Benefits and how-tos of baby massage

Massage is highly beneficial for little ones. It helps integrate healthy functioning of and connections between mind, emotions and body by releasing tension and allowing the body’s endorphins and serotonin to perform their relaxing, calming, healing functions.

By trusting your instincts and responding to your baby’s reaction and body language, you can successfully massage your baby. Even babies who are tactile defensive and seem resistant to touch techniques initially, will soon tap into the pleasure of the experience.

The benefits for babies
Massage is soothing and relaxing. It also improves sleep patterns and helps reduce colic and crying. Massage also strengthens the immune response by lowering stress hormone levels, and by improving drainage of toxic substances from lymph nodes, with extraordinary advantages for health. A baby’s muscles and joints are strengthened and toned, overcoming tactile defensiveness is improved, as well as coordination and circulation.

The ability to promote growth, especially in low- and slow-weight-gain babies, is well-described by research, but massage even promotes physical self-awareness and therefore a positive body image later in life. One of the ways it achieves this is by stimulating and improving non-verbal skills, thus improving self-esteem and social awareness.

Massage also keeps a baby’s skin nourished and supple, and regular touch helps to establish a sensible daily routine.

The benefit for parents
• Parents react positively to a baby’s positive response. This starts a cycle that leads to better bonding and a joyful relationship between parent and child.
• It gives parents more confidence in handling their babies.
• Parents feel that they’re acting proactively. This result in more relaxed parents and a reduced anxiety-crying-tension cycle between parents and babies.
• It promotes increased sensitivity to babies’ natural rhythms, likes and dislikes.
• It’s relaxing and enjoyable.

Certain babies need massage therapeutically. Those born via C-section or a traumatic vaginal delivery often benefit on an emotional and physical level, as do babies admitted to Neonatal ICU and are separated from their moms, or are very ill. Premature babies and those who are away from their parents a lot, enjoy a real boost from therapeutic touch. Allergic, colicky, restless, high-need, crying babies, and those with sleeping problems are helped by massage, too. Tactile defensive babies who don’t like being touched, respond well to a programme of massage, and this will help with muscle tone, spatial awareness and adaptation to their environment. Babies who aren’t developing as well as they should, often do far better with infant massage. And babies who are very clingy and sensitive or shy, profit enormously too.

Sister Lilian's basic guidelines on infant massage


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