quiet during the infant massage, speak or sing softly to your little one. Hearing your voice is another way to help your little one relax and build a stronger bond.
