It is never too late to start massage. whether your baby may be a newborn or many years old, massage will bring immediate and lasting results. Expectant parents who take babe massage instruction earlier are able to begin this glorious charmed touch right from the beginning.Massage is a lovely way for you to express your love and care for your baby. Massage can soothe your baby and help her to sleep.And also massage has several additional advantages for your baby, in addition up weight gain, aiding digestion, up circulation, and easing odontiasis pain. Massage could be a good way for you and your partner to bond with your baby, and you’ll notice it quiet, too!
What is baby massage?
Baby massage is gentle, rhythmic stroking of your baby’s body with your hands. You can use oils or a moisturizer to help your hands to glide smoothly over your baby’s skin. As part of your massage routine, you can gently manipulate your baby’s ankles, wrists and fingers. You can talk softly, hum or sing to your baby while you are massaging, which may make it more reassuring for your baby.
The soothing strokes of your hands stimulate the production of the feel-good hormone Oxycontin in you, your baby and even your partner, if he is looking. Oxycontin is that the secretion that provides you that warm, caring feeling when you hold your baby close or breastfeed her.
Benefits of baby massage
- Provides a special time of communication that fosters love, compassion, and respect
- Improves general well-being
- Provides an intimate time for children to confide in parents
- Improves overall functioning of the gastrointestinal tract
- Promotes relaxation and helps babies self-regulate calm, which reduces crying
- Helps to normalize muscle tone
- Improves circulation
- Enhances immune system function
- Improves mid line orientation
- Helps to improve sensory and body awareness
- Enhances neurological development
- Helps baby/child to sleep deeper and more soundly
- Helps to increase oxygen and nutrient flow to cells. Improves respiration
- Helps to improve pain management; can relieve discomfort from teething,
- Helps with congestion, gas, and colic
- Enhances release of hormones in the body. The growth hormone can be stimulated which helps weight gain.
- Reduces levels of cortisol, the stress hormone
- Provides all of the essential indicators of intimate parent-infant bonding and attachment: eye-to-eye, touch, voice, smell, movement, and thermal regulation.
- Stimulates all of the physiological systems. Massage sparks the neurons in their brains to grow and branch out to encompass other neurons.
 |
| How to massage your baby (Source :Momjunction) |
What is the best time to massage your baby?
Try to choose a time once your baby is between feeds. Then she will not be too hungry or too full. it is also best not to begin simply before her nap. a decent time to massage your baby is once she is awake, however settled. If your baby is quietly alert and curious about her surroundings, it means she’ll be able to act with you.If your baby is sleeping and feeding typically, you’ll surprise once this golden time for massage goes to return around! you will get to understand once your baby is most content to have a massage. you’ll prefer to create it a part of your baby’s time of day, maybe when a shower and before a bedtime or feed.
A massage before bedtime will help your baby to wind down after the stimulation of the day and become calm, ready for sleep.
What do you need before start a massage?
It is necessary to search out a decent room for baby massage in your home wherever you and your baby are going to be comfy and undisturbed. ensure the space is warm (around twenty four degrees C) with no droughts. Lay your baby down on a towel or folded sheet, maybe with a changing mat beneath. you’ll prefer to keep your baby’s vest on if it’s slightly cool. Or let her get pleasure from being completely naked for a change.
As this can be a special time for you and your baby, ensure there are not any distractions within the space. If you’ve got a pet, place it in another space, and switch off your mobile phone. you will even prefer to play some relaxing music, turned low enough so your baby will hear your voice.
You’ll need to hand, including:
- Massage oil or an emollient cream
- Towels or muslin squares to mop up any accidents
- Clothes to dress your baby in afterwards
- Your usual nappy-changing kit
Using oil or cream will make it easier for your hands to glide over your baby’s skin and may be more relaxing for your baby. It’s up to you whether you use a baby moisturizer or, if your baby has dry skin or eczema, a medical emollient, vegetable oil, or baby mineral oil for massage.
Vegetable oils that are high in linoleic acid, such as safflower oil, are kinder to your baby’s skin than oils high in oleic acid, such as olive oil. Read our expert question on oils for baby massage to find out more on which oils are kindest.
PLEASE NOTE
Whichever oil or cream you employ, it is best to dab slightly on your baby’s skin 1st, simply just in case she has a reaction. try this skin test the day before you propose to begin massaging your baby.
However, there are some oils or creams that it’s definitely best not to use. These are:
- Mustard oil, because it has a toxic effect on the skin barrier, causing irritation and potential damage to delicate baby skin.
- Unrefined peanut oil, because the proteins it contains may sensitive your baby to an allergic reaction to peanuts, or cause a reaction on your baby’s skin. It’s safest to avoid refined peanut oil, too. Although there’s no evidence that it’s likely to cause a problem, there is always the risk that it’s been contaminated with unrefined peanut oil.
- Aqueous cream, because it contains a harsh detergent called sodium laurel sulfate, which may irritate your baby’s skin and damage the skin barrier.
- If your baby has eczema, it is best to use her prescribed cream or emollient during the massage.
REFERENCE
babycentre. 2017. massaging-your-baby. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.babycentre.co.uk/a1042915/massaging-your-baby. [Accessed 30 June 2017].
momjunction. 2017. massage-baby. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.momjunction.com/articles/massage-baby_002856/. [Accessed 30 June 2017].
